Second ring would put Eli in Super company

A Super Bowl changes the life of a quarterback.

It erases questions about whether he's a winner. It validates a career. It brings a certain aura and prestige.

Eli Manning saw that happen firsthand in the afterglow of Super Bowl XLII. When the Giants traded for him on Draft Day in 2004, it was so he could win them a championship, and he accomplished that within four seasons. Now, four seasons later, Manning has a chance to cement his legacy even further.

When you haven't won a title as a quarterback, the club of those who have must seem very exclusive. Once you're in the door, though, it becomes clear that a lot of players can win one. Phil Simms did. So did Jeff Hostetler. Peyton Manning, too.

The only way to separate from the crowd is to do it again. Two Super Bowls. Now that really changes the life of a quarterback.

That's what Manning is trying to do. Ten quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowls. Only 18 have even started more than one Super Bowl. Manning is on the verge of becoming the latest to land on those lists. A win over the 49ers in tonight's NFC Championship Game would get him on one. A win two weeks later puts him on the even more exclusive list.

"If things work out, we can give him that opportunity," defensive end Dave Tollefson said. "Listen, Eli is good enough to win Super Bowls. We have to be able to support him. That's our job."

Manning certainly is playing at a much higher level than he was when he first won a Super Bowl. His career postseason passer rating heading into these playoffs was 77.6. In the two wins over the Falcons and the Packers, it's a combined 121.8. Brandon Jacobs said it's "an honor" to be playing with him. Asked why, Jacobs said: "Do you not see what he's doing on the football field?"

Jacobs and Manning grew up in the same state.

"All I've ever heard was about Eli Manning, growing up, playing in high school, all the way through college," Jacobs said. "So for me being from Louisiana, and playing while he dominated in high school, it was an honor for me to be on the football team with him and have watched him grow from his rookie year to now."

Like a quarterback who senses pressure in the pocket and can glide to an area of safety, Manning dodged any questions about his legacy and what a second Super Bowl appearance would mean to him.

"I think you just worry about this game," he said. "Obviously, the [playoff] run can only be appreciated if we continue it and we keep it going. This week is about getting ready for San Francisco, getting prepared."

Mathias Kiwanuka said that's true, that Manning's focus is on the 49ers alone. For now. He said that during the offseason and when careers are finished, it will be time for reflection. At that point, having a second Super Bowl ring certainly would separate Manning from the crowd.

Besides the two active quarterbacks with multiple titles (Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger), Jim Plunkett is the only one of the other eight not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Some teams have a slogan of "Super Bowl or bust." For a quarterback who wins more than one Super Bowl, the bust usually is in Canton.

Two would be more than any other quarterback has ever won in the Giants family. It could wind up being more than anyone has ever won in the Manning family, too.

"Those are some big names," Kiwanuka said of Simms, Hostetler and Peyton Manning, all of whose rings sit at tables for one. "But who's to say Eli won't win three or four or five more?"