Eli Manning playing it cool ahead of Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement
Thomas Panek, president and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, with Eli Manning and Thomas's guide dog "10" at Milk Bar in Manhattan on Thursday. Credit: Newsday/Tom Rock
Eli Manning is heading to Super Bowl LIX just the way he went to the two he played in and the dozen or so he has attended in various other capacities. He’s treating it like any other game, any other event.
He will be staying at his parents’ house in the Garden District, making some appearances in his hometown, getting a few meals at some of his favorite restaurants and plugging his many ventures, which now range from attempting field goals for gambling websites to being executive producer for the upcoming “Chad Powers” show on Hulu.
“I’m just going to New Orleans like I would be going every year that I go to the Super Bowl,” he said Thursday. “Same schedule as normal.”
How he leaves New Orleans this time, though, might be very different.
He could be doing so as a Hall of Famer.
Manning, in his first year of eligibility, is one of 15 finalists for the Class of 2025 that currently is in the process of being sorted out.
The big public announcement will come on Feb. 6 at the “NFL Honors” program, but Manning certainly will know before then because the Hall now makes special private made-for-TV visits to its inductees in the days before the disclosure.
As of now, though, his Gold Jacket status is as up in the air and uncertain as a certain blind pass he once threw to David Tyree in the fourth quarter of the biggest win of his life. And Manning is OK with that.
“There is nothing I can do to put myself in a better position to make it or not,” he said while appearing at a Manhattan event with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an organization that provides guide dogs to people with vision loss and one with which Manning has worked closely for nearly two decades . . . long before his resume even approached Hall of Fame consideration. “It’s one of those deals where I am not getting mine or anyone’s hopes up. I’m not setting up for big celebrations one way or another.
“ . . . If it does happen, it’ll be a great honor, and if it doesn’t, it’s not going to ruin my weekend or ruin my year.”
Manning’s candidacy is complicated, to say the least, and figures to divide the voters. He was MVP of two of the most memorable Super Bowls in history and finished his career ranked in the top 10 in most passing categories. He certainly is the most significant Giant of the first quarter of this century. But he also has a .500 career record as a starter, never received a single MVP vote and won at least one playoff game in his 16 NFL seasons only twice (albeit while winning a championship each time).
Those who know him best believe he should get in.
“In my opinion, he’s the greatest big-game quarterback that I’ve ever been around,” said former Giants coach Tom Coughlin, himself a semifinalist for the Hall of Fame as a coach this cycle. “He has performed incredibly well under those circumstances. Everybody always wants to talk about the Tyree play, but the play he made in Super Bowl XLVI to [Mario] Manningham was the greatest throw in his career. He’s very, very worthy.
“It’ll happen,” Coughlin added. “The question is when.”
The answer could be: In about two weeks.
While the current Giants certainly are hoping Manning makes it to Canton, they’re more focused on finding their own future Hall of Fame quarterback . . . or at the very least, one who can help get them to the postseason a couple of times.
Manning, too, has been watching that process. He knows whomever they add — especially if it is with a high draft pick — will face a different timeline than he did.
In 2004, when Manning arrived, a rookie quarterback took time to develop. Now, with C.J. Stroud leading his team to a playoff win last year and Jayden Daniels doing it as a rookie this season, the clock starts ticking the moment the slip is handed in.
“It’s not an easy situation,” Manning said of coming to the Giants. “A lot of pressure, a lot of expectations. Being in New York — really around the NFL — they expect immediate results, which is not easy to do in any market playing the quarterback position. It’ll be interesting what route they take and who they get to play quarterback next year for the Giants.
“I know they’ll put in great work and give great consideration to all of their options and hope they can get someone to make a difference. You see it this year; when you get a quarterback playing at a high level, when you get a young quarterback playing at a high level, that can make a big difference on an organization.”
As for his own potentially Hall of Fame career, Manning said the things he cherishes the most are not the ones voters are going to be most focused on . . . namely the two rings he won.
“It’s about the friendships, the relationships,” he said. “Obviously, winning a few championships is great. But the [210] consecutive games, not missing games due to injury, always being accountable, being reliable to your teammates and your organization, I think those are the things that always meant the most to me. Being a great teammate. I’m kind of proud of those things.”
Hall or not, he will deserve to be proud of them still.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
