SUPER BOWL:
Fans of Peyton Manning cheer again as he hobbles to another big win.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Everyone got spoiled.
Over two decades of watching Peyton Manning play on the biggest stages, fans became numb to all he could do — the way he dissected defenses with clinical precision, the way he rewrote the record book, the way he came back from a neck injury that was supposed to be career-ending. Then this. Hobbled, creaking, sputtering to the end of his 18th season, he became a different quarterback: Not the alpha dog who needed to call all the shots, but a 39-year-old game manager who needed others to carry him over the finish line.
And what a finish the 2410 win over the Carolina Panthers was — if, in fact, this was it.
Not so much because of the 13 completions and 141 yards. But because of the Super Bowl title he brought back to Denver — the second of his career and the one that proved every last thing he needed to prove.
“I don’t worry much about Peyton’s legacy,” said
his dad, Archie. “Peyton’s legacy was he was a good quarterback. He showed up and played. A lot of people give him credit for changing things about the game. But there’s nothing wrong with being 2-2 in the Super Bowl instead of 1-3.”
Those two losses hovered over Manning like a dark cloud. All the passing yards (71,940), MVP awards (a record five) and wins (Sunday’s marked No. 200) should’ve translated into more rings.
Now he has two, and is one of only 12 quarterbacks who can claim multiple Super Bowl titles.
One of the others is John Elway, who took a chance on Manning’s surgically repaired neck in 2012.
Manning repaid him by throwing for nearly 15,000 yards over the first three seasons, and taking the Broncos to the Super Bowl two years ago. But they weren’t a complete team, and the Seattle Seahawks humiliated them 43-8.
The bolstering of the defense began immediately, but not until halfway through this season did the magnitude of the transformation — of the Broncos and of Manning — sink in.
His post-injury a rm strength became a liability. He threw an NFL-high 17 interceptions through 8½ games before he went to the bench with a torn ligament in his left foot.
His comeback began when he entered as a substitute in the last game of the regular season. It continued in the playoffs, where he managed the Broncos to two wins against Pittsburgh and New England.
His stat line Sunday, 13 for 23 with an interception and a 56.6 passer rating, is bottom-10 material. But there was still a good football brain at work — one that knew the perfect time to shout “Omaha, Omaha,” to move out of one play and into another, to get out of harm’s way and let the defense take care of the rest.
“It’s been a unique season and (you’re) probably tired of hearing me saying this, but I really have just tried to take it one week at a time and not take it too far ahead,” Manning said.
The next move seems like an easy one.
For the last two weeks, Manning’s been savoring every moment. He brought his two children onto the stage with him after the AFC Championship. He reached out to all of his old coaches. He gave an emotional speech to the team Saturday night that some said felt like a goodbye.
Everything points to this being, as Manning told Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the “last rodeo.” But Manning insisted the moments after the Super Bowl were no time to make a decision.
“Peyton’s spoiled us,” Archie said. “The season was hard. So different. But that’s what life is, and football has many similarities.”