The Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) announced its finalists for the Class of 2026. 15 players who many grew up watching will be considered for a gold jacket, including legendary New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
To Giants fans' pleasure, Manning made the cut, alongside some household names, because he's one himself. His candidacy has been a contentious topic since retiring from the NFL in January 2021. Nevertheless, here we are, with the two-time Super Bowl winner and MVP getting one step closer to Canton.
Eli Manning is one of 15 Finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 🏆 pic.twitter.com/sn9d8imih7
— New York Giants (@Giants) December 30, 2025
Giants fans rejoice as Eli Manning named 2026 Hall of Fame finalist
As Manning and Big Blue Nation know, this doesn't mean he'll be enshrined. They learned that the hard way when he reportedly came up short after "vigorous discussion" regarding his nomination for the Class of 2025. However, this was a massive hurdle to clear.
Frankly, the case against Manning is baffling and holds little to no value. He wasn't truly regarded as one of the elite signal-callers and has a career .500 record; so what?
Considering Manning overlapped with iconic passers like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and his brother Peyton, the odds were always against him. Of course, he has zero All-Pro nods and was never in contention for regular-season MVP, but that's because the other four were hogging the accolades. They weren't just superstars -- that's a Mount Rushmore quartet.
Moreover, Warren Moon, Class of 2006, went 102-101 in his 203 starts, and Dan Fouts, Class of 1993, was 86-84-1. They're both behind Manning on the all-time passing yards and touchdowns lists, and neither hoisted the Lombardi Trophy once, let alone reach the Big Game.
Joe Namath, Class of 1985, tossed more interceptions than touchdowns during his time in the pros and barely finished with a 50 percent completion rate. Does compiling strong counting stats mean nothing? Why is Manning being held to a wildly high standard that others aren't when he has a résumé that speaks for itself?
Despite hanging up the cleats years ago, Manning has stayed in the spotlight and remains the face of New York football. He's the Giants' all-time leader in games played, wins and just about any major franchise passing record you can think of. The Big Apple is arguably the biggest North American sports market, so that alone should hold weight.