When speaking on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York 1050 the other day, Eli Manning boasted that he’s an elite quarterback. He does have an Super Bowl ring and a Super Bowl MVP trophy so we aren’t going to make much of a fuss about that. It’s the next statement that blew my mind.

“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. I kind of hope these next seven years of my quarterback days are my best.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa Eli! Slow down there partner. You’re not a bad QB, and we’ll refrain from arguing with your belief you’re an elite player. However, the Tom Brady comparisons are a little bit out there. Let’s start with the bare bones stats between the two.

In Manning’s eight years in the league, he has thrown for over 4000 yards twice (2009 & 2010), 30 TDs once (2010) and has had a rating over 90 once (2009). Despite that, he threw 25 interceptions last year, a career high.

Now let’s take a look at Tom Brady.

The New England Patriots QB has had 12 years of service and has thrown for over 4000 yards on three occasions (2009, 2007 & 2005), bested 30 TDs twice (2010 & 2007) and has had a rating over 90 five times (2010, 2009, 2007, 2005 & 2004). He has never thrown over 15 interceptions in a single season. Oh, did we mention that his 2007 campaign saw him break the NFL record for touchdowns in a season (50) with the second highest passer rating ever (117.2) and the third most yards passing (4806)?

But then there are the other things Brady does head and shoulders above Eli Manning. The baby Manning has one Super Bowl ring and one Super Bowl MVP. Brady has three Super Bowl rings and two Super Bowl MVP. He’s also been named NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year twice and holds a ton of ridiculous records that Manning will be lucky to sniff.

Is Eli Manning crazy? No. He’s just confident in his ability to get better. But the reality is that younger bro still has big bro Peyton to leap over to be involved in the best-QBs-in-the-league conversation. Not to mention that some guys named Brees and Rodgers would respectfully disagree with him.

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