The NFL announced its four-man class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Thursday’s NFL Honors ceremony. Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was not among the four selected for enshrinement in 2025, his first year on the ballot.
Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner, was among the 15 semifinalists for the honor. However, he failed to meet the 80% threshold required to earn enshrinement, meaning he will have to wait at least a year before potentially joining his brother Peyton in Canton.
Still, the younger Manning brother didn’t seem worried about missing the Hall of Fame when asked about it during interviews at the Super Bowl on Friday.
‘I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be my night, and I understand that,’ Manning said in an appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. ‘I’m totally at peace. It’s not gonna change my outlook on my career and how I feel about it.’
Manning had pedestrian numbers during his 16-year NFL career, posting a 117-117 record and an 84.1 passer rating while leading the league in interceptions in three seasons.
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That said, Manning won two Super Bowls against the New England Patriots and was named the MVP in both of those games. He is one of just 13 NFL quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls as a starting quarterback. Eight of those signal-callers are in the Hall of Fame while three are yet to be eligible.
The lone two to be eligible for enshrinement but not make it in are Manning and Jim Plunkett.
Despite this, Manning acknowledged in several interviews that he ‘was happy for the guys that got in’ to the Hall of Fame. He also offered praise to the two inductees against whom he played during his career.
‘I competed against Jared Allen, I sent him a text, I feel like I kind of got him in because he sacked me so many times, I helped his resume,’ Manning said in an appearance on PFT Live. ‘Antonio Gates, when I was coming out, thinking about going to the Chargers, doing workouts with them, they were telling me ‘We’ve got this guy on the practice squad who didn’t play college football but he’s going to be a superstar, Hall of Famer,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ So happy for him.’
Manning will continue to be on the NFL’s Hall of Fame ballot moving forward and figures to be a perennial semifinalist as long as he fails to qualify for enshrinement.
And with Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees joining the ballot in 2026, among others, it isn’t clear whether Manning will make it to Canton on his second chance.
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