Eli, Rivers, Stafford, Roethlisberger and Romo are in the second tier. Their getting there just not yet.

Eli is elite. He has the most 4th quarter TD's in a season in the history of the NFL to demonstrate his comeback skills. In SB42 when he avoided the sack and completed the 4th down pass to Tyree, that was amazing. He belongs in the elite class and after his second SB ring it should quiet the nay sayers.

Nope, Dan Marino is not elite.

He has some of the requirements but lacking the jewelry department.

Of course he is.

Its a team sport.

My own personal definition of "elite" is basically, first a guy who has mountains of very impressive stats, above and beyond the other QBs out there....and then the intangible part of it is, him being the guy who just WILLS his team to win, who makes stuff happen on the field almost by sheer willpower alone. And you can't keep him down. It's like an intangible, "if he wants it, he somehow finds a way to make it happen" type of thing. Things like Elway's "The Drive" or Brett Favre's crazy underhand "shuffle pass" or Brees using his footwork to extend plays, the ability to make plays in the clutch -- to me that is elite. And to me that quality is definitely Peyton, Brady, Brees, and Aaron Rodgers above the rest. And Eli is probably coming into that category, on the borderline, with all the 4th quarter comebacks he has etc.

Agreed, Eli is good and certainly is the luckiest QB in the league.

There's "ugly-elite" and there's elite.

He gets them there, but has an ugly way of doing it.

He's a Southern Boy, and that's okay in my book.

Alaska

Ok... I love the Mannings, ok? :

I think Eli looks like Gomer Pyle falling out of a tree, when he throws
sometimes.

Not everyone is a statue of Johnny Unitas.

Seriously, I dont know if we can really knock his form, because a lot of times his form happens because he is getting the royal poop knocked out
of him as he releases. Heres what I do know.

-- He wins. He finds a way to win.

-- He has guts. I couldnt stand in that pocket and take the beatings
Ive seen him take, then get up, call the play and stand in there again.
He should be ducking like Jim Everett by now, and yet he stands in there,
grits his teeth (or an assortment of contorted faces) and he delivers. Eli is a tough man.

-- He is smarter than his facial expressions. Eli has developed, and will continue to develop, possibly up to Peyton's level, mentally. His reads
should get better every year, and I think he'll eventually outsmart defenses. Nobody thinks he's carrying the Giants yet, but I think someday soon he will be.

Playing QB is not always pretty: A lot of great QBs are smarter than
their facial expressions:

http://media.advisorone.com/advisoro...John_AP_MI.jpg

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images...jpg?1290480699




http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairba...ToppsFront.jpg


http://joemontanasrightarm.files.wor...nningface2.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RhoiX9HEM_...est-gump-1.jpg

but Eli's tha Man(ning). Im rooting for him!

Unlike making the "Hall of Fame" where people are voted in on a body of work, "Elite" is subjective and comes down to personal fan preference. There is no NFL definition of what "Elite" is or means.

So who and what is "elite"? The sky is the limit.

Someone said it earlier... One thing is you gotta win the big one. Sorry Marino fans... and its just my opinion.

1. Gotta have a ring +1
2. Must be able to raise playing level of other people +1
3. And from Warren Sapp on No Huddle... Must be able to put the entire team on your shoulders and will them to win +1

Once again if Eli's last name was different being elite wouldn't be an issue.