Quote:
Originally Posted by mooby
This is a debate I'm willing to have.
#1, he didn't do it single-handedly. He was surrounded by great talent - mainly on the defensive line that was the main reason Brady was held in check - and the offense did just enough to win. Both games. You gonna retire David Tyree's # too? Because I would argue without him Manning only has 1 ring.
The man is absolutely deserving of the ring-of-fame, or whatever the Giants equivalent is. But retiring a number? For a mildly-above average qb (and that's being complimentary) who had many average seasons despite the talent around him?
The Giants are basically saying you can be an average player who does 10-15 years and helps win a couple titles and that's good enough to have your jersey retired.
Name recognition strikes again - first it plagues the Pro Bowl, now this. This is how it starts.
|
He beat, arguably, the greatest regular season team in NFL history in the 2007 Patriots. This team didn't just go 16-0 but utterly annihilated their opponents including the Redskins 52-7. Eli made the plays in the moment and slayed the greatest dragon in NFL history. Tyree did make a great play for sure but none of this happens without Eli. Prior to knocking off the greatest team in NFL history, Eli went into Dallas and Green Bay and beat 2 very, very good teams also in the playoff run.
He also beat a 13-3 New England team in 2012 to bring home a 2nd Lombardi throwing for nearly 300 yards and playing better than Tom Brady.
In both years, he did enough to get his team to the playoffs and bring home 2 Lombardis. He's a 4x Pro Bowler who was also extremely durable. What he did in both Super Bowl runs is absolutely legendary. Him being a Hall of Famer is not even a question. It is a certainty.