Eli Manning not voted into Pro Football Hall of Fame for second straight year: report
Eli Manning, the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the New York Giants, has reportedly fallen short of the votes necessary to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame again.
Manning, who was in his second year as one of the 15 modern-era finalists, didn’t make the cut, according to The Athletic.
While it isn’t the biggest Hall of Fame story of the week — Bill Belichick not being a first-ballot inductee set the football world aflame — Manning has been a hot-button Canton topic since he became eligible.
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Many believe that Manning will make it in as a Hall of Famer one day, but there’s another side of the argument that he shouldn’t.
The former’s argument is Manning, the younger brother of Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, ranks 11th all-time in passing yards and passing touchdowns. And his two Super Bowls were against the New England Patriots, taking down Belichick and Tom Brady to spoil their perfect 2007 season and the 2011 campaign.
ELI MANNING DISHES ON STATE OF THE GIANTS AFTER ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ JOHN HARBAUGH HIRE
But Manning finished his career with an even 117-117 overall record with the Giants, eventually getting replaced by Daniel Jones, whom the team drafted to be the next great franchise quarterback. The smaller piece of the argument against Manning is, while he has all those passing touchdowns and yards, he led the league three separate times in interceptions.
Looking at both sides, the pros appear to outweigh the cons, especially considering he is just one of six players in NFL history to have multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. Some of the notable others include Brady and Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, both of whom are already considered first-ballot Hall of Famers.
The other three are football royalty — Joe Montana, Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw.
A former player, coach or executive needs at least 80% of votes to get in. From a 50-person panel, made up of one media member from each pro football city, a 33rd member from the Pro Football Writers of America, and up to 17 at-large delegates, control who heads to Canton and who remains outside of the hallowed halls.
The full Class of 2026 will be officially announced on Feb. 5, 2026 during the NFL Honors special, which will be televised from San Francisco.
A modern-era player like Manning is eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot from their fifth year of retirement and up until their 25th year.
Manning continues to be involved with the game today, especially with his Giants. He has been a high-valued voice for the franchise despite not holding any big title. With the team’s new regime headed by John Harbaugh, it remains to be seen what type of impact Manning could have moving forward.
"It couldn't have worked out any better," Manning told Fox News Digital in a recent interview regarding Harbaugh's hire. "I knew the Giants, you're just like, 'Hey, you need someone with head coaching experience and a guy who's been in this situation, who's going to know how to deal with the New York media, who's going to kind of take over as the CEO of not just the team, but the whole organization and the whole building around the Giants. The problem is that person probably doesn't exist. He's not out there.’
"And then, all of a sudden, there's John Harbaugh sitting there. It's just unbelievable, a person that's had great success in the NFL. It just could not be a better fit. I'm so excited for him, I've had some long conversations with him about this, and I think he's gonna do an unbelievable job and excited about getting the Giants back on track."
As Manning hopes his former team does get back on track, he will have to wait at least another year before possibly hearing his name called at the NFL Honors, indicating he can join his brother and the rest of the great football Hall of Famers.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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