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Who’s my special, little guy? Eli!

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Eli, put one arm up for each Super Bowl championship you've won. That's right! Good job! (Bill Kostroun / Associated Press)

Well, he did it.

Quarterback Eli Manning helped the New York Giants win their second Super Bowl title — and with it his second Super Bowl MVP award — in five seasons. And, not to mention, they did it against heartthrob QB Tom Brady and the New England Patriots each time.

While I’m not a fan of either team, I can’t help but feel a little bad that Brady was on the losing end Sunday in Indianapolis after he failed to win his fourth (that’s sick, especially since the Minnesota Vikings haven’t played in the big game since the day my 35-year-old brother was born) Super Bowl four years earlier. I’ve been a Brady mark — pro-wrestling term — since he led my little-known fantasy football team to a Yahoo! league championship in 2001-02 after it looked to be decimated by Drew Bledsoe’s injury.

The win made Manning the 11th starting quarterback to win at least two Super Bowl titles and brought on all kinds of talk about where he sits all time and — worse — whether he’s better than his brother, Peyton.

Before you participate in this albeit irrelevant and frivolous debate, don’t forget that football is a team sport. And a complex one at that.

The New York Giants won the Super Bowl, not Eli Manning. Sure, he’s on the team and going to get a ring that proves he was there, but just because you can’t name more than five players on the Giants doesn’t mean each player didn’t play a role in the club’s season-ending six-game winning streak.

I’m not discounting Manning’s role, either. He’s a terrific quarterback and was one of the Giants’ best players in the 2008 and 2012 games, but if the two were to go toe-to-toe based on ability in real life or in a “Madden NFL” video game, big brother Peyton is coming out on top each time.

Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts have one Super Bowl victory (2007 against the Chicago Bears) and a loss in the big game (2010 against the New Orleans Saints). His 1-1 Super Bowl record doesn’t mean Eli’s 2-0 makes Eli better. At 3-2 in Super Bowls, I think Brady is better than both because he’s a better player (my man-crush might skew it, though).

Football personalities and fans rightfully stress throughout the year that it’s a team sport, but some of those same people are quick to forget that as soon as it comes to how many championship rings a player possesses. Former Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Charles Haley has been a part of five Super Bowl victories. I remember watching Haley play in the 1990s, and he was an excellent player, but is he the best defensive end or linebacker in NFL history? No. Even with quarterback carrying more weight in an argument because of the role it plays in an offense, Super Bowl wins alone don’t equal greatness.

Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I’ve never heard anyone credible say Bradshaw is the best quarterback in history. At 30, I never saw Bradshaw play and know him more for his role as an analyst for Fox and his dull “Tonight Show” interviews. He’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for a reason, though. One four-time-winning QB, Joe Montana, who won four with San Francisco, is regarded as one of the best, if not the best. He’s also the one quarterback to whom Brady most often is compared.

Maybe it’s his aw-shucks demeanor or his I-just-took-a-drop-kicked-basketball-to-the-face-when-I-wasn’t-looking expression, but I’m not sold on Eli Manning being an all-time great. Yes, I’ll take him on my team over Donovan McNabb, Christian Ponder, Joe Webb and Rhett Bomar, but there are dozens I’d put ahead of the younger Manning when it comes to their place in NFL history.

What’s in a number? At 30, seeing things clearly

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The day that for so long seemed a lifetime away has arrived. Today I turn 30.
The 1 at the front of my age was great, and the 2 was even better. So, forgive me if it takes a while to get acclimated to the 3.
I still have vivid and fond memories, as a 10-year-old, watching the Twins win the 1991 World Series in arguably the best seven-game series in baseball history.

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Jimmy Bellamy is the Multimedia Editor of the Duluth News Tribune. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

In my 2 decade, in April, I sat third row in St. Paul with my little brother as one of our boyhood dreams became reality when the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team celebrated its first national championship.
Certainly, every decade has its ups and downs, though.
With one kick, Morten Andersen and the Atlanta Falcons broke my heart when I was 17.
Real heartbreak came at age 20, when I stared in disbelief at the TV as airplanes struck the World Trade Center towers.
The myth — if ever there was one — that everything somehow gets worse after 30 has long been busted. My family, friends and colleagues are proof of that.
I’d just like to know what to expect.
“My 30s have been far better than my 20s. I used to fear getting older, but I have to be honest, I wouldn’t want to relive my 20s ever again,” my co-worker Devlyn told me this week, “other than the birth of my children, of course.”
That’s a relief to know. But how will I feel?
Will my body ache more or not heal as quickly? I play a lot of soccer, and don’t plan to give that up any time soon.
Will my metabolism slow even more than it did when I left college? Running more and cutting down on pop are two things I’ve had to do since my UMD days. And trying to kick Red Bull.
There’s no way I’m giving up video games. I still can play those, right?
“In your 30s, you’re further along in your career and done with all that soul searching, career-wise, relationship-wise,” said Mike Seyfer, who at 40 is vice president of H.T. Klatzky and Associates in Duluth.
I don’t know how he had me pegged, but he seemed to describe my idea of 30 when I was 12 versus my hitting it today. Back then, I thought I’d be coming off my third World Cup appearance with the U.S. national team. Instead, I’ve settled for four Duluth Amateur Soccer League finals.
“What you do in your 30s sets the tone for the rest of your life,” he continued, reminding me that my mind and body should be more in tune with each other, and that one hasn’t fallen apart yet while the other finally begins to see things clearly.
I think I’m going to like the 3.

Jimmy Bellamy is the multimedia editor at the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minn. Contact him at (218) 723-5390 or jbellamy@duluthnews.com. This column originally appeared here.