New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning officially announced his retirement at his press conference on Friday, and during the session, Manning said he wanted to make sure he left the game as a Giant.
“It was important for me to go out as a Giant,” Manning said, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “It was the right thing to call it a career and end it instead of trying to uproot my family.”
While Manning was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers with the first overall pick back in the 2004 NFL Draft, he was instantly drafted to the Giants for Philip Rivers and proceeded to spend his entire 16-year career with New York.
Manning took over for Kurt Warner as the Giants' starting quarterback midway through his rookie campaign.
Article Continues BelowThe University of Mississippi product experienced some bumps in the road early on, but in his fourth season in 2007, Manning led the Giants to a Super Bowl championship, famously defeating the 18-0 New England Patriots and taking home Super Bowl MVP honors.
Four seasons later, Manning led Big Blue back to the Super Bowl and once again topped Tom Brady and the Patriots, becoming only the fifth player in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards.
The back-end of Manning's career did not feature nearly as much success, as the Giants only made it to the playoffs once since last winning the Super Bowl in February 2012, but the 39-year-old retires with one heck of a resume.
In addition to his Super Bowl rings, Manning is seventh all-time in passing yards, seventh in completions, and seventh in passing touchdowns.