Eli Manning to retire; Miami Dolphins fans say thank you!

It has been announced that on Friday, January 24th, Eli Manning will announce that he is retiring from the NFL and us Dolphins fans say “Thank you!”

When Eli Manning makes his retirement official on Friday he will do something that very few modern-day quarterbacks or players have done, he started and finished his NFL career with the same team. Even Tom Brady may not be able to say that after this off-season is over.

Do you know what else Tom Brady can’t say? He can’t say that he was perfect!

Eli Manning and his Giants did something other teams could not do, not once but twice, they beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Manning and his team stopped the Patriots run for a perfect season allowing the Miami Dolphins to remain the only NFL unbeaten franchise in history.

Dolphins fans have always held Manning close their heart while at the same time rooting against them when it was needed. Now, he is doing the right thing and walking away. Not at the top of his game, but on his own terms. Manning could have opted to play in 2020 for another team but he never really seemed to want to.

All class, Manning didn’t complain when his consecutive game streak was stopped in late 2018 when the head coach decided to play someone else. He didn’t complain when in 2019 he lost his job to rookie Daniel Jones. In fact, Eli Manning has never complained, at least not since the 2004 NFL Draft.

It was then that Manning and his father publicly stated that if drafted number one overall by the Chargers, Manning would never play for them. The Chargers drafted him but they had a trade worked out with the Giants who would draft Phillip Rivers.

Through the years, Manning has played solid and consistent while living under the umbrella’s shadow of his brother Peyton.

The next step for Manning is the debate on whether or not he is worthy of Hall of Fame status. It will be an interesting debate for certain and in five years we will get an idea as to whether the voters feels he worthy.