Arguably the biggest talking point from Thursday’s “NFL Honors” awards show involved New York Giants legend Eli Manning failing to become a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Manning made multiple stops on Radio Row at the Super Bowl on Friday and, unsurprisingly to those who have followed his football-related endeavors over the past 20 years, handled questions about his Hall-of-Fame snub with class.
“I’m excited for those guys that got in,” Manning said during an appearance on NFL Network, per NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman. “All of them are so deserving. …Happy for them. Texted a few of them, the guys that I knew and just congratulated them. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be my night, and I understand that. I’m totally at peace. It’s not gonna change my outlook on my career and how I feel about it.”
Pass-rusher Jared Allen, cornerback Eric Allen, tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe are all part of the 2025 Hall of Fame class over Manning.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan was among those who mentioned before Thursday that Manning’s resume is complicated. Manning retired a .500 regular-season quarterback with a 117-117 career record but is a two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player who will forever be linked with two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. According to Raanan, seven of 10 Hall of Fame voters polled before Thursday said Manning will “eventually” receive his gold jacket.
Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith echoed that take.
“I was happy for the guys that got in,” Manning told the “Pro Football Talk Live” crew on Friday. “I competed against Jared Allen. I sent him a text. I feel like I kind of got him in because he sacked me so many times, I helped his resume. Antonio Gates, when I was coming out, thinking about going to the Chargers (before the 2004 NFL Draft), doing workouts with them, they were telling me, ‘We’ve got this guy on the practice squad who didn’t play college football but he’s going to be a superstar, Hall of Famer,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ So, happy for him.”
According to Ryan Heckman of GMenHQ, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during Friday’s edition of the “Get Up” program that Manning “is going to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame” and “is a Hall of Famer.”
Manning will have to wait at least one more year for such a memorable moment to become a reality.
