To be clear, he does not want this. If Manning is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he’ll receive that honor in his home city in front of his friends and family. It would be another perfect moment for an athlete who, during his career, made a few of those happen.

The two-time Super Bowl winner will eventually be inducted into the Hall, and when he is, those insisting he was entitled to a first-ballot entry will seem just as silly as those who never wanted him to get in.