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Balloting for the 2025 Hall of Fame will be completed before Super Bowl week. Giants quarterback Eli Manning is on the ballot for the first time. And there’s a decent chance Eli will wait at least another year to get there.
On Sunday, Paul Schwartz of New York Post provided “some fireworks” among 49 voters on whether Eli will be in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. (PFT’s Charean Williams is one of the 49 voters.)
On the one hand, Eli won a pair of Super Bowl MVP awards, knocking off the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. On the other hand, he was only a four-time Pro Bowler, and was never a first- or second-team All Pro. Still, he is 11th in career passing yards (57,023), 11th in career passing yards (366). But he also has a career passer rating that, by today’s standards, is pedestrian at 84.1. (in the 2024 regular season, 23 qualifying starters had a higher passer rating.)
Complicating Eli’s case are recent voting changes. After the class of 15 modern finalists was whittled down to 10 and then 7, there are no more up or down votes for each one, an 80 percent “yes” vote is required. Instead, voters choose five out of seven, and only those who receive at least 80 percent of the vote are included. That means 40 out of 49 had to include Eli in their list of five candidates out of seven finalists.
During the finals ManningCast 2024 season, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick expressed optimism that Eli will succeed.
“You’re going to look great in a gold jacket,” Belichick said, via Dan Benton USA Today. “I am it’s bound to happen and you deserve it so much.”
Belichick likely has influence over some on the committee. Still, his strong endorsement of former Chargers and Patriots safety Rodney Harrison didn’t move the needle enough.
In time, the needle will move for Eli Manning, who also benefits from being called “Eli Manning” rather than, say, Joey Joe-Joe Junior Shabadoo. Eli’s post-football media presence will also help his cause.
Still, it might not be enough to get through on the first ballot. And, frankly, that honor should go to the players and coaches, for whom there will be no debate.
As Deion Sanders might say, that should be the standard for a reception on the first try or any try.
At the end of the day, that’s the difference between Peyton and Eli. Peyton was an unthinkable first-ballot Hall of Famer. If enough voters think Eli isn’t, that could keep him out until 2026, at the earliest.
