NFL: Thank You, Peyton Manning!
The end is near for legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, who has given us plenty to marvel at during his days playing the game that he loves.
You could make an argument that following the news, first reported by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on Sunday morning, that the saddest city in the United States today isn’t Denver, Colorado or even Indianapolis, Indiana.
It’s Omaha, Nebraska.
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On Monday, quarterback Peyton Manning will announce his retirement from the National Football League after 18 years (17 seasons on the field) with two different franchises – both of which he helped win Super Bowl titles. That’s just one of the many unprecedented feats from the number-one overall pick in the 1998 draft.
Manning is the league’s all-time leader with 539 career touchdown passes, topping a list of great names that includes 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame class member Brett Favre (508), as well as active signal-callers Drew Brees (428) and Tom Brady (428) and Hall of Fame enshrines Dan Marino (420), Fran Tarkenton (342) and John Elway (300).
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These are the only seven players to throw at least 300 career touchdown passes – although the 2004 NFL Draft class of Eli Manning (294), Philip Rivers (281) and Ben Roethlisberger (272) isn’t far behind.
Then again, Manning’s 71,940 passing yards are also the most in NFL history. As are those numbers with the Broncos in 2013, when he set single-season records with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 yards and helped Denver score a record 606 points on the way to Super Bowl XLVIII.
Of course, anyone who saw Manning play in 2015 knows he wasn’t quite himself. Yes, the Broncos got off to a 7-0 start this past season and went 7-2 under the legendary quarterback. But in those nine contests, he threw nearly twice as many interceptions (17) as touchdown passes and was picked off at least once in each game. Meanwhile, he failed to throw for a score in four of those contests.
In Week 10, in what would prove to be a 29-13 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Gary Kubiak pulled Manning after an abysmal outing in which he completed only 5-of-20 passes for 35 yards while throwing four interceptions.
Enter backup Brock Osweiler, who started the final seven regular-season games of the year but was pulled in the second half in Week 17 at home against the San Diego Chargers. With an opportunity to clinch home field advantage in the AFC, the Broncos had already committed five turnovers (3 by Osweiler) in the game.
Enter Manning, who proved to be a spark plug and a calming force for a club that roughly a month later rode its defensive unit to a win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
So now the end is near. It’s the conclusion of one of the great careers of any player in professional sports. It’s the end of a great rivalry between him and fellow legend and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady – the NFL’s equivalent of hoopsters Larry Bird and “Magic Johnson.”
But perhaps what stands out the most is Manning’s notable respect and reverence for the game as well as its storied history. From the idea of wearing black high-top shoes to commemorate the passing of Johnny Unitas to the tales of his legendary work ethic to the concern he’s had for others in terms of teammates, friends and colleagues. And as teammate Jeff Saturday found out on occasion. Manning was never one to mince words.
The scenes and sounds at the end of the 2015 AFC Championship Game with New England head coach Bill Belichick and his chat with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman near the conclusion of Super Bowl 50 shows his rapport and the respect he has garnered throughout the game.
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Tomorrow it will apparently become official. It’s been a lot of fun watching someone excel at something that they love and Manning’s passion is unquestioned. Yes, Omaha will be getting a lot less publicity on Sunday afternoons but look at it this way: Manning will be able to sleep in a lot longer after those appearances on Saturday Night Live.