Who is the best quarterback of all-time? Is it Montana? Brady? Marino? Favre? Elway? Or is it a guy who now has two Super Bowl rings, five MVP awards, 14 pro-bowl appearances and has the most career touchdown passes and passing yards in NFL history?
Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday by a score of 24-10. It was Manning’s first Super Bowl win with Denver and second overall (first with the Indianapolis Colts in 2008).
Manning is about to turn 40 in just over a month, and his production has gone way down in the last two seasons. This year, Manning had more interceptions than touchdown passes. Thoughts of retirement were already made public even before the big game, but now that he came away with a championship, it is very possible that we saw number 18 for the last time on a football field this past Sunday.
The Broncos defense carried this team to a championship, and there was drama in terms of who would be the QB late in the regular season. Manning got healthy just in time for a playoff run that saw his team win a Super Bowl that most didn’t see coming.
Let’s say that was the last time we see Peyton play a down in the NFL; how will we remember him? For his plethora of commercials over the near two decades of service with the league? Or what about the epic playoff duels year after year between Manning’s Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady and the New England Patriots?
Will it be about his championship victory over a great Chicago Bears defense or the ongoing opinions of the media saying he is the “greatest regular season QB of all-time, who has only a 14-13 record in the postseason?”
Maybe it involves the rumors of Manning possibly using HGH in his last few seasons to help his throwing arm?
Time will tell, and obviously we need to find out if his career is indeed over or if he plans on returning for another run next season.
Based on what everyone saw, especially this year, it looks like he will call it quits. If he does, then great for him. Going out on top with a championship from the historic 50th Super Bowl, now that’s pretty special.
Manning defeated key rivals of his (Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady) just to get to the Super Bowl, then disposed of the 17-1 Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara. No question he will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Peyton should be remembered in the game of football for being a highly touted guy from the University of Tennessee who was drafted first overall by a franchise who never tasted the joys of victory.
In his 14 years of starting at QB for the Colts (one full season he was injured), Manning made the playoffs 11 times. That’s as many times as the Colts have gone in the rest of their franchise history dating back to 1953, when the team starting playing for the city of Baltimore.
It speaks volumes of his consistency year after year getting back into the playoffs. In just four seasons in Denver, he has made the Super Bowl twice and now has delivered the Broncos’ third Super Bowl in franchise history, along with the two delivered on the back of QB John Elway.
“Peyton Manning rides into the sunset as a winner,” has a pretty good ring to it.
Nick Konotopskyj is the Sports Editor at The BV.
His email is konotonr12@bonaventure.edu
