There's no arguing Peyton's place among the NFL's all-time greats. He's won more games than anybody, been named MVP more times than anybody, thrown more touchdown passes than anybody and thrown for more yards than anybody. He was drafted No. 1 overall and immediately turned the Indianapolis Colts from a laughingstock into a perennial contender. Then, when the Colts fired him after his neck surgery, he signed with Denver and had a historic season. And, of course, he had the perfect ending. He was a shell of his former self, but who cares? The Broncos won the Super Bowl, which was the very reason they brought Peyton to Denver.
It's, of course, the great irony of his career that he won a Super Bowl in his final season in a very un-Peyton Manning-like manner. Throughout most of the 2016 season, he was bad. In fact, you could argue he was a liability. He got hurt. He got benched. Many people thought that was it. Then he came off the bench in Week 17 and the Broncos won to clinch home field. Then he had one great drive to beat the Steelers. Then he won his final battle against Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game. Then he turned into a game manager, as the Broncos defense won him a second Super Bowl ring.
For all his greatness over 18 years, Peyton was downright average in Super Bowl 50. He was the best quarterback on the field a month ago, but that's not exactly saying much. But, you know what? He doesn't care one bit. Because the end result was a Super Bowl championship, one that cemented his legacy.
Legacy. It's a funny thing. Winning Super Bowl 50 didn't make Peyton Manning one of the best quarterbacks ever. He'd already won a Super Bowl nine years earlier, and was named MVP of that game. But in each of his next two Super Bowl trips, he lost. And 2-2 looks a lot better than 1-3, even though 1 is still more than Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton and Jim Kelly combined.
Peyton's "problem" is that he was always compared to Tom Brady, who's been to six Super Bowls, won four, and been Super Bowl MVP three times. Peyton's teams always won in the regular season, but it was Brady that had the rings. And to most people, that's all that counted. It's ridiculous, but that's the way people think. There's no way to compare them. It's like trying to argue Roger Federer is better than Rafael Nadal or vice versa. It doesn't matter. They're both great.
Perhaps more than anything else, the Manning-Brady rivalry will truly be what defines both of their legacies. For 15 years, we were treated to head-to-head duels by two of the greatest of their generation. Their teams met 17 times, and the stakes were usually high. Brady and the Patriots went 11-6 in those games, but Manning's Colts/Broncos beat New England in the AFC Championship Game three times, including twice in the last three years.
That's what I'm going to miss the most. Not the brilliant field general. Not those beautiful touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and all the others. Not the no-huddle, call-the-play-at-the-line-of-scrimmage. Not "Omaha, Omaha." No. It's Manning-Brady that I'm gonna miss. Broncos-Patriots won't have quite the same cache anymore (I think you can eliminate that one as a possibility for the NFL Kickoff game).
As a Peyton Manning fan, I'm sad I'll never see my favorite quarterback on the field again. But I know he's going to do great at whatever path he chooses next, with coaching and broadcasting seeming to be the most likely candidates. And we'll still see him on TV 35 times a day in Papa John's and Nationwide commercials.
But I also owe him a debt of gratitude. Peyton Manning was great for so many years. He lifted the NFL to new heights, and the league was better for it. Fans in Indianapolis can thank Peyton Manning for turning their team into a contender and getting a new stadium built. Fans in Denver can thank him for choosing to end his career with the Broncos, an outstanding four-year run that included two AFC Championships and a Super Bowl title.
Jim Irsay said Peyton "should" retire a Colt. But Peyton doesn't owe Irsay anything. Instead, the Sheriff rides off into the sunset on a different breed of white horse.
He'll be missed, but his impact on the NFL will never be forgotten. There have been some big names to retire over the past month (Charles Woodson, Calvin Johnson, Jared Allen, Marshawn Lynch). Out of all those legends, though, there's one who's certain to be on the stage in Canton in August 2021. And you can bet all of Indianapolis (as well as plenty of folks from Denver, too) will be there.
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