FanPost

Is Eli a HOFer?

Ed Valentine's BBV Mailbag posed a question today that I've been thinking about a lot, lately (especially since this year's draft). Namely, is Eli a HOFer? So, in the words of David Alan Grier from "In Living Colour," "I wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it go!" :)

Eli Manning’s HOF credentials

This is meant as an argument for Eli being a HOFer. If you already believe that, then you are the choir (and may not need to hear me preach). I think that the overall argument is overwhelmingly in favor of his admission to the Hall, but I’ve heard so many people say that he isn’t a HOFer, or is, at least, borderline, that I feel like defending him.

1) My Main Argument: There is, to my knowledge, no other sport where a retired two-time MVP of their championship game/round/event is NOT in their HOF. So when Eli retires, he should be a HOF-er...period!

2) In addition: Eli is in the Top 10 all-time in every single relevant QB stat. All of the other 9 are in, or will be in the Hall when they retire.

3) His then-NFL-record fifteen 4th-quarter TD passes, in a championship season no less (2011), may be reason enough to get him in. Yes, the D-line was great, but he carried that team to and through the playoffs. (He also led the league in 4th-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives that year.)

4) Odell Beckham’s first 3 years were the best 3 year start any WR has ever had in NFL historydespite missing the first 4 games of his career (5 total in those 3 yrs) due to injury. He had the most catches (tied with Jarvis Landry) and the most TD receptions anyone has ever had in their first 3 years…period. And guess who threw every single one of those passes/TDs? Eli.

5) The Catch (by David Tyree in ‘07), and The Throw (to Mario Manningham in ‘11) are two of the most iconic plays—that led directly to victory—in Super Bowl history…’nuff sed.

6) Joe Namath, who had: only 3 good years, only completed 50% of his passes, had more Ls than Ws, and more INTs than TDs…is in the HOF. Eli's career was wa-a-ay better than that.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannEl00.htm

Eli also has been party to a few wild, extreme swings of luck in both directions--good and bad. Yes, the Tyree catch was an amazing stroke of good luck, on both ends of the play—Eli should have been sacked, and, Tyree caught the ball against his helmet! But, the following year, Plaxico shoots himself in the leg, effectively killing our chances at a repeat—bad luck personified! I would argue that we at least go to the SB in at least one of the two years right after we won it in 2007 if Plaxico doesn’t shoot himself in 2008. And yes, the fact that, in SB 52, Welker and Hernandez both dropped catchable throws late in the 4th quarter, and, that Branch doesn’t drag his feet to stay in-bounds on the next-to-last play of the game, and that Gronk was just injured enough not to be able to come up with the jump ball on the final Hail Mary pass (it dropped at his feet) were very lucky for us. But then, in the following years, speedy RB David Wilson gets hurt, JPP blows off a few fingers, and most importantly, Victor Cruz, gets injured just as Odell is coming on the scene. Imagine a few seasons with a fully healthy Cruz and Beckham! I would argue that the 2014-2016 seasons are entirely different with a healthy Cruz-Beckham duo and a "10-fingered JPP" (so are the drafts…maybe we don’t take Sterling Shepard or Evan Engram if Cruz was healthy—maybe our defense &/or O-line gets better from drafting there instead). Maybe we don’t win another SB, but two 6 & 10s?! Doubtful. Finally, the 2019 draft. It’s not Eli’s fault that the #6 pick was used on someone who isn’t supposed to get on the field this year, instead of, say, a great pass-rusher or OT. But clearly his/our 2019 record would’ve likely been better with defenders like: Josh Allen, Ed Oliver, Devin Bush, Montez Sweat, or OTs like: Jonah Williams, Dalton Risner or Andre Dillard than with Daniel Jones. Again, not in Eli's control, but probably does impact his W-L record at the least. Granted, these kinds of things happen to every team, and no one in Canton is there just on "Maybe's" or "What If's." But if you ask me if he deserves to be there, I am factoring them in.

I’m just saying that, IMO, Eli already belongs in the Hall, no question. And with one or two fewer gunshot/fireworks accidents, and maybe another healthy season or two out of Cruz, at the very least his overall won-lost record is a lot better, and maybe we’re looking at another deep playoff run, or two...or three. Without those weird bad breaks—none of which were his fault or under his control—he would’ve removed whatever arguments anyone has against him going to Canton. So, IMO, hell yeah Eli is a HOFer!

What do you guys think? Is Eli's overall body of work already HOF-worthy? (Ignoring, for now, that he's still playing and can obviously add to, or subtract from, his resume).

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