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Sports media has been waiting for this.
It’s the lull before Super Bowl week and the only thing we have to gnaw on is a player getting arrested for beating up a moving truck driver and wearing an anti-suicide smock to court. BORRRRRING.
The Eli Manning Hall of Fame debate is the only story out now that allows us to all argue with each other passionately for our opinion and instead of being swayed by a good argument, dig our heels in and radicalize our beliefs because we’re spiteful and weak. YAY!
But there is meat on this bone. Reasonable people can make reasonable arguments for both sides.
People For: Eli won two Super Bowls against the greatest dynasty in football (and the second one against the greatest team of all-time) on two throws that are impossible to forget.
And this:
The time I realized Eli is who we think he is: I was at hotel tiki bar at Pro Bowl in Hawaii, and every player had retreated to get ready for dinner. Eli returns 30 minutes later, gently approaches a dozen bar staff, one by one. I ask someone why.
“$100 bill for each of us.”
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 23, 2020
People Against: He had great moments but ultimately finished his career with a regular season record being one loss short of a losing one (117-117). He was over-exposed because he was in the biggest market in the NFL.
And this:
Eli Manning seen hanging out with Tyler Herro on South Beach. pic.twitter.com/tolqYI76eF
— Dan Sharfin (@VoiceOverDan) January 23, 2020
You’re not going to believe this, but Eli’s blood brother is campaigning that lil bro deserves a spot in the Hall, nestled next to him.
Peyton said Thursday in a 20-minute interview about Eli’s career things that a little brother would love to hear from big bro.
“I’m happy for Eli, because I know he’s at peace and he put a lot of time and thought into this decision,” Manning said in a 20-minute interview about Eli’s career. “But I am sad, because I won’t get to see him play anymore. And after my dad and Dan Marino, Eli really was my favorite player. So I have to find a new one. But for really 19 years going back to his three years at Ole Miss, 16 years in the NFL, I have enjoyed watching him play, watching him compete, watching him grow into a man. It’s been a heck of a run.” [via Broncos]
Peyton added that he’s going to miss attending Eli’s games in person because he’ll no longer be able to take his kids down to the locker room and have the chance for them to see their uncle.
The interview really made it clear that Peyton admires the professional and personal trajectory of Eli, dating back to his high school days at New Orleans’ Isidore Newman School.
“As his brother, I have such admiration and love for him,” Manning said. “But as a quarterback, I have incredible respect for his toughness, his accountability [and] his leadership skills.”
Peyton made a strong objective case for Eli and his aberration of a career to be an accepted inductee in Canton.
“To me, it’s the time to look back and reflect. Everybody else wants to look ahead and have this debate — and I understand it’s just the world we live in, but I know Eli doesn’t think like that, and I don’t think like that either. I certainly have my strong feelings and opinions on it, that when you’re the Super Bowl MVP twice against the greatest dynasty of all time, the New England Patriots, Tom Brady/Bill Belichick, and you join a list that includes Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr, Tom Brady and Joe Montana, Eli Manning as the only (multiple) Super Bowl MVPs.
“I don’t really know what that term, ‘drop the mic’ is, but I guess if there was one. … There really is no ‘yeah, but’ after that. That kind of ends it. But if you want a, ‘yeah, but,’ yeah, but he also started 220-plus consecutive games. He’s sixth or seventh all-time in touchdowns. It wasn’t like he just played those two seasons.”
Why doesn’t my older brother rep me like this? Oh that’s right, I’m a fucking nobody and always will be.
[h/t Denver Broncos]