Eli Manning is not losing any sleep over his latest Pro Football Hall of Fame snub.
Manning was not elected in his second year of eligibility, and the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback with the Giants addressed his exclusion so far in an appearance on Jon Gruden’s “Gruden Goes Long” podcast.
“It doesn’t keep me up at night. I’m not going to be bitter at it. I’m not bitter at the game of football,” Manning said. “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. 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 I had to wait to get in.”
Manning, who threw for 57,023 yards in his 16-year NFL career, has been among 15 finalists in each of his first two years of eligibility for enshrinement in Canton.
The 2026 class was announced earlier this month, with Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and senior finalist Roger Craig among those elected.
Manning also was passed over last year for a class featuring Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe.
Gaining election won’t get easier for the 45-year-old Manning, as next year’s first-ballot eligible players will include Rob Gronkowski, Adrian Peterson, Richard Sherman and Ben Roethlisberger.
Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowl titles as head coach of the Patriots, also fell short this year of reaching the required 40 out of 50 votes during his first year of eligibility. Manning was named MVP twice as the Giants defeated the Pats in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.