Eli Manning says he's happy for the players who made the Hall of Fame

Eli Manning says he's feeling fine a day after learning that he was not selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Manning, the two-time Super Bowl MVP who made the list of finalists this year but was voted down by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, said on PFT Live that he's happy for Antonio Gates, Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Sterling Sharpe, the four players who were chosen this year.

"I was happy for the guys that got in. I competed against Jared Allen, I sent him a text, I feel like I kind of got him in because he sacked me so many times, I helped his resume," Manning said. "Antonio Gates, when I was coming out, thinking about going to the Chargers, doing workouts with them, they were telling me 'We've got this guy on the practice squad who didn't play college football but he's going to be a superstar, Hall of Famer,' and I was like, Yeah, right. So happy for him."

Manning is likely to get into the Hall of Fame eventually, but he says he's feeling OK with not making it on the first ballot.