Ryan Clark shares surprising stance on Eli Manning Pro Football Hall of Fame snub

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 was unveiled at the NFL Honors in New Orleans on Thursday. Four players were selected: Four-time All-Pro edge rusher Jared Allen, three-time All-Pro receiver Sterling Sharpe, six-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Allen and Antonio Gates, the NFL’s all-time touchdowns leader for a tight end (116). As you can see, that means Eli Manning missed out in his first season of eligibility.

Many feel Manning, a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the New York Giants, was snubbed. Ryan Clark feels different, applauding Hall of Fame voters for having “common sense” while speaking on Friday’s “First Take” on ESPN.

Ryan Clark on Eli Manning not being selected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility: "I thought that obviously, they clearly had people in that room with common sense. It's no respect to Eli Manning. I'm not gonna be in the Hall of Fame conversation. But I do love… pic.twitter.com/qsFcyegaOx

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 7, 2025

“Obviously, they clearly had people in that room with common sense,” Clark said, via Awful Announcing. “It’s no disrespect to Eli Manning. I’m not gonna be in the Hall of Fame conversation but I do love the game of football, and I feel like if you’re a first-ballot Hall of Famer that a person should be able to walk up right here and say their name and we can all go, ‘that’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.’

“If somebody walks up right here and they say Lawrence Taylor, we all know what that is. Somebody walks up right now, and you say Barry Sanders, we know what that is. Jerry Rice, we know what that is. If there has to be some deliberation on whether or not this person is worthy of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, I don’t believe that they can be.”

Eli Manning speaks out about Pro Football Hall of Fame snub

76 players have been inducted in their first year of eligibility, but Manning didn’t make the cut. The 44-year-old was the NFL’s iron man during his 16-year career, starting 210 consecutive games from 2004-17, the third-longest streak in league history. While never an MVP or an All-Pro, Manning is one of six players to win multiple Super Bowl MVP Awards. Four of them — Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw — are in the Hall of Fame. The other is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Manning is 11th all-time with 57,023 passing yards and 366 passing touchdowns. Both of his Super Bowl victories came against the New England Patriots in two of the best games of all-time. So, when you tell the story of the NFL, you can’t do so without mentioning Manning.

Although it’s disappointing for Manning, he is at peace with the decision, and he’s hoping his time will come in the future.

“I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be my night, and I understand that. I’m totally at peace,” Manning told NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. “It’s not gonna change my outlook on my career and how I feel about it.”