A lot of conflict on the WFAN airwaves about Eli Manning not being a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, with some being puzzled by it, and some understanding that maybe Eli has to wait a bit.
Evan Roberts, sitting next to one of Eli’s teammates for the first few years of his career, decided to play a little Devil’s Advocate on Eli’s candidacy Friday…and that brought out the viper in Tiki Barber.
“If you take away the postseason and you're just judging Eli Manning as a regular-season quarterback, I think most of us would agree he is not a Hall of Famer,” Evan said. “If we can all take a step back and admit as a regular-season quarterback, he's not it, how much are you, as an individual, gonna put into what he did on those two Super Bowl run and the story of the NFL to say, that's enough to get in? That's what it comes down to.”
Maybe, but the postseason counts to Tiki.
“What do we play this game for? Is it to make money? Is it to get people to go to stadiums and sit their asses in seats and watch a fun product? Is it to win the division or get to the playoffs?” Tiki asked. “It is all of that, but it is especially to win Super Bowls, and Eli Manning did that with great aplomb, twice, against what we have grown to be indoctrinated into, against the greatest team in the history of great teams. That's what the Patriots were!”
Evan agrees that yes, he beat the Pats twice in the postseason, once foiling their attempt for just the second perfect season in league history, but for Tiki it boils down to one thing:
“You play to win, and he did.”