Eli Says He’ll Play Til 40, Maybe Longer

Eli Manning is in San Francisco for Super Bowl week supporting his 39-year old brother Peyton in what may be his final game in the NFL. The New York Giants QB just turned 35 one month ago, so what does Eli have left in the tank?

“I feel great,’’ Eli said. “I’m very healthy, have been very fortunate there. I feel like I have my best football ahead of me and can play at an extremely high level.” Manning had his best statistical season in 2015 and has flourished since the arrival of Ben McAdoo. Now that McAdoo is head coach, their partnership will will continue as long as they are successful.

Manning went on to give an assessment of how much time he expects to be in the game. “For the last two or three years I’ve said I have five more years in me. I still feel like I have five more years in me, so I’ll just keep saying that until I don’t have any more.’’ In September, Manning signed a 4-year, $84 million contract.

Barring serious injury like his brother Peyton, it’s completely reasonable for Eli to say he’ll be an NFL quarterback in five years. Eli has been remarkably healthy during his Giants tenure. Eli holds the record for consecutive starts by an NFL player at 183.

Of course, it’s all just talk in the end. Tom Brady, 38, said he wanted to play 10 more years in the NFL. That would put him pretty close to breaking George Blanda’s record. Blanca was the oldest player to ever take an NFL snap at 48 years old when he played his final game for the Oakland Raiders in January 1976.