Eli Manning will reportedly retire from the NFL on Friday, this after an illustrious 16-year career.
The first overall pick in 2004, Manning spent his entire career with the New York Giants and was a two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time Super Bowl MVP. He started 210 straight games – second all-time among quarterbacks – and went 8-4 in the postseason, capping two magical playoff runs with Super Bowl wins over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Manning’s Hall of Fame candidacy has already become a hot topic of debate.
“He’ll be in the Hall of Fame. It’s not going to be much of a debate,” legendary broadcaster Jim Nantz said on The Zach Gelb Show. “People can sit around, talk about it, be snarky about it, whatever. As always, this is what sports is fueled by: debate. But he will be in, there is no question about it.”
Manning led the Giants to six playoff appearances, most recently in 2016. That Wild Card loss to the Packers was Manning’s lone playoff game after beating the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012.
Still, many analysts believe Manning is headed to Canton.
As for the Patriots, it remains to be seen where Tom Brady will play in 2020. After two decades in New England, there’s a legitimate possibility that Brady could move on.
“That’s the one we all can’t wait to find out the most,” Nantz said. “I don’t have any inside information about it. [Jason La Canfora] has him going to the Chargers. The big thing what everybody wants to know is will we see him again in a New England uniform. That’s the question. I don’t have anything to go on, but my hunch tells me he’ll play somewhere else.”