Eli Manning is not 'bitter' about Hall of Fame snub: 'Doesn't keep me up at night'

Eli Manning had a legendary collegiate career at Ole Miss then went on to have an even more legendary professional career in the NFL.

Two Super Bowl rings, both against dominant New England Patriots teams, used to be the line of demarcation to being Hall of Fame worthy, or not. Manning has been eligible for the last two years of voting and has not gotten in.

Last year’s first-ballot opportunity was heavily debated but the thought was the voters will put Manning in the 2026 class. That did not happen either. New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees was the quarterback for this year’s Hall of Fame class as a first-ballot honoree.

Despite missing out his first two years of eligibility Manning is not pulling his hair out over it and explained why when talking to Jon Gruden on his ‘Gruden Goes Long’ show.

“It’s one of those deals, it doesn’t keep me up at night,” Manning said. “I’m not going to be bitter at it. I’m not bitter at the game of football. I loved my teammates, I loved the relationships, the friendships, the championships, the parades. When I think about football I think about touchdowns and my buddies and wins and plane rides home. I don’t think about the interceptions. I don’t think about the bad stuff. I think about the positive things. So, if I ever get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame I’ll take it as a positive and I’m not going to think about the years that I had to wait to get in.”

Manning finished with a 117-177 record as the Giants quarterback for 16 years from 2004 to 2019. He threw 366 touchdowns to 244 interceptions and finished his career with a rating of 84.1.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is not the only one Manning is not in as he is currently not in the College Football Hall of Fame, either. Despite a four-year career at Ole Miss where he finished with 10,119 passing yards to go with 81 touchdowns to only 35 interceptions.

The Ole Miss quarterback was more vocal about another major snub to this year’s Hall of Fame class.

Reports leaked early of Bill Belichick not being voted into this year’s class, which caused its own can of worms, and shocked the football world.

The legendary head coach and mastermind behind the Patriots dynasty, the same one Manning kept two more Super Bowl trophies away from, did not make it on his first try.

Manning had his reasons for why.

“I agree Belichick should have gotten in. Go down as the greatest coach of all time and he’s not getting into the Hall of Fame. …I think he pissed off so many people because he was beating them for so long and didn’t give great interviews that they held a grudge against him. But you shouldn’t take away from what he did on the field and winning football games.”

Belichick won six Super Bowls as the Patriots head coach and two more as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants in 1987 and 1991. He currently sits at 333 wins as a NFL head coach.