Eli Manning retires

Highest paid QB in NFL history at $252 mil. And those painful last years went on and on.

 

I mean, he probably would, probably on the fact that he won the only two titles in Vikings history after their previous failures.

 

Yeah, and the 13-yard touchdown pass moments later to win the Super Bowl was pretty boring.

<lights the pitchfork> NO HALL OF FAME FOR ELI!

 

It was an easy throw to a receiver who was wide open.

 

LOL. Franco Harris made an easy receptionn too.

 

The primary case for him to get in is the two SB wins, so his win/loss record is of course relevant to his case.

Plus, a pitcher’s actions are the same whether leading by 10 or losing by 10 and you can look at other stats to measure their effectiveness. Football is a game of interrelation — the best RB won’t do well behind a crappy line and the most effective QB is going to have a losing record if his defense always stinks, so determining whether someone is HOF worthy is always an imperfect exercise. However, the ability to lead a team to a win, although not solely a measure of a QB’s effectiveness, has to be considered.

 

This is sort of funny.

 

I noted this before. 8 out of the top 10 QBs in yards began their career after 1990. The same is true of TDs. Eli is 12th in interceptions. Only two of the top 11 QBs in this stat started their career after 1990.

His yards and TDs are purely a product of when Eli played in the NFL. Yet, in an era when interceptions were less frequent, Eli threw a ton. That's not good.

 

Dude, ya wanna double down on your losing bet? Eli is going into Canton on fucking roller skates. Ya can argue that he doesn't deserve it, but to argue that he's not going to make it is just idiocy. Jim Plunkett? JFC.

 

If I had to bet money on it, I'd say Eli is in. However, as this thread probably illustrates, it'll probably be pretty contentious when it is announced. It'll probably help that he will first be considered in 5 years, and not 10+ years from now, when as others have noted he'll be further down the passing yards leaderboard.

I also don't think Eli is that comparable to Plunkett, except for the two SB wins. Plunkett was MVP in one; Eli was MVP in both. Eli has always been seen as a QB you can build a team around, whereas Plunkett was traded once and released once, and didn't find success until later. This *is* value in providing some stability to build around, and for about 10 years, you knew Eli was good enough to be a playoff-caliber quarterback. I don't think he was a Top 5 quarterback most year, but he was probably Top 10 for most of his career. If I had a vote, he wouldn't be on my ballot, but I can understand why other people would; it's not a 'this is fucking crazy town' pick, like people wasting baseball HoF votes on Brad Penny.

(By the way, I'm glad the NBA wasn't the only league with insane draft pick trades in the earlier days. From Wikipedia: Prior to the 1976 NFL Draft, Plunkett was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for quarterback Tom Owen, two first round picks in 1976, and a first and second round pick in 1977. Plunkett led the 49ers to a 6–1 start before faltering to an 8–6 record. After a 5–9 season in 1977, the 49ers released him during the 1978 preseason.)

 

Plunkett was actually out of the league for an entire season before the Raiders brought him in as a backup. Even his numbers with the Raiders aren't great. As you said, he is not at all comparable to Manning.