Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time due to his upbringing of a quarterback family. His dad Archie Manning was a quarterback at Ole Miss from 1967-1970 and went to the NFL draft in 1971. In the draft, he was the second pick in the very first round by the New Orleans Saints. Archie played for them from 1971-1975 and then back again from 1977-1982. Archie was then sent to the Houston Oilers and then to the Minnesota Vikings. He retired in 1984, but during his NFL career, he had three sons named Cooper, Peyton, and Eli Manning.
Cooper, Peyton, and Eli all grew up watching their father play football and wanted to pursue that career. They all went all through their life playing football becoming rising stars. Peyton and Eli were quarterbacks as for their brother Cooper he was a wide receiver. Cooper found out in high school that he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal canal) so his career was cut short. Peyton and Eli both went to college and were starting quarterbacks. Peyton went to The University of Tennessee and Eli went to Ole Miss.
Peyton went to the draft in 1998 and was the very first pick in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts. Eli went to the draft in 2004 got and picked first by the San Diego Chargers then traded to the New York Giants in the draft for Phillip Rivers. Peyton ended up being the best out of all of them because he was an eleven time pro bowler, five time First Team All Pro, three time Second Team All Pro. Four time AP NFL MVP, six Time AFC Player of the Year, Pro Bowl MVP, Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, two time AFC Champion, and Indianapolis alltime leader in stats.
Peyton was the fastest quarterback to reach 4,000 completions and the fastest to reach 50,000 passing yards. His total passing yards are 54,828, his passer rating is 94. 9, and he has thrown 399 touchdowns. Peyton has been on top for years and will continue just with another team, the Denver Broncos. Everyone is thinking that Peyton will do better than John Elway did when he was the quarterback for the Broncos. The outstanding rookie from Stanford University, Andrew Luck, replaced Peyton; the analysts are saying he will be better than Peyton after a year.
They believe Peyton could bring multiple super bowls to Denver and top the records there as well. All Peyton can do now is live up to the expectations and play the best he can. That is why Peyton is the greatest quarterback there is. Football is America’s game. Its nonstop action and desire to achieve greatness defines the American spirit. The game’s best players and most memorable moments have made football in fans opinion the most cherished game in America. Nevertheless, what defines a great football player? This topic comes up on television stations such as ESPN and NFL Network seemingly every 24 hours.
However, you cannot truly define a great player without first analyzing statistics for that player’s position. For a running back, it might be “How many rushing yards can you tally in a season? “, and for a wide receiver, it could be how many touchdowns you caught. Nevertheless, perhaps the most important position in the game of football, especially in today’s game, is the quarterback. The legacies of great quarterbacks are timeless, as Johnny Unitas, Otto Graham, Y. A. Tittle, and of course, Joe Namath still viewed as the greatest of all time.
However, the number one thing that can define a great quarterback is how many Super bowl Championships he has won. This man, #18 and the current Denver Broncos signal caller, is Peyton Manning. By the time he was in high school at Isidore Newman High School of Louisiana, Peyton was already showing signs of a mature passer. When Peyton reached the varsity level in his sophomore year, he was accompanied by his close older brother Cooper, who was a senior at the time (If you are wondering about little brother Eli, the current NY Giants quarterback, he was still a baby at this point).
The two combined for 73 completions, 1,250 yards, and 13 touchdowns. The duo led their school to the state semifinals where their prolific run came to an abrupt halt. In order for the two brothers to play together again, they would have to hope and pray that the both got into the same college. Cooper took after his dad and attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford. Every college scout across the nation thought that Peyton would follow suit, but after Cooper suffered a traumatic injury, Peyton opened his mind to other options. Peyton shocked the world of college football when he committed to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Peyton even said, that he would have attended Ole Miss, had Cooper not gone down. Peyton did not expect to start on his first year. However, on the first drive that year, the starter tore his ACL and Peyton got his chance. Unfortunately, he handed the ball off three times and jogged off the field. He did not return to that game, later a loss to UCLA. Manning’s real first chance came after Tennessee fell to 1-3 under their quarterback Helton. They triumphed over teams like Arkansas and Alabama under the freshman star, as the biography will get into exciting detail on how Peyton came to win these games.
Peyton would stick around for all four years of college, and go on to be the statistical leader in major passing categories in Tennessee history. Peyton capped off his exciting college career after finishing his senior season 10-1. Nevertheless, they could not stop Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, as they lost 42-17. However operating finished second in Heisman voting and received first team All-American honors. The University of Tennessee would retire his number 16 jersey in honor of his 4year efforts.
Entering the 1998 National Football League Draft, Peyton’s dreams of becoming an NFL quarterback would finally be oming true. It did not take long for the commissioner to call his name as Peyton Manning was selected first overall to the Indianapolis Colts. He had high expectations entering the league. Peyton was effective in scoring touchdowns, as he passed for an NFL Rookie record 26 TD passes. However, he looked almost reminiscent of Brett Favre when he finished the season with a league high 28 interception. Though the team’s record of 3-13 did not show it, Peyton Manning had shown glimpses of incredible talent and extreme potential.
Throughout the next 14 years of his still growing career, Peyton Manning would endure tough seasons, bad losses (including one to his dad’s old team in Super bowl XLIV) and even a neck surgery that would bring his 2011 season to a halt. To highlight Manning’s accomplishments over the many years of his NFL career, perhaps the most outstanding would be the four MVP awards. The next most extravagant achievement would be his lone Super bowl victory in 2006 over the Chicago Bears. In this historic, and frankly a crappy day considering the weather, Peyton Manning threw for 247 yards completing 25 of 38 passes with one TD and one INT.
He was the game’s MVP. After 2011 however, the team that drafted Manning would let him go. Even though Lew Freedman only takes us up to Manning’s 2008 season, he does an incredible job of describing the exciting career of Peyton Manning. His interpretation of the career and life of one of the game’s most prolific passers is truly a pageturner for any football fan. Peyton is still going strong with the Denver Broncos and plays on a regular basis. He may not have many years left, but Peyton’s career is one of the most memorable and most exciting of any player in history.
Super Bowl 50 was an existential game that year. There was everything a good game needed. The game was close; two great teams, and for the first time in a while a defensive matchup. Both the Panthers and the Broncos competed until the end. In addition, many plays will last forever as great Super Bowl plays. The 1st half, halftime show, 2nd half, and the end game press conferences made Super Bowl 50 a memorable game. From the beginning of the game, everyone knew that it was going to be a good game. The Broncos marched down the field, got into the red zone, only to kick a field goal.
On the Panthers first possession, you could tell the stage was too big for Cam Newton. Then on their next possession, Cam Newton got stripsacked by Von Miller and the Broncos scores a touchdown. This was arguably the best play in the game. Then the Panthers got the ball back and scored a touchdown off a 1yd Jonathan Stewart run making the game 10-7. The Broncos next scoring possessions came off a 61-yd punt return but yet again stopped in the red zone once again and they kicked a field goal making it 13-7. At the end of the half, the Broncos led the Panthers 13-7. After the halftime, show came the second half and some controversy.
On the Panthers first possession, they missed a field goal and gave the ball back to Denver. The broncos got the ball and again scored a field goal making the game 16-7. In the fourth quarter, the panthers drove down the field and scored a field goal. With four minutes left, the Panthers had the ball, but Cam Newton was strip sacked by Von Miller and gave the ball back to the Broncos. This is where the controversy began with Cam Newton not diving on the ball when he had a chance. The Bronco scored and got the two-point conversion making the game out of reach at 24-10. Which would end up being the final.
The Broncos won their third Super Bowl and the Panthers lost their second. At the end of the game, the Bronco got the Super Bowl trophy. At the same time, Peyton Manning did not tell us if he was retiring or not. The Broncos were happy and John Elway gave a great nod to the owner when he said, “This is for Pat. ” The Panthers on the other hand were very disappointed. You could see by the way Cam Newton acted. He did not act like a professional, did not answer all the questions, and left after only three minutes. Peyton Manning then decided it was a great time to end his career and then retired in 2016.
