Say what you want about New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, but the
brother is the Rodney Dangerfield of The National Football League as he
simply does not get respect that he deserves. Manning is a two-time
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player that some people still view as Peyton’s
little brother and Archie’s son. Manning isn’t even the most talked
about quarterback in New York City as people are more prone to discuss
New York Jets quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez. Manning’s critics
laughed at the notion of him referring to himself as an elite
quarterback last season. The latest insult to injury for Manning came on
The NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2012 program in which he was only
ranked number 31 by his peers.
Last season Manning threw for 4,933 yards. In a normal year that mark
would have led the league, but Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Matthew
Stafford all passed for over 5,000 yards so Manning settled for fourth.
With a Giant team that was riddled with injuries last season, Manning
was the steady force that kept the team in contention until The Giants
got healthy for the stretch run. Last season Manning set a NFL record
with 15 fourth quarter touchdown passes and he led Big Blue to six
fourth quarter comebacks. At 27,579 passing yards, Manning is currently
51st on The NFL’s all-time list as he is in the prime of his career.
Manning also needs a shade under 6,000 passing yards to pass Phil Simms
as The Giants franchise leader.
The only player to win more Super Bowl MVP’s than Manning is Hall of
Fame quarterback Joe Montana who was a three-time winner. People tend to
overlook Manning because he does not captivate the emotions of fans the
way that Brett Favre did and he doesn’t throw the football a country
mile like Dan Marino; all he does is win. There isn’t a Giant fan around
that doubts that Manning will bring the team back from a deficit in the
fourth quarter when he has the ball and more importantly his teammates
and his opponents know the same thing. When former Giants general
manager Ernie Acorsi scouted Manning at Ole Miss he compared him to John
Elway for his knack to make comebacks and remain unflappable. In last
year’s NFC Championship Game against The San Francisco 49ers, Manning
was pummeled as he was sacked six times and was under pressure during
every pass attempt. In typical Eli Manning fashion, he never yelled at
his offensive line or his receivers, all he did was continuously pick
himself up off of the canvas like Rocky Balboa and get ready for the
next round. Teammates respect efforts like that from their quarterback
and The Giants rallied and found a way to win in overtime 20-17.
Montana like Manning was overlooked by other quarterbacks such as Elway
and Marino during his era. Montana’s Niners easily triumphed over
Marino’s Dolphins and Elway’s Broncos in two Super Bowls which made
Montana “king of the 80s”. Manning has defeated Brady twice in The Super
Bowl and he and his Giant teammates are a loaded, disrespected group
that are looking forward at trying to repeat as Super Bowl Champions
this season.
The only active quarterback that has won more Super Bowls than Manning
is Brady who Manning defeated twice on football’s biggest stage. Unlike
his brother Peyton, Eli earned his Super Bowl MVP Awards as they were
not handed to him by a bumbling Rex Grossman. People can talk about all
of the individual accolades that Peyton Manning has, but in the immortal
words of Mike Singletary, “I want winners”. All Eli Manning does is
win. Former New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel might call Manning
“gangster” in referring to his play. If Manning wins another Super Bowl I
am sure that people will find a flaw in his game, luckily for him he is
allergic to “hatorade”.
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