Still, I never believed that he would rank in the same class as Peyton.
Eli can have a great, potentially Hall of Fame career, but Peyton will go down as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
However, if Eli leads the New York Giants to an upset victory over the New England Patriots next Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI, it would give him two championship rings to one for Peyton.
And if in professional sports we give extra emphasis to those who win a championship, does Eli going 2-0 in the ultimate football game compared to Peyton being 1-1 make him the better Manning?
The answer for me is, no - even if the Giants win.
Given the choice of which Manning to start a franchise, I'm taking Peyton 100 out of 100 times.
But that is not to diminish Eli.
I praise Eli because rarely has an athlete been able to step out from under a shadow that has been cast so large.
As if being the son of Archie, who was a quarterback for 14 seasons in the NFL, wasn't enough pressure, Eli has had to play his entire career as the little brother of a player destined to go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
The critiquing hasn't always been fair.
If Eli's surname had been Smith, Jones, Matowski or anything but Manning, I doubt there would be as many questions when evaluating the first 8 years of his NFL career.
By passing for 27,579 yards with 185 touchdowns and being named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLII, Eli Manning already has had more success than the vast majority of quarterbacks who have ever played in the NFL.
But because Peyton, who has passed for 54,828 yards with 399 touchdowns and has also been a Super Bowl champion, is his brother, Eli's grading scale has always been skewed against him.
No matter what he did, Eli simply was not Peyton.
