Measuring up to a Manning

Having the surname name Manning comes with a fair amount of expectations in the NFL.

Former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft, first raised the bar as a two-time Pro Bowl selection during his 14-year NFL career.

Archie’s influence on the NFL was not limited to his own career though. He went on to raise three football-playing sons. Two are, of course, standouts in the NFL.

Peyton was a standout quarterback at Tennessee and quickly eclipsed his father’s stature in the NFL. Though Peyton has won four MVPs, been named an All-Pro five times, and been selected to 11 Pro Bowls, it was thought for years that he couldn’t win the big one.

Peyton lost his first three playoff appearances while posting numbers that paled in comparison to his stellar regular season stats. By the time he broke through with a pair of wins in 2003 he ran into a Tom Brady and the Patriots who eliminated Indianapolis in two straight seasons.

In between those two seasons, Eli, the youngest of the Manning brothers was drafted into the league. A standout at Ole Miss, Eli didn’t have quite the fanfare that his brother Peyton once had at high-powered Tennessee, but nonetheless the Chargers drafted him first overall—just like Peyton—in 2004.

Though Eli started his rookie year—just like Peyton—his regular season numbers never were in the same class as with the four-time MVP Peyton’s.

Then came 2007. One year after Peyton had finally won the big one, Eli’s Giants sneaked into the playoffs with a 10-6 record and came out with a Super Bowl win over the 18-0 Patriots. Eli was especially (and surprisingly) clutch during the four-game sweep, leading three game-winning drives and posting a combined QB rating of 95.7—much higher than his regular season total of 73.9.

Four years later, with Eli setting records for most fourth-quarter TD passes (15) in one season, while leading the NFL with six game-winning drives and five fourth-quarter comebacks, Eli is one big game away from his second Super Bowl win—one more than Peyton.