The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Manning’s retirement as a career Giant is meaningful
Tom Brady is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
Philip Rivers is an Indianapolis Colt.
And Eli Manning is retired. But Manning also is still a Giant. Forever.
Sports’ greatest appeal is the live competition itself, as every fan is painfully being reminded now, with the lonely grass of empty ballparks begging for a wad of chewed sunflower seed shells to land just to feel normal.
But in the absence of live sport, we still have the timeless discussion and debate of athletes’ legacies. And in the NFL right now, we are witnessing a jarring shift in the legacy department of some of the star quarterbacks who defined the bulk of the past two decades.
Manning’s legacy, however, in contrast, has been cemented for eternity in Giant blue.
Not to say this makes Manning superior. He retired, after all, in part because there was not a market for his services in free agency like the bidding war for the ageless Brady, let alone for the Super Bowlstarved Rivers.
Circumstances pushed him to the end as much as he called it quits, as they do with all former champions.
Nevertheless, it is rare that professional athletes stick in one spot for any significant length of time nowadays, let alone for a 16-year career at the most important position for one of the landmark franchises of the most popular sport in the country.
And that’s become even clearer since Manning’s January retirement ceremony, as Brady has bolted to St. Jetersburg, Fla., and Rivers has left the West Coast for the Midwest.
Even Eli’s older brother Peyton, a much better player who long defined the Colts, battled injuries and ended up in Denver to win his second Super Bowl with the Broncos, tying little brother’s total before hanging them up.
The Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, of course, is seeking a comeback from injury in year 17 and appears headed for similarly impressive longevity with one franchise in Pittsburgh.
The big trio of Manning, Rivers and Big Ben in the class of 2004 in no small way has helped shape the league since, beginning with Manning’s refusal to play in San Diego, kickstarting his run in New York.
What people remember most about athletes, though, is not how it all began. What they remember most often is whether they won, and how it ended.
If Brady fails to win Super Bowl No. 7 in Tampa, it won’t tarnish what he did in New England — though of course, if Bill Belichick wins another one and Brady doesn’t, it could feed interminable fodder to the crowd that argues it’s the coach, not the QB, who drove the dynasty.
Rivers obviously has not won a championship, so he is simply chasing a ring. And given the stadiums and crowds the Chargers have been playing in front of recently, it’s easy to argue Rivers owed it himself to move on, even if it’s debatable the Colts should have sought his services given his recent play.
Manning, meanwhile, has two Super Bowl MVPs, two championships, two wins over Brady in the big game. Two unforgettable gamewinning drives. And while the bad years at the end always will be a part of his story, it’s fair to say Manning retired without anything left to prove.
It’s hard to be able to do that and to say that.
That is why, when Manning retired, the Daily News wrote he was “Once a Giant, always a Giant, and only a Giant,” and why the quarterback ended his speech with that same phrase days later.
Because along with those Lombardi Trophies, years from now, it is clear being a Giant and only Giant is what will make Manning most proud — and most unique in this game, including among his peers.