NEW ORLEANS — Not the first time around.
Eli Manning failed to receive the needed votes for first ballot election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The results from the Hall of Fame selection committee were revealed Thursday night at the NFL Honors ceremony and Manning did not qualify, failing to garner the 80 percent threshold for enshrinement.
Manning was in his hometown this week for various events and appearances leading into Super Bowl 2025 but this did not turn out to be a grand homecoming for him.
The former Giants quarterback, beloved by the fanbase for the glory he brought to the franchise, starring in, winning and being named Most Valuable Player in two Super Bowls triumphs, will have to wait until next year to see if he will join his older brother, Peyton, in Canton.
Whether he got in or not, Manning on Thursday night was scheduled to dine with 30 of his closest family and friends at Rao’s, the famous East Harlem eatery.
Rao’s Gridiron Club opened for five nights a pop-up restaurant in the Warehouse District in the Big Easy, and Manning scored three tables at this exclusive spot.
Manning missed out in his first year on the ballot, as there were enough skeptics on the 49-person selection committee who did not view him as worthy of first ballot admittance.
Some of the voters might not view him as a Hall of Famer at all, based on his modest regular season achievements.
In the end, his spectacular performances in two playoff runs — after the 2007 and 2011 seasons — and the way he thwarted the mighty Patriots, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, not once, but twice, were not enough to vault him into the Hall this time around.
A few weeks before the voting took place and results were made official, Manning told The Post he was taking this all in stride.
“I guess it’s different just because it’s all out of your hands, you’re not campaigning for it, you’re not trying to talk to people about it or prove your point,’’ Manning said. “If I get in it will be an awesome, unbelievable few days down in New Orleans and if I don’t it’s not gonna ruin it for me, I’m not going to be in a bad mood, I’m not going to be sulking around. Just to be included in the top 15 this year is a great honor and so I look at all of this as positive and a fun experience.’’
Manning was named the MVP of Super Bowl 2008 in Glendale, Ariz. — a 17-14 v victory — and Super Bowl 2012 in Indianapolis — a 21-17 triumph.
He is one of only 13 quarterbacks with two Super Bowl championships and seven of them are in the Hall of Fame.
There are only six quarterbacks in NFL history with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. Of that elite group, Joe Montana, Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw are enshrined. Brady and Patrick Mahomes will be enshrined as soon as they are eligible.
So, Manning is the only retired two-time Super Bowl MVP not assured of enshrinement.
Manning, 44, retired after the 2019 season. His 57,023 passing yards and 366 passing touchdowns remain in the top-10 all-time. His consecutive game streak of 210 is tied for 10th-longest.
When asked by The Post what he was most proud of in his career, Manning mentioned his performances in the biggest game and his reliability and durability.
“I think about the things that are most special to me,’’ Manning said. “Obviously championships are the goal of any player, especially from a quarterback standpoint, just because you have so much control in your hands, and the fact that we did it against the Patriots on two-minute drives to go win it, I think that was one of my strong suits as a player, stepping up in critical games and stepping up in critical moments of games, in the fourth quarter, in two-minute drives and being in those situations and the moment not being too big for me.
“And then having never missed a game to injury and the consecutive starts streak [210 games] I had, that was always important to me. Those are some of the biggest things I’m most proud of as a player.’’
Those who questioned if Manning’s resume was Hall-ready in his first year, or ever, point to his regular-season career record of 117-117, his modest career passer rationing of 84.1 (60th all-time), the fact that he never received a single vote for the MVP award in the regular season and was named to only four Pro Bowls in his 16 seasons.
There were no other quarterbacks among the 15 finalists for Hall of Fame consideration this year.
