Everybody needs to move past this “legacy” debate. It seems for some as if Peyton Manning hasn’t thrown enough touchdowns, or won enough games, or made enough of football’s greatest defensive minds wonder if perhaps they were trying to scheme against a cyborg. (Most recent evidence: 400 passing yards, at the age of 37, vs. Bill Belichick).
There is a point at which we look at someone’s resume and conclude, “That’s enough.” We’re far past that point with Manning. Whether he wins or loses Sunday’s Super Bowl against Seattle shouldn’t determine his legacy any more than Beethoven’s ninth and final symphony convinced the classical music world, “OK, maybe this kid’s got it.”
The greats separate themselves with uncommon feats. Some quarterbacks have done it with statistics (Dan Marino). Some with precision, uncommon cool and championships (Joe Montana). Some with seeming medical voodoo.
Enter Manning. He should have his feet on an ottoman and a bust in Canton this week. He has had four neck surgeries. Four. The last one also was the most serious: It fused two vertebrae.
Manning has an older brother, Cooper, who had to quit football because of a spinal condition. He has a younger brother, Eli, with whom he played catch after Peyton’s first neck surgery. It left Eli “pretty much convinced he was done.” He had company.
If Manning isn’t the greatest quarterback in NFL history — and comparing athletes from different teams and different eras can be problematic — it would take compelling evidence to overcome the latest entries on his resume. He could’ve retired. Given health scares, you can debate he should’ve retired. But this season, at the age of 37, in his first 14th NFL season he threw for career highs in completions (450), yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55) and led his team to a 13-3 record and the Super Bowl.
Checkmate.
It’s a more reflective Manning now. He said, “I’m not a robot. Maybe I was as a younger player. … I think it’s healthy to take time to smell the roses.”
I know. Probably not the words an obsessed football fan wants to hear. So consider the moments when he’s not sniffing flowers.
Denver quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp will tell you about receiving text messages and emails from Manning late at night during the week after he puts his kids to bed: “He’ll have a scenario in his head, like, ‘OK, I have third-and-four-to-six call in the game plan. Here are their top two coverages, but what if they come with this one?’”
Teammates share stories about Manning’s preparation and obsession with details.
Rookie running back Montee Ball talks about Manning texting him congratulations after he was drafted, then coming up to him during offseason workouts and asking, “What do you think you need help with?”
Knowshon Moreno, a former Georgia running back, said Manning, “taught me how to be a professional.”
Late in the season, a Broncos official snapped a picture of Manning soaking his ankle in a therapy pool, while he was watching a live feed of practice on his iPad. Manning also was wearing a helmet at the time. Why? So he could listen to the audio of offensive coordinator Adam Gase calling the plays.
These are the things special athletes do. When some suggest Manning’s legacy is in question because of his playoff record (11-11) and/or he’s won only one Super Bowl, “They’re just looking for something,” Denver executive John Elway said. “I mean, what else are you going to talk about Peyton Manning that’s negative other than, ‘Okay, we’ve got to go to his legacy’?”
Manning paused this week when the subject was broached again. “This legacy question keeps popping up, and I guess I’ve had a little more time to think about it,” he said. “If I had my choice, what my legacy would be would be that I played my butt off for every team that I ever played on, I was a really good teammate, and I did everything I could to win. Whatever happens in that time is fine with me.”
Some wondered after the September 2011 fusion surgery if he would tempt fate by trying to play again. For a while, Manning was among them. He said Cooper’s surgeries for stenosis had “a big impact on my life.
“When Cooper got injured, they did a test on me and Eli. They said our necks weren’t picture perfect and didn’t look ideal, but they’re stable enough to keep playing football. In some ways, when I had my neck problems, I thought maybe I had been on borrowed time this entire time.”
But in early 2012, after months of rehab, Manning had a physical and was assured he could resume playing. “The doctor said, ‘Your neck is secure.’ He said, ‘I’d let you play Super Bowl Sunday, and if you were my own son, I’d let you play.’”
Where do we put Manning in history? Possibly at No. 1. Manning said, “I don’t have a list.”
Then he described his “perfect” quarterback. “Take John Elway’s arm, Dan Marino’s release, maybe Troy Aikman’s dropback, Brett Favre’s scrambling ability, Joe Montana’s two-minute poise and, naturally, my speed in there.”
Laughter followed. Manning ranked 302nd and last in rushing this season at minus-31 yards.
Alas, a flaw.
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