Every Monday morning, Section 215’s Akiem Bailum gives an in-depth and unfiltered look at all of the latest sports news in The Monday Morning Realist. You can follow Akiem on Twitter @AkiemBailum.
Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) walks to the center of the field to shake hands with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) after his loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Colts won 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
It is a question we ask of every great athlete that comes through the ranks once it may be clearly time for her or him to put away their jersey for good.
What is the legacy they have left on their particular sport?
Yesterday’s divisional playoff matchup at Sports Authority Field at Mile High had to be hard to watch for some. The Indianapolis Colts were playing the Denver Broncos for the opportunity to face the New England Patriots in Foxboro with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck looked on point for much of the game, while the Broncos’ Peyton Manning looked out of sync and appeared to be succumbing to father time. Many even noticed that his arm strength was not what it usually is at 38 years of age.
After the game even Manning himself admitted that it is no longer a slam dunk that he will return to play football next season. Much of this could have to do with how several of his Broncos teammates, including DeMaryius and Julius Thomas fare in free agency. Head Coach John Fox’s job could also be in jeopardy.
But a good bit of it could have to do with the fact that Manning may no longer be the Manning that he was from 2000 to just last season, even with him throwing for over 5,000 yards and 39 touchdowns this year.
Could this really be the end? Could yesterday’s game really have been the last time we saw Manning on the field in an NFL game?
That possibility is out there, and with that possibility out there, it is indeed time to start the legacy talk.
Without a doubt, if Manning retires, he will indeed retire as the greatest regular season quarterback in NFL history. Such a tag to throw on a quarterback can count as much as a compliment as much as it could be a backhanded slap to the face, but that is what Manning is.
There was almost never a season where a Manning-led team did not have at least 12 wins during the regular season only to flame out in the playoffs. A quarterback as great as Manning one would think would have won more Super Bowls.
That was not the case as his lone Super Bowl victory came in 2006-07 in rainy Miami over the Chicago Bears, in which he not only won, but was named MVP.
Prior to that game, everyone wanted to tag Manning as the quarterback who could not “win the big one.” Inexplicably, some in the sports media wanted to attach that brand to Manning even after he was successful in winning the Super Bowl that year because his playoff record did not match his regular season output.
Realists, I have always felt that the media fetish with his legacy struck me as odd, given that he won the Super Bowl he was supposed to win in 2006.
In addition to that, one also has to look at Manning’s career in context of what has happened to the larger NFL.
There is no question that the league has transitioned itself into more of a pass-happy league which has led to an era of gaudy and ridiculous passing numbers by quarterbacks. This is why whenever passing statistics are displayed during NFL telecasts that are by way of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, or Andrew Luck, I always think that this is exactly what the NFL has wanted.
As great of a quarterback Manning was when he was in the prime of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, he could have succeeded in any era. But there is no doubt that some of the success he had in this era had to do with a change in the league’s philosophy in where the league should go.
It wanted to be more of a pass-happy league where quarterbacks could throw 30 and 40 yard bombs downfield. What do you get when that happens? Peyton Manning.
The success on the field even translated to that off the field as well. The NFL, being the most popular sport in America, would have had no problem making anyone the face of their league. But, even when he was consistently being beaten by Tom Brady and the Pats in the playoffs, it was always Manning’s face and voice on those commercials, not Brady’s.
Anyone who is that talented and that marketable is the face of the league. Manning was just that during the 2000’s.
Do not forget Lucas Oil Stadium as well. They call it “The House that Peyton Built” for a reason.
Also, by the way, some even raised the question of if when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame if he goes in as an Indianapolis Colt or a Denver Bronco.
This should not even be talked about now, especially if Manning hangs up his jersey after this season without a Super Bowl victory for Denver.
The Sheriff’s days in Denver will be just like Joe Montana’s days in Kansas City at the end of his career: notable, but not worth much in terms of talking about.
The Mile High City may have had a brief cup of coffee with #18, given the circumstances that led to him leaving Indianapolis, but it was in Indianapolis where he was the toast of the town.
And, if he retires, it would be fitting for him for his final game to be against his former team—a symbolic passing of the torch from Manning to Luck.
That is the legacy he has left on this league. Just as the previous generation tells us about the days of Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas, we will be telling the same stories in about 30 years about Peyton Manning and how he changed the NFL.
Manning will probably be the first person to tell you that he wished he won more in the postseason. But as much as his postseason record will be looked at by analysts looking to determine his career themselves instead of letting the numbers speak for themselves, they need to recognize that if quarterbacks will be defined by their Super Bowl records, that Trent Dilfer or even Eli Manning had more successful careers than Peyton Manning.
This is not the case, and either Dilfer or Eli will tell any of us that.
So, if this is indeed the end for #18, it will feel surreal especially for us young fans who basically grew up watching him play football. But, there’s a beginning and an ending to everything and we should feel fortunate that we had the chance to experience what was the textbook definition of NFL greatness.