Today, Eli Manning decided to hang it up and retire from the NFL. Eli spent his entire 16 year career as the iron man QB for the New York Giants. To the younger crowd, Eli may be remembered by his goofy face memes that seem to go viral instantly, but he deserves immense praise and nothing but respect for the career he put together.
Eli missed one game in his career due to injury. I repeat, missed one game in his career due to injury. This is football, that is unheard of. Manning is the best quarterback in New York football history. His career passing yards currently ranks 7th all time with 57,023, while putting together seven top 10 seasons in the same statistic. Eli’s career passing touchdowns also ranks 7th with 366 and posted 10 seasons in which he was in the top 10 in the same stat.
To me, those three stats are the most impressive stats when looking at them through the lense of a total career. However, Eli’s consistency is what makes him a hall of famer. He did enough things pretty well to make him great in his prime. Ten seasons in the top 10 of passes completed. Ten seasons in the top 10 of passes attempted (he must have been doing something right)! Five seasons in the top 10 of passing yards per game. Three seasons in the top 10 of QBR%. And of course, two time super bowl champion and MVP. I can go on and on but I think you get it.
There are plenty who disagree and will probably never think Eli is a hall of fame player and that’s fine, that’s the beauty of sports. For my money, when you put together the whole career consistency, practically never missing a game, and being a class act on and off the field, he is going into the hall of fame.
Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling and Eli’s ceiling is the hall of fame. Congratulations Eli on a fantastic career!
