COLUMN: Eli’s chance to create his own legacy, step out of family shadow
For 31 years Eli Manning has been walking in the shadows of his own family.
He was, before anything else, the son of NFL great Archie Manning. Even before he’d taken a step or said a word, his father’s successes in the NFL cast a shadow over him. Years later, the shadow of Archie was cast aside in favor of big brother Peyton.
No longer was Eli Archie’s son, instead he was Peyton’s little brother. Before he’d even played a down in college football at Ole Miss, he was hit with expectations of playing as well as or better then Peyton had at Tennessee.
When he made it to the NFL, he was now expected to lead the Giants in the same way Peyton had led the Colts. Indeed, after this most recent shadow was cast, it looked like Eli might never get out from under it.
Peyton had made his way into the top tier of NFL quarterbacks ever, and of course the best in the Manning family. After Peyton led the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI that shadow over Eli grew even larger.
But Eli responded in his typical quiet manner by leading the New York Giants to a 17-14 win over the previously-undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. It was one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
Of course that win didn’t cast big brother Peyton’s shadow aside, but Eli put himself on the radar as a quarterback to be taken seriously.
Now fast forward to 2011.
Eli starts off the season by saying he’s in the top tier of NFL quarterbacks just like Tom Brady. Then after Week 15 his Giants are 7-7 and it looks like they won’t even make the playoffs. So much for top-tier quarterback right?
Five games later and this same Eli-led Giants squad is now in the Super Bowl. Once again, they’ll be up against Tom Brady and the Patriots.
What happens to that shadow if Eli leads the Giants to Super Bowl glory again?
What about his statement at the start of the year about being a top-tier quarterback?
In Tom Brady’s playoff career he’s never lost to the same team twice. Eli and the Giants could be the first. Not only that, but it would give Eli a 3-1 edge over Brady in head-to-head matchups. But, more important, Eli would have a 2-0 edge in Super Bowls.
If Eli Manning can lead his Giants to another Super Bowl win over the Patriots, it will be Eli’s turn to cast a shadow. With another Super Bowl win, he’ll have more Super Bowl victories than dad and big brother combined.
Not only that, but any claim that Eli is not a top-tier quarterback would be futile. The list of NFL quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl rings is small and includes names like Brady, Roethlisberger, Elway, Montana, Bradshaw, Griese, Aikman, Staubach, Starr and Plunkett.
After all, at the end of the day, it’s not about how many wins you had in the regular season, how many touchdowns or interceptions you threw, but it’s about who won the Super Bowl. It’s about who played the best in the biggest games.
Two wins — both against the Patriots — and no losses would be pretty hard to argue against.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, yet, though. The game still has to be played, and Brady and the Patriots won’t make it easy.
But don’t forget either that with a Giants win, for the first time in his life, Eli Manning will be out of the family shadows.
No more Archie’s son or Peyton’s little brother. Just Eli Manning.
– Spencer Wright is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. He supports Manchester United and hopes to live long enough to watch the Cubs win a World Series. Send any comments to eliason.wright3@aggiemail.usu.edu.