Peyton Manning: The Fun Always Lasted

The National Football League lost more than just a great player when Peyton Manning retired. The league lost arguably its most valuable asset when it came to just having fun.

I can’t say for sure that Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback in the history of the National Football League. Those types of discussions are above my pay grade and go beyond my knowledge of the sport. I wouldn’t argue with anybody who would say that he would take Tom Brady, Joe Montana or Dan Marino over Manning.

What I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that I had more fun watching Manning than I have had watching any other NFL player or, for that matter, any athlete in any sport.

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Every so often in the sports world, the right athlete comes along for that time. Peyton Manning would have been a Hall of Fame quarterback in any era. Anybody who thinks differently is either trying desperately to have a hot take or doesn’t know football. That Manning came along when he did was a blessing for the NFL and for fans, and it may be a long time before the league has such a special individual who will mean so much to the game.

Manning entered the NFL the same time that high school and college students around the country were being introduced to the Internet and subsequently to easy-to-play online fantasy football leagues. Those of us who knew nothing about building a winning fantasy football roster faked it until we made it, and drafting Peyton Manning with a first overall pick was one way we did just that.

Manning was, as stated by Jamey Eisenberg of CBS Sports, the greatest fantasy football QB in history.

"What has always been important to us is the eye-popping numbers Manning posted on a weekly and yearly basis in the regular season. Since 2000, Manning has been a Top 5 Fantasy quarterback in standard leagues 13 times in 16 seasons, which includes 2011 when he sat out following neck surgery. He was the No. 1 Fantasy quarterback four times over that span in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2013."

Manning was, from his best days with the Indianapolis Colts up through the 2013 record-making season with the Denver Broncos, must-see television, as complete a pocket-passer as anybody had ever seen. The footwork. The vision. The intelligence. The rocket arm. The complete command of an offense. Manning not only had those traits. His were better than anybody else’s.

Manning and the Colts would have never lost a game if he had any scrambling ability whatsoever.

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Manning was, in fact, so surgical in an era where the NFL went out of the way to emphasize passing and protect quarterbacks that the description should, forevermore, be known as “Manning-esque” (i.e. “Cam Newton was Manning-esque in picking apart the defense with his arm on that drive). It became headline news when Manning didn’t throw a touchdown during a game and when the Colts didn’t win a regular season contest.

Years before dreams of NFL Red Zone became reality, those of us who were not in the Indianapolis area flocked to bars and restaurants to catch glimpses of Manning leading offenses down the field while at the same time watching our favorite teams. Brett Favre was “The Gunslinger” and a great QB. Brady may be the best postseason QB ever. Manning was a field general who commanded offenses as easily as we hoped to do in editions of Madden.

Other legendary QBs — Joe Namath is one example — called plays at the line of scrimmage. Those offensive leaders did not do so at a time when players were routinely mic’d-up and when high-definition television was first introduced. Fans not only saw Manning change plays and run offenses during games. We heard Manning call out signals and attempt to deceive NFL defenses.

Admit it: You’ll never hear or see the word “Omaha” again without at least thinking of Manning.

You shouldn’t need me or anybody else to list all of the passing records held by Manning at the time of his retirement. Manning is, statistically speaking, the best regular season QB in NFL history. Talent alone only makes an athlete so much of a star. Manning was not only a tremendous QB. He was the ideal person to be the face of the NFL when multiple football video games were on the market and when social media websites, forums and comments sections changed the way that football fans interacted with each other.

Remember when it seemed as if Manning was in every NFL commercial? That wasn’t an accident, nor did it have to do with Manning’s ego. Some commented in 2015 that Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton was the new face of the NFL. Manning was truly the face of the league during the prime of his career, and Newton and every other young player can only dream of being the NFL ambassador that Manning was for roughly a decade.

The Manning versus Brady rivalry was unlike anything that has ever happened in the NFL. Per Alex Gelhar of NFL.com, Manning and Brady faced off 17 times. Brady prevented Manning from playing in Super Bowl games and vice-versa. While Brady won the regular season rivalry, it was Manning who went 3-1 in AFC Championship Games that featured that two QBs.

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Maybe you rooted for Manning. Maybe you cheered on Brady. Maybe you tuned in because you were a football fan. We watched those games because they were often so fun and so entertaining for the casual fan who had no ties to the teams involved, and also because we knew that this type of rivalry that showcased maybe the two best QBs to ever play the position going at it pass for pass was something that comes around once in a generation if we are lucky.

It is only fitting that Manning’s retirement speech was as good as you will hear from any athlete who is hanging up his cleats. Of course Manning would deliver one final perfect spiral as a NFL player before riding off into the sunset. For the last time, television networks and the eyes of fans were fixed upon the man who was the face of the NFL during the league’s most profitable era. Manning predictably didn’t disappoint.

There will, of course, be great quarterbacks in the future. Manning’s records will eventually fall because all records fall. My nephew, who was a one-year-old when Manning hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the final time as a player, will, God willing, some day tell an older me how a QB who is unknown to us today is the best to play the position and the best thing to ever happen to the NFL.

“You didn’t see Peyton, buddy,” I’ll say as I’ll chuckle.

“You never saw the most fun player to watch in NFL history.”