Thanks Eli

Sixteen years is a long time to be doing something. In the sports world, that;'s a very distinguished career. Such is the case for former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. I say former because as of Friday afternoon, Eli Manning has called it a career. Sixteen years and two super bowls later, Eli has retired from the NFL. What made this sweeter was that Eli wet out his way, as a member of the New York Giants.

Eli's had himself a pretty good career. Two Super Bowl titles, beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in both of them. Eli finished his career with a 117-117 regular season record, with his best year being in 2008 going 12-4. During his career, Manning threw for 57,023 yards, 366 touchdowns and 244 picks. Those touchdowns and passing yard numbers are both franchise records for the Giants. He was just as good in the playoffs. In 12 career post season games, Eli started 12 games, going 8-4. He threw for 2,815 yards, with 18 touchdowns and nine picks. In both of the Giants Super Bowl wins, Eli was named MVP in both games. In doing so, Eli became one of five players to have multiple Super Bowl MVP awards, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw, who also have two, Joe Montana, who's got three, and Tom Brady who has four.

Part of what made Eli so awesome and somebody to admire as a quarterback was his durability. From November 21st of 2004 through November 23rd of 2017, Manning started 210 straight games. At the time, it was the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history (to Brett Favre's 297). After sitting out one game, he started the next 22 in a row, giving him 232 starts in 233 games – plus 12 postseason games. It's truly amazing that Manning never missed a game because of injury. It was announced at the press conference today that not only will Eli get inducted into the Giants ring of honor, but his number 10 will never be worn by another Giants player again.

Now there's two questions that stand out here for Eli announcing his retirement. Where does he rank among the greatest Giants Quarterbacks? And is he a lock to get into Canton?

When you think about some of the guys that have played Quarterback for the Giants, Eli has to be up in that argument. You have guys like Y.A. Tittle, Phil Simms, Fran Tarkenton, Kerry Collins, Jeff Hostetler. As good as those guys were, they couldn't do what Eli managed to do in a Giants uniform. He's going to go down in the books as the greatest quarterback to ever play for the New York Giants. The numbers speak for themselves, but they only tell part of the story. He lead on the field by letting his play do the talking. He had a quiet confidence about him that rubbed off on his teammates. he was also very giving, having his hand in many charitable causes. he could do a lot and wasn't bragging about it, coming across as a very humble guy from start to finish during his career.

As far as his place in Canton is concerned, I think that's pretty much a lock at this point. He may not have put up as flashy numbers as big brother Peyton, but he was still a steady QB and I think he was good enough to be able to get into the hall. It won't be a first year on the ballot lock, but Eli will get in when his time does come.

Thanks for everything Eli. You did a hell of a lot for New York Football and we all had the pleasure of watching you play.