First New Jersey HOF for Eli. Next stop, NFL (Opinion)

Eli Manning will have a great opportunity to practice his Hall of Fame speech when he gets virtually inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame Oct. 18 at the Paramount Theatre.

Eli will be making another speech at least four years when he's inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The argument over whether Eli is worthy of pro football's greatest honor has been going on for years.

Personally I think it was started either by New England Patriots fans who watched him beat their team twice in Super Bowls (once ruining a history-making perfect season), or by Philadelphia Eagles fans who hate Eli simply because he's a New York Giant.

Eli Manning is the greatest quarterback in the history of the New York Giants He definitely has the numbers. He not only has the championships but MVP trophies from those games to boot. If you believe that it was the Giants' defense that won those games, and not to take anything away from them, it was Eli Manning taking the offense on game-winning drives with little over two minutes left in both games. If that's not Hall OF Fame-worthy on top of a 15-year career where he only missed one game before being benched in his final year, then I don't know what is.

It wasn't Eli's fault that the Giants didn't get him any help after his second Super Bowl win in 2012. You could say they wasted a good part of his career. He would never say that publicly. Through it all, Eli stood tall and conducted himself with class.

Truth be told, he stood tall for about two seconds before he was buried thanks to his lack of O line. Thank you, Jerry Reese and Dave Hettlemen.

My 13-year-old son, Albert, is a die-hard Eli Manning fan. As a father, I couldn't have hoped for a better athlete for him to look up to. I look forward to being with him in Canton when we watch Eli make his next Hall Of Fame speech after this one — and we will.