Eli Manning was born on January 3, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the brother of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and the son of former NFL player Archie Manning. With bloodlines like this, it’s no wonder Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the game today. From an early age he has been involved in the game of soccer, and this is evident from the way he plays the game on the field.
After a successful high school career, Manning took his game to the University of Mississippi. During his college career, Manning put up impressive numbers, to say the least. He finished his career with 10,119 passing yards, 81 touchdown passes, and a quarterback rating of 137+. While at Mississippi, Manning tied or broke 47 season, single-game, and career records. It’s safe to say that Manning is probably the best quarterback to ever come out of the University of Mississippi.
Going into the 2004 NFL Draft, Manning was thought to be the number one prospect. But before Manning was recruited, he was surrounded by controversy. The San Diego Chargers had the No. 1 pick in the draft, but Manning made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want to play for them. Despite this, the Chargers drafted Manning anyway. With the fourth pick, the New York Giants selected Philip Rivers, and the two teams eventually traded quarterbacks.
During his rookie season, Manning started about half of the team’s games, and despite performing poorly, received some much-needed field experience.
In 2005, Manning led the Giants to the NFC East Championship and a playoff berth. Despite a strong regular season, he struggled in a loss to the Carolina Panthers to cap off his second season.
During 2006, Manning once again started strong, but faltered down the stretch. He finished the season with 3,244 yards and 24 touchdowns. But he again struggled with his accuracy, he only completed 57 percent of his passes and threw 18 interceptions.
There’s no question in anyone’s mind that Manning’s game will continue to progress.
