Eli Manning officially called it quits today. Aptly, he finishes with a 117-117 record, closing the book on a laudably average career. The other quarterbacks in NFL history who started at least 10 games and finished their careers with an exact .500 record are Jim Plunkett (72-72), Jeff Garcia (58-58), Tarvaris Jackson (17-17), Jim Ninowski (15-15), Brock Osweiler (15-15), Shane Matthews (11-11), Matt Robinson (10-10), Sage Rosenfels (6-6), Sean Salisbury (6-6), Jerry Tagge (6-6) and Tommy Thompson (6-6).
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As king of the middle ground, Manning retires with three active quarterbacks hot on his heels — Ryan Tannehill (49-49), Matt Moore (16-16) and the promising Gardner Minshew (6-6).
In Philadelphia, of course, Manning’s legacy will be his generosity. His 37 interceptions against the Eagles (including playoffs) are more than he threw against any other team in his 16-year career. Let’s revisit those memorable moments of kindness.
- Manning’s first interception against the Eagles came in the second quarter of a game on Nov. 28, 2004. On the Eagles’ 3-yard line, Manning threw the ball in the direction of tight end Jeremy Shockey, or so he thought, only to learn that person was actually Eagles safety Quintin Mikell.
- Manning waited another full quarter before throwing his second interception against the Eagles. This time, Brian Dawkins came up with the pick on a pass intended for Amani Toomer. Dawkins is tied with Malcolm Jenkins and Asante Samuel for the most regular-season interceptions (3) of Manning, but Samuel’s postseason pick puts him at the top of the pack.
- Manning had a 10-23 record against the Eagles in 33 career starts (including playoffs). Only his 2-6 record against the Seahawks is worse among teams he played more than four times. Here’s a breakdown of those 33 starts versus the Eagles by interceptions thrown.
- Twenty-eight different Eagles accounted for those 34 interceptions. Did you know? The only asset never used by the Eagles to acquire a player who would later intercept Manning is a sixth-round pick?
- Manning was intercepted by a Michael, a Mychal, a Mike and a Mikell. But the only first or last name shared by two of the 26 Eagles to intercept Manning is Quintin (Quintin Mikell and Quintin Demps).
- Three different sets of initials are shared by Eagles who intercepted Manning: S.B. (Sheldon Brown and Stewart Bradley), R.D. (Rasul Douglas and Ronald Darby) and D.R. (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DeMeco Ryans).
- Three Eagles intercepted Manning and later joined him as a teammate on the Giants: Mike Patterson, Rodgers-Cromartie and Demps.
- Interestingly, Demps and Rodgers-Cromartie are also two of the three players who intercepted Manning with multiple teams, along with Mikell. Rodgers-Cromartie has interceptions against Manning with three different teams.
- More of Manning’s interceptions were intended for Shockey (5) than any other Giants teammate. Shockey is also one of two Giants to commit a personal foul on the ensuing interception return, along with Chris Snee (whose unnecessary roughness offset with Trevor Laws’).
- Trent Cole, Patterson, Omar Gaither and Dawkins are the four Eagles who have intercepted Manning and also sacked him, but Cole is the only one who has hit the trifecta, adding a touchdown to that list. Jenkins and Nolan Carroll join Cole to round out the three pick-sixes.
- Gaither owns the longest interception return (49 yards) against Manning.
- Another chart:
- Manning threw an interception against the Eagles from every 10-yard subset of the field except for inside the Giants’ 10-yard line. He even threw one from the 50-yard line.
- Manning threw his final interception against the Eagles on Nov. 25, 2018, almost 14 years to the day from his first. The last one, intended for Odell Beckham, was picked off by Jenkins, closing the book on a truly historic career.
- The full list of Eagles who intercepted Manning:
Thanks for the memories.
(Top photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
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