Eli Manning leaving MetLife Stadium after his last game in December. Photo: AP
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning will hold a news conference on Friday to formally announce his retirement from the NFL after 16 seasons as the face of the franchise.
What they're saying: "Eli is our only two-time Super Bowl MVP and one of the very best players in our franchise's history," Giants co-owner John Mara said in a statement.
- "He represented our franchise as a consummate professional with dignity and accountability. It meant something to Eli to be the Giants quarterback, and it meant even more to us."
By the numbers: Manning, 39, is one of five players to win multiple Super Bowl MVPs (Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw) and he never missed a single game due to injury.
- Completions: 4,895 (7th all-time)
- Pass yards: 57,023 (7th)
- Pass TD: 366 (7th)
- INT: 244 (12th)
- Career earnings: $252 million (1st)
What's next: SI's Ben Baskin wrote about "the final days of Eli" in October:
"There might not be another player in NFL history whose Hall of Fame candidacy fans and critics will argue about more fervidly. And, friends say, there might not be another player who will care less about the outcome.
"But everyone who knows Eli agrees he is perfectly suited to handle retirement. If they had to bet, he'll disappear entirely into domestic life, not join Peyton in TV ubiquity.
"They suggest, in fact, we may never see Eli again, not in the public eye. Instead, he'll be the dad who takes his kids to school every morning and proudly mows his lawn on Sunday afternoons."
Go deeper: The end of the Eli Manning era