Eli Manning and Michael Phelps: Why former NFL player often gets mistaken for legendary swimmer

Eli Manning and Michael Phelps share one thing in common: they're both famous athletes. Manning is one of the most successful NFL quarterbacks of all time, having won two Super Bowls across his illustrious 16-year career. Phelps is, arguably, the greatest swimmer of all time, with an astounding 28 Olympic medals over his legendary career.

That's generally where the comparisons would stop. Phelps has won far more than Manning has and they play two totally different sports. However, they might be linked in another way.

Manning recently revealed on The Tonight Show that he gets mistaken for the legendary swimmer a lot.

Is @MichaelPhelps @EliManning’s doppelgänger? 😂 #FallonTonight https://t.co/v37Q7GflE4

Manning recounted an embarrassing encounter with someone he thought was a fan:

"It comes up all the time. Not too long ago, it was summer, we're taking the girls fishing. I pull over to get some water, get some snacks, go into a store. I get to the counter and the guy looks at me and goes, 'Are you who I think you are?'"

Ordinarily, that would be true. Manning is quite famous, so he probably gets recognized and asked for autographs wherever he goes. This time, however, he wasn't recognized for being himself:

"I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, I think so'. He goes, 'Oh, my gosh! Michael Phelps is in my store! Everybody, come down, it's Michael Phelps!' and I'm like, 'No, no, no, no, no, I'm not Michael Phelps.'"

The cashier was a bit upset at this news:

"He's like, 'So, you lied to me?' I say, 'No! I just thought who you thought I was who I am and you thought I was not who I think I am.'"

According to Eli Manning, this is not the first time that he has been confused with perhaps the greatest American athlete of all time.

Which is more impressive, winning a Super Bowl like Eli Manning or an Olympic medal like Michael Phelps?

Achieving the highest that one's sport has to offer is always impressive. Winning a Super Bowl is incredibly difficult, as is winning an Olympic medal of any kind.

There are a couple of things to consider, though. When playing in the NFL, there are bad players and bad teams. The competition isn't as stiff, though running the gauntlet of the postseason does present a challenge.

The Olympics is full of the best of the best. The competition there is far better than anywhere else. That's not necessarily true in other sports.

Michael Phelps was part of an individual sport, unlike Eli Manning

On the other hand, winning an Olympic medal is often up to the individual. If they perform well, they'll probably win. That is not true for team sports. Eli Manning's Super Bowl rings required 52 other people to be involved in some way and he couldn't have won them by himself.

That makes winning a Super Bowl a potentially more challenging feat for an individual than winning an Olympic medal. But simply making it to the Olympics is difficult enough to do.

It's tough to compare the two, but both of these athletes are among the best and most recognized. It's a quirk of fate that they look alike.