The worst quarterbacks in the NFL Hall Of Fame after Eli snub

Eli Manning was snubbed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. For some, he was a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, while others believe he isn’t worthy of the famous gold jacket.

There is no denying Manning’s impact on the New York Giants during his career. Per Jordan Ranaan for ESPN, he never missed a game due to injury in 16 years with the Giants, passing for 57,023 yards and 366 touchdowns along the way. Oh, and he also won a couple of Super Bowls…

Manning’s career coincided with some of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, including his brother, Peyton, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and of course, Tom Brady. Because of this, the former Giant was never the best quarterback in the league during his career, and was arguably never top three, or even top five.

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What Manning did have, was a penchant for the dramatic, stepping up for Big Blue in the biggest of moments. He twice led game-winning drives to beat the Tom Brady Patriots in the Super Bowl, which some believe is enough to make it to Canton.

Hall of Fame voter Gary Myers said, “In the interest of full transparency, I voted for Eli Manning and spoke up for him at our meeting. I believe Manning beating the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl with two-minute drives and being named Super Bowl MVP each time, along with currently being 11th all-time in touchdown passes and yardage, presents a convincing resume,” per ESPN.

Manning finished his career with a perfect .500 record, going 118-118. Is that really Hall of Fame worthy? We know ‘QB Wins’ isn’t a perfect stat, but Manning’s brother Peyton finished his career 186–79, and we know he is a better overall player, so there’s something there.

For now, Manning will have to wait, with his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame now at least a year away. But now, with the two-time Super Bowl MVP on the outside looking in, we’re going to take a look at the worst quarterbacks to be enshrined in Canton.

‘Broadway Joe’ is undeniably a legendary quarterback whose career exploded after guaranteeing victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. However, the rest of his career is nothing special, passing for far more interceptions (220) than touchdowns (173). If Namath can get in for winning one Super Bowl, does that not mean Manning should for two?

Moon was a good quarterback, who was ahead of the curve in many ways. His 1991 season still ranks 19th for most passing attempts in a season (655), far earlier than all the others on the top-20 list. Moon never made a conference championship game and yet was enshrined in Canton. Whether it’s a battle of individual counting stats, or team success, Manning probably comes out on top.

As Chris Chase wrote for USA Today, “He [Griese] had a great career, but it’s not the Hall of Great. A voter should ask, what would happen if this quarterback was put on another team, in this case one without the No-Name Defense. I doubt he’d have had a 92-56-3 record!” Leading the only undefeated team in history certainly helps, but his statistics as a passer are unremarkable, even for the time.

Troy Aikman is a good comparison to Manning when it comes to Hall of Fame enshrinement. Aikman did win three Super Bowls to Manning’s two, which certainly helped his cause, but he was also probably never the player Manning was. Pro Football Reference has a statistic, ‘Approximate Value,’ that ranks all NFL players. Aikman is 228th, and Eli is 29th.

We believe Eli Manning is deserving of entry to Canton, but we’re not sure if it would have been right for him to enter on his first go around. How it has transpired is, in our minds at least, correct. Let him get his gold jacket, but make sure he has to wait a little while first.

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