Eli Manning Lives Vicariously Through Tom Brady

It's often said that we're our own worst critics. But if that were true, Eli Manning would already have a gold-encrusted shrine eagerly awaiting him in the NFL Hall of Fame.

You see, Eli Manning is already an elite quarterback. He said so himself, and you should believe him. In fact, he's so good, he considers himself to be in the same breath as America's golden boy, Tom Brady.

Via "The Michael Kay Show" from ESPN New York 1050:

"I consider myself in that class and Tom Brady is a great quarterback, he's a great player and what you've seen with him is he's gotten better every year and he started off winning championships and I think he's a better quarterback now than what he was, in all honesty, when he was winning those championships," Manning said Tuesday. "It's funny, you say well he won championships, but the team, but I think know he's grown up and gotten better every year and that's what I'm trying to do."

Despite the rambling, it's clear what Eli is trying to say here. Still, he may have gone about it in the wrong way. A quarterback who threw 25 interceptions last year probably shouldn't try to compare himself to one of the greatest signal callers of this generation.

The New York media is infamously unforgiving, and giving them ridiculous fodder like this probably won't help Manning's cause if the Giants find themselves floundering into mid-November.