Eli Manning: Why Haters Must Finally Embrace the New York Giants QB as Elite

Eli Manning came into the NFL amid controversy due to his refusal to play for the San Diego Chargers who spent their first overall draft pick on the Ole Miss product and forced his way to the Big Apple and the New York Giants. In just seven seasons in the league, Manning went from Peyton's little brother to Super Bowl champion and must be considered one of the elite quarterbacks in the game right now.

Manning has come a long way over his relatively short career, and though there will always be Eli haters for the way he entered the league or simply the name on back of his jersey, there's no denying his success. Here are the top five reasons Eli has become elite.

Progression

Eli Manning struggled, as most quarterbacks do during their first NFL season, but since 2005 he has never thrown for fewer than 3,000 yards or 20 touchdowns.

After a shaky start in his rookie year, all Manning needed was an offseason with his coaches and team to right the ship and start showing the reason why he was the top draft pick of the 2004 class.

For the past three seasons, he has thrown for over 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 85 or more. He's also helped bring the Giants to the playoffs five of his first seven seasons.

One could argue that 2010 wasn't a great year for Eli with 25 interceptions and his team missing the playoffs for the second straight year, but his 31 touchdowns and 4,000-plus yards made up for his inefficiencies. That's a stat line that would leave most starting quarterbacks happy with their performance.

Leadership

The Giants quarterback has progressed on the field for sure, but he's also become one of the G-Men's leaders in the locker room.

During his first few years, many critics said that Eli Manning was not a "locker-room guy," meaning that he didn't try to take on the role of a leader or give the big speeches one would expect from a franchise quarterback. Those days are over, however, as evidenced by the captain's C that he now dons on his jersey.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw told the New York Daily News back in December when the Giants were making their playoff push:

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"He has to play good to make everybody else step up. The running backs, the receivers...he's playing great so everybody else can play off him."

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Manning can be a vocal leader when needed, but he's a leader by example similar to his brother or Joe Montana. All three can get in your face when needed, but prefer to let their actions speak for themselves and the Giants are feeding off of his production the same way the 49ers and Colts did their quarterbacks.

Ability to Carry His Team

The New York Giants have been one of the surprises of the 2012 postseason this year, and one of the main reasons for that is their quarterback.

Manning has been playing perhaps the best football of his career since the Giants went on their late regular-season push to the NFC East title, with five games of 250 or more passing yards and 12 touchdowns over the past six contests.

The G-Men have talent on defense and some great players at wide receiver and running back, but Manning is the straw that stirs the drink, so to speak. Without No. 10 under center, this Giants team would have been lucky to beat out the Washington Redskins for the third-place spot in the division.

Fourth-Quarter Efficiency

In 2011, Manning posted the second-best touchdown total of his career during the regular season with 29. More than half of those touchdowns were thrown during the fourth quarter.

Every single regular-season game for the Giants was close, with each game decided by 15 points or fewer. That means that the majority of the time Eli was throwing those final-quarter touchdowns, the Giants were in need of all the points they could get.

When a quarterback plays his best football when the game matters most, that's the definition of clutch. Manning has earned the right to be called a clutch quarterback, considering he tied the NFL record for single-season fourth-quarter touchdowns this year.

Playoff Performance

Considering he's been to the playoffs five times and already has a Super Bowl ring to his name, it's safe to say Eli Manning is a playoff performer.

The 2007 season was when the Louisiana-born quarterback jumped from the label of "good quarterback" to "great quarterback" when he helped lead the Giants passed three of the Super Bowl favorites that year in the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and the undefeated New England Patriots.

Manning performed valiantly in each game, with at least two touchdowns in all but one playoff game that year. Of course, one can't talk about the 2007 playoffs without mentioning Manning and his Giants driving down the field against the heavily favored Patriots and throwing the game-winning touchdown pass.

The G-Men's field general is doing it again this season, helping the Giants take out the defending Super Bowl champion Packers and holding a talented Atlanta Falcons squad to just two points so far this postseason.

Win or lose against San Francisco this weekend, Manning has helped this New York team play far past anyone's expectations heading into this year.