Perhaps the most subjective honor in professional sports and who is inducted and enshrined is the voting of who belongs in each sport’s Hall of Fame.
The arguments came to a head on Thursday night when it was revealed that former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
The smallest class since 2005 chose tight end Antonio Gates, cornerback Eric Allen, defensive end Jared Allen and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. Those four will be inducted in the Hall on Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio.
For Manning, who didn’t make it to the final stage of the voting, the wait could be longer to get into the Hall of Fame. The four other modern-era candidates, Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri, automatically advance to the final 15 for next year’s voting.
With the addition of next year’s first-year eligible candidates, such as quarterback Drew Brees, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, running back Frank Gore, and tight end Jason Witten, Manning’s candidacy will once again be debated and the consensus is he will eventually get in.
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Here is the case for and against Eli Manning being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The case for
Manning has two Super Bowl wins as a starting quarterback and was named the Most Valuable Player in both of those victories against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
He is one of six quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl MVPs. Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr, and Patrick Mahomes are the others. Montana, Bradshaw and Starr were each first-ballot Hall of Famers, and Brady and Mahomes will most certainly be when they are eligible.
There have been 13 starting quarterbacks with two Super Bowl wins or more. Jim Plunkett and Manning are the only ones not in the Hall of Fame.
Manning is currently 11th in career passing yards and passing touchdowns. He also ranks 11th in passing attempts and completions and never missed a game due to injury in 16 NFL seasons, making 210 straight starts at one point.
The case against
Manning never was selected to an All-Pro team and has only four Pro Bowl selections.
He has a 117-117 record as a starting quarterback.
He led the league in interceptions three different times.
And his career 84.1 quarterback rating and finished a season in the top ten of QB rating once. Some notables with a higher career QB rating include Gardner Minshew, Andy Dalton, Mitchell Trubisky and Daniel Jones.
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