That second ring goes a long way.
Left off NFL Network's list of top 100 players last season, Eli Manning went about his business and led the Giants to another championship.
He also picked up his second Super Bowl MVP award, and now he has also garnered the respect of NFL.com's Jason Smith. So much that the analyst ranked Big Blue's signal caller as the top quarterback heading into 2012.
"A 30-touchdown/4,000-yard passer with two Super Bowls in the past five years," Smith writes. "Both won with last-minute drives -- and both over Tom Brady. Give me a better recent résumé. You can't."
Smith's criteria didn't factor age and was not asking the question, "Who do you start a team with?" Rather, it was a measurement of where the quarterbacks stand at the moment.
In order, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers rounded out the top five.
Other notables included Peyton Manning at No. 6, Michael Vick (No. 10), Tony Romo (No. 13), Mark Sanchez (No. 23) and projected Washington Redskins' draft choice Robert Griffin III at No. 21.
Eli did not make NFL Network's cut for Top 100 players of 2011, which was released before the Super Bowl campaign. A year later, Giants fans will find out if his name is on the list in the latest installment, premiering April 28.
**QUICK HITS
**>> Florence, S.C. became an extension of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday as legendary **New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson** was honored by the Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance Company as part of the "Hometown Hall of Famers" program. Carson was honored with a plaque dedication ceremony at Wilson High School, his alma mater, where the plaque will remain on permanent display. [Pro Football Hall of Fame]
"No one could have told me when I was young that I would have these opportunities, but the people who cared about me gave me words of encouragement that stayed with me every time I stepped on the field," said Carson. "My message to the students here today is that you do have the opportunity to be a Hall of Famer in whatever profession you choose to pursue."
Top Ten Celebrity Fans of the New York Giants [Yahoo! Sports]
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