Thank You, Peyton Manning!

Today, Peyton Manning announced his retirement from the NFL. His 18 year career comes to a close on the heels of winning his second Super Bowl after the Broncos defeated the Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50. It was hardly a surprise as most of the rumors and chatter the last month surrounded around the fact that Manning was probably going to retire, but now that it is actually happened, it does seem a little surreal that Peyton is going to hang it up. There are so many ways to talk about Manning's career, and there are so many ways to look at his legacy, but I wanted to break it down into two parts in the analysis of Manning and his legendary career.

The first perspective is to look at Manning the quarterback. Peyton Manning is a throwback at the quarterback position. He always stressed fundamentals and it was evidenced by him constantly doing drills that he worked on back when he was in high school even when he was in the NFL. He was a student of the position. One of the most underrated reasons why Manning was so good for so long was that he had great technique, great fundamentals, and he worked on that aspect of his game every year he played. The other cool thing about Manning was his respect for the position. He knew the history of the great quarterbacks in the NFL, he respected the position, and he redefined it as his career evolved. He changed the way QBs prepared for games because he was about as thorough in his film study and preparation as any person ever was for that position. Broadcasters used to say that he was like a coach on the field during practice and it was true.

He was the QB, offensive coordinator, wide receiver/tight end coach, and franchise player all wrapped into one. The biggest takeaway about Manning was that he completely changed the way the position was played and the way the NFL-and basically all of offensive football- is played today. From high school teams to college to the NFL, you see the same idea on offense: No huddle, push the pace, dummy audibles, hang signals, fake hand signals, check into the right play and out execute the defense. Manning was the one that started that. The way offense is played today is because of Peyton Manning. Yes, Tom Brady followed suit, and now guys like Aaron Rodgers do it exceptionally well too, but Manning was the first to introduce it and perfect it. Once he did that, he completely dominated the NFL. There has never been a player that played the position so dominantly like Peyton Manning did every single week in the NFL. I would say from 2003 to 2014, virtually every week Manning was the best player in the league overall. Sure, he had some bad games, some rough playoff games, and he struggled, but those games and moments were few and far between. Manning just didn't dominate defenses, he eviscerated them week-to-week. There was a point when he was with the Colts that Manning would anger me because he was so damn good. Almost too good. He crushed the Broncos in the '03 and '04 Wild Card games, shredded their top-ranked defense in 2006, and ripped their hearts out in 2009 and 2010. No matter what they did to him, Manning had an answer and then exploited it in a vicious manner. The funny thing is that Manning did that every single week to every team-except the Pats on occasion. He was the master of his craft and every single Sunday during the season, you would turn on a Manning game and he was dominating the other team. I haven't seen a QB do it in this league for that long of a time. That is what I will always remember about Manning: The dominance, the brilliance, and the way he simply out-executed the opposing teams. There is a reason he gained the nickname "The Sheriff." There are cased to be made for Tom Brady, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, and Joe Montana, but the one thing you can compare is how Peyton Manning revolutionized the QB position and the game of football. That is his legacy on the game of football.

As far as my personal perspective on Manning from a Broncos fan, I think about how Manning was the savior for a storied and successful franchise looking to get back on top. In the week leading up to the Super Bow in February of 2012 in Indianapolis, word started to leak out that Manning was going to be released by the Colts. After four neck surgeries that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season, the Colts were going to be picking #1 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft, and the clear cut pick was going to be QB Andrew Luck. Luck was considered the best QB prospect since Manning himself entered the league in 1998. With Manning's health a concern, the Colts had no choice but to take Luck and let Manning. I joked with a friend during that Super Bowl week that it would be funny if Manning were to go to Denver. I really didn't think it was a possibility and most experts were saying that teams like the Redskins, Jets, Dolphins, Cardinals and Titans were the most likely destinations for Manning. I will never forget coming home from work during the first week of March and seeing ESPN and NFL Network showing a live shot of a plane carrying John Elway, John Fox and Peyton Manning landing in Denver because the Broncos were going to be hosting Manning on his first free agent trip. I couldn't believe it. For the next two weeks, all I did was check the internet, read up on everything I could, and I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of the Broncos signing Manning, even if that meant parting ways with Tim Tebow. I will never forget standing in front of my class, giving a test, when a student came to my classroom and told me that Manning just announced that he is signing with Denver. I almost fell to the floor in disbelief. My whole class heard the news as well, and that class just turned into a moment when I just fielded questions about how I felt that Manning was coming to Denver. It was the best non-playing/non-game moment in my life as a Broncos fan. It was just surreal. Who cares about the questions surrounding his health, this was Peyton "Fucking" Manning we are talking about.

 I will never forget how excited I was when Manning came running out of the tunnel for his first ever regular season game against Pittsburgh in Week 1 on Sunday Night Football. All day it felt like Christmas Eve as I waited for the game. Just to see Manning as a Bronco was just amazing. Of course, Manning threw two touchdowns, rallied the Broncos back, and Denver won 31-19. It was just an amazing night. There are so many games and moments that stand out for me in Manning's four year Broncos career. I will get to those later on, but the biggest aspect about Manning coming to Denver is that he made the Broncos a real, legitimate Super Bowl contender for the first time since John Elway retired. He put the Broncos back on the map and made them a marquee team once again. All he did in Denver was go 45-12 as a starter, 5-3 in the playoffs, 20-2 in the AFC West, 4 AFC West titles, 2 AFC Championships, and 1 Super Bowl championship (Denver went 50-14 in that four year span as well). He threw for 140 TDs, 17,112 yards, and he put together maybe the greatest season ever for a QB when he threw for 55 TDs and 5,477 yards in 2013. He was everything the Broncos and their fans wanted and more when he signed up to be a Bronco. When Manning signed with Denver, I didn't want to jinx him, so instead of buying a Manning jersey, I bought a Broncos t-shirt with the logo on the front, and Manning and the #18 on the back. I wore that shirt every game that Manning played in Denver. He won 50 of the 65 games I wore that shirt. Talk about a good investment. As I said earlier, there are so many great moments and games for Manning in Denver. In 2012, he had the famous comeback after being down 24-0 at San Diego to win 35-24 in Week 6 with the Broncos at 2-3 and their season at a crossroads. He helped Denver put up 30 or more points in 8 of their last 10 games on the way to a 11-game winning streak, a 13-3 record, and the #1 seed in the AFC. If it wasn't for Rahim Moore's misplay against Baltimore, he might have won a title in Denver in his first year there. 2013 was a storybook year from the very first game when Manning threw for 7 TDs on opening night against the Ravens. His amazing performance in the wild shootout win over the Cowboys 51-48 in Week 5 as he raced out to 16 TDs and no interceptions to start the year. His 5 TD performance in KC in a huge Week 13 game was the best game in his entire Denver career in my opinion. Of course, he cemented that season with his record-breaking day over the Texans in Week 16 to break the touchdown record. In the playoffs, Manning was terrific in beating the Chargers in the Divisional Round, and then he was spectacular in the AFC Championship Game with 400 yards and 2 TDs to defeat Tom Brady and the Patriots 26-16 to advance to the Super Bowl. That Super Bowl didn't cap off that dream season as the Broncos got killed by Seattle, but what Manning did in 2013 was so amazing considering he came off four neck surgeries just two years before that. In 2014, Manning had 22 TDs and only 3 INTs after seven games and he broke the all-time passing TD record in a dominant performance over the 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 7. His most impressive moment might have been his 80 yard drive against Seattle on the road with only a minute left to tie the game and send it to overtime. Although Denver lost the game, that might have been his most impressive feat to date as a Bronco. Injuries and age started to creep up on him and 2014 ended in a disappointing Divisional Round loss to the Colts to end a 12-4 and Super Bowl aspirations. It looked like Manning's career could be over on that day but he decided to come back in 2015 under new head coach Gary Kubiak. 2015 wasn't the same for Manning as the previous three years, but Peyton still had some great moments. The 80 yard drive to tie the game in Arrowhead against the Chiefs in Week 2, the 300 yard performance against the undefeated Packers on SNF in Week 8, and then coming off the bench to rally the Broncos to the division title and homefield advantage in Week 17 at home against San Diego. Manning's performance in the playoffs was a reflection of his career. He wasn't the same player as before but he can still do enough to help his team win. Against Pittsburgh, his first down pass to Bennie Fowler on a 3rd and 12 midway through the 4th quarter kept a drive alive and the Broncos eventually scored on that drive to clinch the game. In the AFC Championship, he connected with Owen Daniels for two huge TD passes to give the Broncos an early lead in route to a 20-18 win over Tom Brady and the Patriots once again. In the Super Bowl, his final pass of his career was a two-point conversion strike to Fowler to secure the game and give Denver the 24-10 lead that helped them wrap up Super Bowl 50 and another Lombardi Trophy. It was fitting that Manning's final pass of his career was a two-pointer instead of a touchdown because that is just the way that Manning's 2015 season seemed to go, but it didn't matter because Manning got his long-awaited second Super Bowl victory. When Manning was brought to Denver, he was brought here to win a championship. He was great enough to do it in 2012, but the Ravens foiled that plan in a stunner. He was really great enough to win it again in 2013, but the Seahawks ambushed those plans in Super Bowl XLVIII. He was great enough to win it in 2014, but a late-season injury and father time ended those plans in the loss to the Colts. He wasn't great in 2015. He was even good at times, but it didn't matter because he did what he had to do in leading the Broncos to the Super Bowl and then winning it. It would have been a shame for Manning to leave Denver and retire without bringing the Mile High city another Lombardi Trophy. He accomplished what he set out to do when he signed in 2012 and four years later he delivered, and now he gets to retire as a two-time Super Bowl champion, a 14-13 playoff record (3-1 vs Brady in AFC Championship Games), 200 wins as a starter in the regular season and post season, the all-time leader in touchdown passes and passing yards, and his place in the Broncos Ring of Fame, the Colts Ring of Fame, and of course the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is a top-five QB all-time and the second greatest Bronco right behind John Elway. As a Broncos fan, thank you Peyton Manning. Thank you for making the Broncos a Super Bowl contender again. Thank you for dominating the AFC West again. Thank you for all the wins and the #1 seeds, and big, primetime and playoff games that you brought back to Denver and the fanbase. Thank you for being one of the greatest QBs and players to ever play the game of football. Thank you for making it an absolute joy to watch you suit up for my team every week. Thank you for everything you did for me, my family, and the entire Broncos Country. Thank you for making my two boys get excited and wear your #18 jersey every week when you played. The Sherriff got what he deserved: A chance to retire and ride off into the sunset as a Super Bowl winner. Thank you, Peyton "Fucking" Manning.