Tiki Barber hasnt always had the nicest things to say about his former teammate Eli Manning, but the former Giants running back paid the current Giants quarterback a pretty big compliment on Wednesday.
During the show on the CBS Sports Radio Network that Barber hosts with Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson, Mannings spot in the NFLs quarterback hierarchy came up for discussion. Barber said that he thinks Manning is close to being one of the top five quarterbacks of all time and that he has already passed one heralded quarterback who shares his last name.
The expectation was that he was never going to be Peyton. I remember having these conversations with people who watched Eli in college, saying, Hes good, but hes never going to be Peyton, hes not Peyton. Guess what? I think hes better than Peyton, Barber said. Because of clutch. What matters in sports? Its winning and losing. You get to the stage and what do you do? Elis gotten there and hes won.
Two Super Bowl rings speak for themselves as do the playoff failures of some very good teams quarterbacked by Peyton Manning, but theres a flip side to that coin. The Giants have missed the playoffs in three of the last four years, which has to reflect on Eli if youre going to make winning and losing the crux of your argument. By comparison, Peytons teams have missed the playoffs just twice over the course of his career. And thats before you even delve into the staggering numbers that the elder Manning brother has amassed during his career.
That doesnt mean you cant make a case for Eli being the better Manning, but one would have to consist of more than just saying hes clutch because the job responsibilities go beyond that.
of the game before the heat.
and a ring. Another ring for Eli would definitely help, but I think just stringing a bunch of elite season together would get it done too.