The Josh Innes Show - Is Eli Manning a HOFer?

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

Generally speaking, I really, really hate this type of discussion. But, the weird obsession with Eli Manning is bizarre. I'm aware he won two Super Bowls. Cool. No other metric shows him as a HOFer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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All right, let's see here. We were talking a little earlier in one of the other episodes briefly about Eli Manning and whether or not Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer, which I don't believe that he is. And that was one of the talks of, you know, kind of going back and forth with people and just how it's pointless, basically, to argue with anybody about these things. But I don't know, man. Like, my issue, again, with arguing with people on social media is there's no such thing as a healthy back and forth discourse.

It's just either they agree with you or you're a dumb piece of shit. And I think that's one of the worst things that's happened to us as a people. And I think social media has made this a lot easier is people don't have like civil. Not even civil. It's sports. They don't have to be civil. But like nobody even wants a back and forth. No one wants to entertain your idea.

It's just you're a dumb piece of shit if people disagree with you. If this person disagrees with you, you are a dumb piece of shit. Let's do this. Let's play a couple commercials get into this. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health. From the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today. And may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer.

The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. All right. So let's look at some of the quarterbacks because one of the main arguments that people have made for why Eli Manning is a Hall of Fame. is because he won two Super Bowl MVP's, right? He won two Super Bowl MVP's, therefore Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer. Here's why that is flawed.

It's flawed because you were the quarterback, you won the MVP because you were the quarterback. Most of the time, the quarterback, for the most part, I say most of the time, the quarterback is going to be the MVP of the Super Bowl, barring something spectacular from somebody else. I mean, go down the list. Jalen Hertz MVP. Pat Mahomes, the two Super Bowls before that MVP. Let's see, Cup 1 and 56. Tom Brady MVP of 55. Mahomes of 54. Julian Edelman of 53. Foles 52. Brady 51.

I mean, just again, the vast majority of these are going to go to the quarterback that wins the game, right? So your argument that, oh, he was the Super Bowl MVP twice, that's almost a default award that's going to go to someone unless you were just total dog shit. If you were total shit, then yeah, there's a chance you don't win the award. So if you win and you win the Super Bowl, but you just absolutely stunk, maybe a defensive player will win it. Maybe a running back will win it. Maybe a defensive player will win it. Big picture, unless you're awful, you're going to win the MVP as the quarterback. It's the same thing with the MVP award.

It's the same thing with the Heisman trophy. It's a quarterback award, right? So I don't care about that. Super Bowl MVP means absolutely nothing to me, right? Because it can't just be what you did in two games. It can't be what you did just in the postseason. It has to be a combination of all of these things. And the only really impressive statistic that Peyton Manning, or rather Eli Manning, has over the course of his career in the regular season,

as he's like 11th all-time and passing yards. Well, I feel like if you play 15, 16 seasons as the starting quarterback, you're probably going to amass a lot of yards. So I think what you can't do is get caught up in like the cumulative statistics when you're looking at somebody for awards, right? Or for, yeah, I get that that's part of it. But I also can't entertain the idea that, hey, some guy played for 22 years, so therefore he's number 20 all time and blank, right? Or number two all time and blank. I don't look at things that way.

I want to know what you did when you were at the apex of your game. What you did whenever you were the best at what you were doing, how long you did that, how good you did that, all that. I never once watched Eli Manning and felt that Eli Manning was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. And he played in that kind of golden era of these quarterbacks that we all hold in such high regard, right? Like he played in the Brady, Peyton, Drew Breeze. There's a very strong case, by the way. Ben Rothesberger ain't a Hall of Famer.

Let me ask you this. Do you think Ben Rothlessberger is a Hall of Famer? If you think Ben Ralthusberger, who by the way has won two Super Bowls, by the way, Ben Rathlisberger, and neither one of his Super Bowls won the MVP. So that's also the other thing I like is that Ben Ralthusberger won two Super Bowls, but didn't win the MVP in those and didn't play particularly well in one of them but still won. He's the greatest example. He's a great example of like a guy who played like shit, didn't win the quarterback MVP but won the

game and that would be Ben Ralthusberger, right? Has Ben Ralthusberger a Hall of Famer? because my first instinct is Eli Manning, Ben Ralthusberger, they all kind of fall into the same category, right? Like, do I believe that Ben Rathlisberger was one of the elite quarterbacks in the history of the game? I don't. Even though he's got two Super Bowls.

Do I feel that Russell Wilson? No. Like, I think what's happening here with halls of fame and I think social media has caused this because there are outcries and people bitch constantly, and a lot of times they bitch on behalf of people that they watched and that were their players, so they don't look at things objective.

I don't believe Russell Wilson is a Hall of Famer. I don't believe Ben Ralthusburgers. These are very fucking good quarterbacks, by the way. They're very good. They're solid players. Russell, when he was at his apex in Seattle, he was very good. He also had one of the best defenses ever with him, right? But like, I don't look at Russell Wilson and say he's a Hall of Famer.

I don't look at Ben Ralthusberger and say he's a Hall of Famer. I don't look at Peyton Manning and say he's a Hall of Famer. Rogers I do, Drew Brees I do, Tom Brady I do, Peyton Manning I do. Again, this is that first instinct, your first thought, top of your head. But here's what happens. People get caught up in who's famous, right? Ben Ralthusberger was the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers and won two Super Bowls. Ben Ralthusberger is famous.

So you think of Ben Ralthusberger and you go, Ben Ralthusberg is a Hall of Famer. Russell Wilson, famous, multiple Super Bowl, should have won two, dumb play call. through the interception. I don't feel that Russell Wilson is a Hall of Famer in the same way that I don't feel Manning is. And you've got to start looking at examples. Like, Joe Flacco is a really good example. If you look at Joe Flacco's cumulative statistics, I bet Joe Flacco ranks pretty high in a bunch of categories, right?

Let me Google this. Where does Joe Flacco rank in statistical categories all time in the NFL? Let's see here. Joe Flacco all time. So let's look at this. All right. So passing yards, he's 14th all time. Completions.

He's 12th all time. Touchdowns. He's 19th all time. Attempts he's 12th. He's won an MVP and a Super Bowl. Do you believe that Joe Flacco is a Hall of Famer? I don't. It is acceptable to be in the hall of very good.

And it's somehow like we don't accept that for people now. You either are a Hall of Famer or like, basically we look at everybody who's done anything that's ever been decent. And we look at them and go, oh, they're a Hall of Famer. It's okay to leave people out. There were a lot of really good quarterbacks that played. At least there were 10, 11, 12 really good quarterbacks that played in that era from like 07, 08 to, you know, 2020-ish, right? Ralthusberger was really good at stretches. Flacco had really one really memorable year and one really memorable playoff run where he was fantastic.

Eli Manning. Here's the reality about Eli Manning. If Eli Manning doesn't play in New York and he's the quarterback in Jacksonville, I don't think anybody gives a shit. And he probably doesn't win the Super Bowl's because he doesn't have the defense he had. But that all goes with it, so fine. But the reality is that Eli Manning, because he plays in New York and his name is Manning, we view him differently and he's famous and he's a bunch of commercials and the Manning cast.

Eli Manning is not a Hall of Famer. And I'm going to say you'd be hard pressed to find people outside of Giants fans and New York media jimokes who think he is. So if you looked at this, like let's look at the top 10 quarterbacks. Like let's pick a random year. Let's go to 2000. I don't know, 2013. Let's see. NFL passing leaders 2013.

Just a random year. So here we go. Passing statistics. NFL passing 2013. Is Peyton Manning a Hall of Famer? Yes. Is Drew Brees a Hall of Famer? Yes. Is Matt Stafford a Hall of Famer? Probably. But like I fight with people on that a lot.

Like I think he's probably a Hall of Famer. He's been to, you know, he's gone to the Super Bowl. He's won it. But I don't know. I'm not certain. Like when it's a guy like Stafford, that's when they have to start digging into the statistics. Like the first instinct is not Stafford Hall of Fame. Is Matt Ryan a Hall of Famer? In my opinion, no. Is Philip Rivers a Hall of Famer? In my opinion, no. But Philip Rivers also won some offensive player of the year awards. Is Brady a Hall of Famer? Is Dalton no? Is Carson Palmer? No.

Is Ralthusberger? No. Is Joe Flacco no? Is Tony Romo? No. Is Eli Manny? No. It's Russell Wilson.

No. You are allowed to be really good, but not be a Hall of Famer. And it's like we can't operate in that world, the world of social media and Twitter and people constantly bitching and fighting with each other. We cannot operate in a world where it's okay to just be really fucking good, but you're not a Hall of Famer. What's hurt these halls of fame, it's by. in large is the era of social media has hurt Hall of Fames because what you end up with is you get people who are getting in because of social media, because the outcry, the outpouring on social media.

And we're just diluting the halls of fame. The various Hall of Fames or Halls of Fames are being diluted by putting in OK dudes. Did Matt Ryan actually get in? I forgot if Matt Ryan actually got in if he's been elected to the Hall of Fame or not. He's been a one-time all-pro. He won the MVP. He's been to the Super Bowl and blew it. Matt Ryan is not a Hall of Famer.

I forgot if Ryan is actually like, if he's on the ballot, I forgot what the situation was with Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan, he built up a bunch of statistics over the course of a long career. But does anybody really view Matt Ryan? When you talk about all-time great quarterbacks, do you view Matt Ryan as an all-time great quarterback? I don't. Do I think Drew Breeze is?

Yes. But hell, look at Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan 124-109 and 1 in his career. He's got a better winning percentage. He actually has a winning percentage when Eli Manning doesn't. Got through for 62,000, 63,000 yards, 381 touchdowns. Because if you're going to start putting Eli Manning in the Hall of Fame, then Matt Ryan's a Hall of Famer, right?

I know he didn't have the Super Bowl wins. But by the way, neither would Eli Manning, if not for a couple of miracle catches against the Patriots. So is Matt Ryan a Hall of Famer? Let's look at Rusty Wilson. Let's look at Russell Wilson here. Russell Wilson, 47,000 career passing yards, 353 touchdowns. He won 41 more games than he lost.

And that's what the dog shit that he was in the last couple years. I mean, look at the number of times this guy won double-digit games. That's another thing for Eli Manning. You know how many times the Giants won double-digit games in a season with Eli Manning? Like two or three? And even the years they got in and won, it was one of those kind of miracle post-season runs. But then you start looking at, I mean, look. Russell, to me, Russell Wilson has a better claim, a much, much greater claim to being a

Hall of Famer than Eli Manning outside of Eli Manning played in New York and his name is Manning.