Eli Manning’s eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a major talking point in the 2025 offseason. Though his two Super Bowls and an MVP award are among the elite, not many view him as worthy of the Hall of Fame, as his career wasn’t as consistent.
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Which is why he didn’t get selected for the HoF Class of 2025. However, he will try again in the future for a place in Canton. In his appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, he was asked whether he would lash out at the HoF voters like a bitter ex-NFL player. He said, “That’s just not really my personality. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Later, he joked that if he ever becomes a bitter old ex-football personality, he would choose Pardon My Take to get the frustration off his chest.
Moreover, if he is voted into the Hall of Fame, he said the thing he is most anxious about is his speech. “Well, I’m scared of public speaking. So, it’s usually almost like, ‘Oh, I’m kind of scared.’ Like, what would my speech be? Like, what if I screw up that? It’s going to be a lot of preparation.”
But at the same time, he said that, “It would be an unbelievable dream to join the greatest players to play the game, and to be a part of that group would be a tremendous honor, but it’s not something that like, it’s going to change my life forever if I get in. Like, I’m proud of my football career. I’m proud of my teammates. I’m proud of the friendships I’ve made through football. So that’ll always be more important than some honor or award that’s given to you after you’re done.”
It seems like Eli has already made peace with the fact that his career was legendary, even if he gets the Hall of Fame honor or not. After all, no one in the league has ever beaten the GOAT Tom Brady twice in the Super Bowl.
Eli pokes fun at his brother, Peyton Manning
In all fun and games, the host Big Cat asked Eli if Peyton wears his gold jacket around him as a show of mockery. “Yeah, he wears it all the time,” Eli responded. “It’s like just a Sunday dinner, like we’re back in New Orleans and he just pops on the gold jacket. It’s really annoying.”
Unlike Shannon Sharpe, who said, “I’m the second-best football player in my own family,” during his Hall of Fame induction, praising his big brother, Sterling, Eli said he couldn’t expect the same from his brother, Peyton, during his induction. Even if he had said it, then he would be referring to their dad, Archie Manning, he said.
Eli went on to poke fun at Peyton’s forehead like he always does. When wondering how they make the busts for the Hall of Fame, Eli said, “I’m sure Payton had a lot of directions and like tried to wear his hair different like more down and flat down so it wouldn’t show as much forehead, but yeah, it didn’t work.”
This is the classic dynamic between Eli and Peyton as they never fail to pull each other’s legs whenever they get a chance.
