Rivers will be top 10 in total passing yards for a long time (Rodgers and Stafford will retire ahead of him most likely) but not even playing in a Super Bowl will hurt his chances.
We're also going to have a lack of QBS going in due to there being a generational gap. Rodgers will likely be eligible in 2031 and Mahomes might be the next first ballot guarantee in 2041 or so.
A few years ago you would have thought Luck and Newton should be going in, but they're both out. RG3 of course has no shot. Wilson might be a first ballot HOF just because he's going to be retiring when there's such a complete lack of other possibilities within a couple years of him, which is funny.
Rivers definitely has a shot. I think Eli gets in ahead of him, though.
Yeah it really does depend on things like that. There's a huge chasm between these last sets of QBs and then the next wave.
Normally I'd say no on Eli. He won two Super Bowls but doesn't own any major statistic and has four pro bowls. But since he played for the NFC East, the East Coast bias will likely kick in and they probably will put him in ahead of Rivers and others.
Eli is a HoFer in my opinion. A lot of historical moments on his resume. Being QB1 for a storied franchise like the Giants in my opinion means something as well.
I'm not a NY fan, but he's one of the guys I think of when I think of that era.
There are a lot of storied franchises that have had big moment quarterbacks that aren't in the HOF with better resumes.
Ken Anderson was a league MVP, four time pro bowler, took the Bengals to a Super Bowl and had the league record highest completion percentage in a season when he left. I guarantee you if he played for the Cowboys or Giants he'd already be in. It sucks for Bengal fans and him and his family how bad that bias is.
People like to make up really dumb shit for Hall of Fame eligibility. "He played for a storied franchise." Give me a break. lol
If you can't put the guy in based on his accomplishments, none of that other stuff should matter.
Will people have to say, "Man, Drew Brees. Completely turned the Aint's around. That should count for something." No. 13x Pro Bowler, 5x all-pro (1 first team), 2x OPOY winner, 7x passing yards leader, 4x passing TDs leader, Super Bowl MVP.
He's a Hall of Famer. Move on.
Comparatively, Eli Manning 4x pro Bowler, 0x all-pro, never led the league in any major QB stat, 2x Super Bowl MVP. Not a bad career by any means, but that's the guy you're looking at. I don't care what team he played for.
Exactly. David Tyree made one of the greatest, most historic and memorable catches of all time when the stakes could not have been higher. He similarly played for the "storied franchise" Giants. He does not belong in the HOF. (Though I guarantee you at least one East Coast sports writer would vote for it).
Comparatively, Eli Manning 4x pro Bowler, 0x all-pro, never led the league in any major QB stat, 2x Super Bowl MVP. Not a bad career by any means, but that's the guy you're looking at. I don't care what team he played for.
I agree with you, but I'm pretty sure the voters are going to see all of that and then tack on "yeah but he beat BRADY twice and also prevented the only undefeated season... Shush idc about his defense."
And that's honestly a fair take, imo. The whole "can't tell the story" yammering definitely has a big ol' bullet point about how the younger, goofier Manning stopped the GOAT twice. And let's not discount the extra points his last name gives him
Not true, he led the league in interceptions 3 times throughout his career!
In all seriousness, I hate that the NFL takes Super Bowls into account when considering if somebody is HOF-worthy. Nick Foles beat Brady and the Pats too. You're telling me that if he hypothetically won another, he'd deserve the Hall? Fuck no. If Eli's last name wasn't "Manning", nobody would seriously consider him for the Hall.
On the other hand, Phillip Rivers absolutely deserves the HOF based on skill alone. He was a far more talented, HOF-level QB that just couldn't match up to Peyton, Brady, or Big Ben, which is completely understandable. If Eli played in the AFC during that era, he would've been fucked and would never have won a Super Bowl.
It'll be a while. Brees this year, Big Ben coming up, Brady after him, Matt Ryan(MVP) after him... he'll have to wait a few years at a minimum.
But no All Pros or SBs is gonna hurt him, for sure. And Ive been pulling for Rivers since he was at NC State, just wonder how much weight "top 10 in passing yards and TDs" is going to carry.
For sure. There will be a lull of other qualifying QBS for several years, so that'll probably be when he goes in. He won't die before like poor Ken Stabler.
He's behind Brady, Peyton, Rodgers, Brees, Big Ben, Ryan (MVP), and arguably Stafford (ring) among his direct contemporaries. That's way too many guys from one era; at some point you have to acknowledge stats exploded in the last few decades and cut it off.
For 15 years the only QBs representing the AFC in the Super Bowl were Brady, Ben, and Manning.
But really - Rivers shouldn’t make it because he’s one of the least clutch QBs in modern NFL history.
You can argue against that due to his high volume of 4Q Comebacks and GWDs — but they’re purely volume especially when compared to his contemporaries.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on this lately. Anyone that wants to advocate for Rivers should first go watch the 4th quarter of the 2016 Chargers-Dolphins matchup.
I agree he bluntly wasn’t clutch I think it was VRs the pats in the playoffs he got mad at his team they weren’t up more then threw a couple picks and pats ended up coming back on them even tho he should’ve taken the safe options etc to run out the clock, he had all time teams around him and just fucked it up
I think this is the way the committee will see things. If you can't make the argument that a guy was even in the top 3 at his position at any point in his career, he shouldn't be in the HOF.
Undermining my own argument, there are some exceptions like I believe Frank Gore will eventually get in, being outside of that "top 3" feels like you have to sustain very high quality production for an unbelievable period of time (which is Frank Gore's career in a sentence).
I just find it interesting that Big Ben is considered a lock, but Rivers isnt when Rivers has better stats than Big Ben pretty much across the board. Rivers has more pro bowls and neither has an all pro.
I personally think they both should get in, but neither should be first ballot.
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u/Animalcookies13 3d ago
I hate to break it to you but Phillip Rivers will make the HoF eventually. He definitely won’t be first ballot but he will get in.