Dec 8, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) talks with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) after a Chargers win at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers won 37-14. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Only fitting if Eli Manning and Philip Rivers enter the Hall of Fame in 2026

Originally posted on Los Angeles Chargers on SI
By Russell Baxter | Last updated Feb 10, 2025 1:59 PM ET

The first round of the 2004 NFL Draft may one day provide the Pro Football Hall of Fame with four new members in the coming years. Consider that Eli Manning (1st), Larry Fitzgerald (3rd), Philip Rivers (4th), and Ben Roethlisberger (11th) were all selected in the first 11 picks that year.

Both Fitzgerald and Rivers are first-time eligible next year for the Class of 2026. Roethlisberger’s final season was 2021, meaning the Class of 2027 in terms of his initial eligibility. Of course, Manning was one of the 15 Modern-Day Finalist of the Class of 2025. This August, Jared Allen, Eric Allen, former Rivers’s teammate Antonio Gates, and Sterling Sharpe, will receive their busts in Canton, Ohio.

Flashback to that ’04 draft. Manning was the first overall pick by the then-San Diego Chargers. Rivers was chosen fourth by the New York Giants. The organizations decided to swap the rights of each player for the other. Their careers will forever be interwoven, that and other reasons.

Rivers finished his career playing in 244 regular-season contests. Manning appeared in 236 regular-season games. The former ranks sixth in NFL annals with 63,440 passing yards, the latter is 11th all-time with 57,023 yards. Only five players in league history have thrown more touchdown passes than Rivers (421), while Manning is once again 11th (366) in this category.

Talk about resiliency? Dating back to the merger in 1970, Rivers owns the second-longest starting streak by a quarterback in the regular-season with 240 consecutive games. Manning is third all-time with 210. Both trail Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre (297). It’s worth noting that the final 16 games of Rivers’s streak came with the Indianapolis Colts.

While there are plenty of similarities between the signal-caller whose rights were dealt for each other, there is one noticeable difference. While Rivers never appeared in a Super Bowl (he led the Chargers to the 2007 AFC title game, a loss to the Patriots in Foxborough), Manning guided Big Blue to a pair of four-game postseason runs in both 2007 and 2011. Each culminated with Super Bowl victories over the Patriots and in each instance, Peyton’s younger brother earned game MVP honors.

While all the numbers are not exactly identical, there is certainly the aspect that both quarterbacks were highly dependable and played at a solid level for more than a decade. Their upsides far outweigh the negatives. Obviously, Manning was not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and less than a year from now Rivers’ verdict will be in.

Regardless, it would be somewhat symbolic if these players shared the stage at Canton the same year.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Chargers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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