The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports
Building a legacy in the NFL is something that takes tireless dedication as well as incredibly fortunate circumstances. The New York Giants have enjoyed some enormous success over the past seven or eight seasons, but none of it would have been possible without their irreplaceable man under center, Eli Manning.
Once at the center of controversy when the San Diego Chargers selected him No. 1 overall back in 2004, Manning has come into his own and thrived under the bright lights of New York. His name really precedes him as a player given the success of his father, Archie, and more recently his brother, Peyton, who has rewritten many NFL records during his career.
Despite these lofty expectations, the youngest Manning has really developed into his own style of signal caller with the Giants. His quiet demeanor was off-putting for some early in his career, but those same fans have come around to his unassuming ways as he led the G-Men to two Super Bowl rings.
As Manning enters his decade year in the league, he has yet to miss a start since taking over the reigns full-time midway through his rookie season in 2004. Fans would like to knock on wood when saying or hearing such a statistic, but Manning’s durability has been very impressive given the inevitable bumps and bruises that accumulate during the course of each season.
Numbers really aren’t what separates Eli from the crowd when it comes to NFL signal callers. His career completion percentage is a modest 58.6 while his QBR tends to hover right around the fringe of the top 10. What he has that counts, however, are those two aforementioned Super Bowl rings as well as never finishing a season with a record below .500 as a full-time starter.
Manning might not offer the flash of many modern-day quarterbacks, but his game is more results oriented than anything. Giants fans have clearly come to appreciate and understand the importance of Manning to their football team. Because even though they stole Ryan Nassib in the fourth round of the NFL Draft this past April, no one in the Big Apple wants to see him under center in a regular season game any time soon.
Well, no one except for envious New York Jets fans, of course.
Anthony Blake is a Senior Writer/Copy Editor for Rant Sports. You Can Follow Him on Twitter, on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
