No one gets out alive. Not even Steve Young.

There’s no way to prepare for it, but the end eventually comes for everyone. Even the game’s greatest. And individual accolades and Super Bowl trophies are of little comfort when NFL teams choose to move on.

“No one ever leaves happy,” Young, an ESPN analyst and three-time Super Bowl champion, said with a laugh by phone last month. “There’s always this feeling that you gave your whole life, your body, your soul, your spirit and then they say goodbye.

“The whole thing is fraught with terror. There’s going to be a couple guys that just kind of roll out perfectly. But it’s a bloodbath, generally.”

The end rarely is ever easy. Even for a quarterback with multiple Super Bowl rings. Even for a quarterback like Eli Manning.

View photos It’s unclear if Sunday will be Eli Manning’s last game as the New York Giants’ quarterback. (Getty Images) More

As the veteran quarterback prepares for what could be his final game in a New York Giants uniform, Hall of Famers Young, Troy Aikman and Curtis Martin opened up to Yahoo Sports about their transitions from the playing field and offered advice to Manning and other players approaching the end of their careers.

“Unfortunately, not everybody gets to go out like Joe Montana or Peyton Manning. And the way Tom Brady likely will go out,” said Aikman, a current Fox Sports broadcaster. “Even [Brett] Favre, as great as his career was, [his final season with Minnesota] was a really tough year for him. And so the end happens rather quickly.”

Although their respective journeys were different, the circumstances that necessitated their retirements from the game are all too familiar: Once-great players forced to walk away due to injury or because their teams no longer think they’re worth the investment.

And soon, Manning probably will be no different.

“Someone like Eli, he should be able to finish his career with his head held high,” said Martin, the former New England Patriots and New York Jets running back-turned-entrepreneur and philanthropist. “Yeah, the last couple of years haven’t been so great, but he’s accomplished a lot as an NFL quarterback.”

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Manning’s future with the Giants has been a hotly debated topic since last season. So, too, was the organization’s decision not to draft his successor and instead select a running back — albeit a generational talent such as Saquon Barkley — with the No. 2 overall pick in April.

But with Manning, who turns 38 on Jan. 3, set to start the season finale Sunday against Dallas, the question of who will lead this offense in the years to come looms even larger.

Always polite and forever the professional, Manning fielded questions this week with clipped answers and forced smiles.

There were so many questions about his future, yet he had no definitive answers.

“I don’t know,” he said, when asked if he expected to be the starter in 2019.

Manning has no clarity on his situation, but the writing has been on the wall for some time. The end is all but here.

Even if the Giants hold on to him for one more season — especially now that Oregon’s Justin Herbert, the projected top quarterback pick in the 2019 draft, is no longer an option — the Manning era is nearing its inevitable conclusion. Whether the 15-year veteran wants to accept it or not.

The Giants can certainly win games with Manning. But can they win another championship? Not with this roster and the offensive line configured as it stands now.

Even if he is declared the outright starter in 2019, the window is closing on Manning’s career. And the sooner he and the organization begin preparing for the end, the better it’ll be for everyone involved, including the fan base.

So how do you say goodbye to a franchise great who isn’t ready to leave?

With an open dialogue and complete transparency, Young said.

“The right way to do it is to be super upfront and communicative. Don’t hide. No passive-aggressiveness,” said the longtime San Francisco 49er. “People can handle it. It’s tough. ‘I don’t want to be replaced. I’ve been the centerpiece of this whole organization for 15 years. I might get super mad. But I can never say you lied, or hid behind my back or played games.’ That’s where you get into trouble.”

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