As you can see from this enormous wall of text, I have something to say that means a lot to me. The NFL and MLB hold special places in my heart. Ive always loved sports and there are few players Ive loved more than Peyton Manning. Pretty much anyone who knows me is aware that I have over half a dozen jerseys hanging in my college apartment with the names Manning (Archie and Eli too) and Luck (not Oliver, yet...) on them. So here it goes: I am awake at 4 AM for a few reasons. One is that I dont have class until super late in the day tomorrow so I dont really *need* to get to sleep. The other reason is more of the cause. I still cant believe how that Super Bowl turned out. Completely deflated. As a Colts fan and a fervent admirer of Peyton Manning and his complete body of work, I really thought this was going to be a solidifying moment for his legacy as a quarterback. He was going to be the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises. He was going to cap one of the most phenomenal years of football ever recorded into the stat books. Over 600 points scored, 55 TDs, 5477 passing yards, four 10+ touchdown receivers, and another 13-3 record. He would be able to claim that he beat a much stronger opponent than the Grossman-led Bears. He would finally be able to shrug off the errors made in the Super Bowl against the Saints that cost him a second ring. I wholeheartedly believe the Seahawks deserved their win tonight. Their defense blanked a prolific offense. They challenged the Broncos supremely talented receivers everywhere on the field. They made the Broncos offensive line look like children being pushed around. Running backs and wide receivers from the Seahawks made Bronco tacklers look like they had never put on cleats and a helmet before. It was a complete meltdown for that team. Now people have more ammo to say that Joe Montana or Tom Brady are better career quarterbacks than Peyton Manning. It might be true. Montana was simply amazing in pretty much every facet of the game. There was no better quarterback, and I would personally rank him #1 on my list all time. Tom Brady benefited from a tremendously talented defense in his three Super Bowl wins, all of which were decided by a field goal. Each game Adam Vinatieri kicked the game-ender through the uprights. Not since the team was placed firmly on the offense to bury their opponents has Brady managed to pull off a Super Bowl win. Hes been in the big game twice thereafter, and the Patriots were ultimately stopped short of furthering their legacy by the Giants each time. I think Brady finally deserves my forgiveness for receiving the infamous Tuck Rule call against the Raiders because of all hes accomplished. For whatever reason, I still hold it against Brady that he got to play under Belichick while Manning had Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, and John Fox. While they each have their merits (Dungy is one of my favorite coaches of all time), I dont think any of them hold a candle to Bill Darth Vader Belichick. I dont believe anyone can challenge Mannings status as the greatest regular season quarterback, but its possible that Manning just cant be the one on whose shoulders you put the fate of a Super Bowl. The team really has to come around him, and I think the Colts and Broncos have let him down a lot in that aspect in postseason play. I didnt want all these thoughts to just be in my head and not be shared with other people that might be thinking similarly to me. Or maybe I might change some minds or get some responses that would make me think differently. Either way, I just think it was supposed to end differently for Manning.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:13:46 +0000
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