NFL icon Emmitt Smith voices complaint against NFL Hall of Fame after Eli Manning snub

Emmitt Smith aired his thoughts on the whole NFL Hall of Fame process after the class of 2025 excluded two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning. He appeared on Kay Adams' show and ended with the assertion that he thinks the Giants legend should be in Canton. While some think that his regular-season statistics deserve larger scrutiny, the legendary running back thinks the rationale for including Eli Manning is solid.

Emmitt Smith told Kay Adams that the quarterback is the only person to beat Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest of all time, twice in the Super Bowl. That is enough, according to the present Hall-of-Fame running back, to get enshrined. He commented:

"He (Eli Manning) should be in too. He's the only guy to beat Tom Brady... He beat the greatest that ever did it twice, that's all you have to say."

However, it was his comments preceding that that were more eye opening. There were four inductees this year: Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates, and Sterling Sharpe. Since there are a total of seven spots per year, Emmitt Smith thought all of them should have been filled. He opened with:

"I don't know if they got it right or not, because there's seven spots, and they should have filled the ball seven spots. I think Darren Woodson is also a guy that probably should have got in last night as well, because in the future, in the years to come, you're gonna have a number of guys that just retired some years ago that would come up at one time."

Saying that the NFL missed an opportunity to optimize the space when they had it available, the running back noted:

"And now you're gonna claim you don't have enough space. So it's time to create the space and take advantage of that space when you have an opportunity to do so."

Emmitt Smith says NFL Hall of Fame does not want his opinion after Eli Manning snub

Emmitt Smith also revealed that the NFL Hall of Fame does not care for his opinions despite being in it and reasoned:

"They (Hall of Fame) don't my opinion cuz I am too opinionated about a lot of different things. And they don't want to hear what I would perceive to be the truth. I think it makes sense if you got seven spots, and if you want to cut it down to four that's fine. But if you got seven spots, you have got to be consistent about how you voting, who you voting for, and who needs to get in and when they need to get in, and take advantage of it."

If the running back had his way, Eli Manning would join him in Canton sooner rather than later.