Eli Manning comes up short in first Football Hall of Fame vote

NEW ORLEANS — Not the first time around.Eli Manning failed to receive the needed votes for first ballot election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The results from the Hall of Fame selection committee were revealed Thursday night at the NFL Honors ceremony and Manning did not qualify, failing to garner the 80 percent threshold for enshrinement.Manning was in his hometown this week for various events and appearances leading into Super Bowl 2025 but this did not turn out to be a grand homecoming for him.The former Giants quarterback, beloved by the fanbase for the glory he brought to the franchise, starring in, winning and being named Most Valuable Player in two Super Bowls triumphs, will have to wait until next year to see if he will join his older brother, Peyton, in Canton.Whether he got in or not, Manning on Thursday night was scheduled to dine with 30 of his closest family and friends at Rao’s, the famous East Harlem eatery.  Rao’s Gridiron Club opened for five nights a pop-up restaurant in the Warehouse District in the Big Easy, and Manning scored three tables at this exclusive spot.Manning  missed out in his first year on the ballot, as there were enough skeptics on the 49-person selection committee who did not view him as worthy of first ballot admittance.  Some of the voters might not view him as a Hall of Famer at all, based on his modest regular season achievements.  In the end, his spectacular performances in two playoff runs — after the 2007 and 2011 seasons — and the way he thwarted the mighty Patriots, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, not once, but twice, were not enough to vault him into the Hall this time around.A few weeks before the voting took place and results were made official, Manning told The Post he was taking this all in stride.“I guess it’s different just because it’s all out of your hands, you’re not campaigning for it, you’re not trying to talk to people about it or prove your point,’’ Manning said. “I...