Super Bowl MVP 2012: Eli Manning Still in Peyton's Shadow

Eli Manning is a great quarterback and very much the elite quarterback we will all label him going into future seasons. But he still lives in the shadow of a true legend. 

We live in a world dominated by numbers. It is the only true way to make sense of a sports world that is far too subjective at times. Wins and losses get colored by commentary, and records are dissected past their statistical significance. 

This is one instance where we could use a little tempering of the emotions. The stat is a simple one, but means a great deal. Eli Manning 2, Peyton Manning 1. 

That should be the only stat we need to put the argument to rest. All we care about are titles, right? The very impetus for guys to suit up and hit each other is to rip tile out of title out of the ether. 

Something doesn't sit right here, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Little Eli got the best of big bro Peyton in the only way that should matter. 

Yet something is amiss after a fantastic Super Bowl XLVI performance that saw Eli Manning get the coveted ring and the game's MVP award. 

Eli has now doubled Peyton with two titles and two MVP awards, and is just now getting into the discussion as an elite quarterback. 

The serves to illustrate just how big a shadow the heavily lauded Peyton casts. It takes double the effort just to sidle up next to him in regards to illustrious legacies. 

If you want numbers, Big Bro Manning has some pretty good ones. His 4,682 completions have led to 54,828 yards. Still a ways off from iron man Brett Favre, but still amazing. 

He is just one touchdown from a remarkable mark of career touchdowns at 400. And this is where we get some answers. The number we have been looking for is one. 

Will Manning come back and throw that one touchdown? Will it be 400 TDs thrown with the Colts, or just one with a new team and a sparkling new image. 

Or, will he leave the game with a great deal more having to be done? 

There is also the one franchise that he helped reinvigorate and the one Lucas Oil Stadium that he built. The Colts would not be who they are without Peyton, and you can't say the same about Eli and the Giants. 

Eli isn't the name and face that you think of when the Giants are bandied about. If you rip him off this Giants team, do they get so many losses that they are drafting Andrew Luck in a couple months?

Peyton Manning is a polarizing figure that causes debate and makes you think of one of the greatest of all time. Eli Manning is now elite. There is no questioning that. 

Yet, he doesn't carry the gravitas of Peyton—the Manning we still care so very much about. 

Eli gets his day in the sun, but Peyton has affected the history of the game. Decades from now, questions on this era of football will no doubt center on Peyton Manning and what is to transpire in the next few months. 

Eli will continue to live in the shadow, despite conquering what we have asked him to conquer. He may be an elite quarterback, but it just so happens his brother is a legendary one. 

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