Super Bowl 50 Final Act in Peyton Manning’s Storied Career
By Max Carter
Relaxing his muscles in the soothing aura of defeating his nemesis Tom Brady in the playoffs, Peyton Manning soaks in his personal sauna, sipping cucumber water and running through the playbook for Super Bowl 50. He has been here before. He has tasted victory and he has tasted defeat. But this one is a little bit different. This could be the last one.
Peyton ponders the challenges he will face as he takes on Luke Kuechly and the Carolina Panthers’ electric defense. The aging master has found himself pitched against the young product of his golden days, perhaps aware of the vast gap in youthful athleticism between himself and Cam Newton. Peyton quickly fends off an oncoming flashback as he realizes that the Panthers may be an even more daunting challenge than the Denver Broncos’ previous Super Bowl foe.
Super Bowl 50 will be historically significant, with two distinctly different eras of NFL quarterbacks pitted against each other. On one side we have the classic, weathered veteran that hangs in the pocket and delivers completion after completion. On the other side, we have the new breed–the feisty, athletic scrambler who can also hurt you with his arm.
Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, this we do not debate. As we reach the end of a season in which many doubted that Peyton Manning would even play football, here we see him, perched upon his golden throne, entering the greatest arena one last time. Yet for all of his fantastic achievements, he is missing one patch on the uniform of his otherwise decorated career–multiple Super Bowl victories.
Live Feed
Predominantly Orange
Despite Peyton Manning’s recent win over Tom Brady in the AFC Championship game, the golden boy from New England still has four rings to Manning’s one. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, two quarterbacks with far less impressive career numbers than Peyton Manning, both have four Super Bowl rings as well. Troy Aikman has three rings, and several other NFL quarterbacks have a pair of Super Bowl rings, including Ben Roethlisberger, John Elway, Bart Starr and Peyton’s little brother, Eli Manning.
Many of these great quarterbacks have thrown lots of touchdowns, but who tops that list? Peyton Manning. All of these historic gunslingers have completed tons of passes, but who is second on that list? Peyton Manning. And many of those same legendary names have compiled unbelievable amounts of yardage in the air, but who has thrown for more yards than any quarterback ever? Peyton Manning. On top of that, Peyton Manning is now the only quarterback in NFL history to lead two teams to multiple Super Bowl appearances during his career. But getting there is one thing–winning is another.
It is certainly not hard to see that Peyton Manning has lost some juice in that 39-year-old arm of his. But if anybody can pull of a Super Bowl 50 victory with an aging arm, it is Peyton Manning. Let’s not forget that this is the same guy who compiled the most career touchdown passes in NFL history while throwing ducks on a consistent basis.
Let’s also not forget that the Denver Broncos defense allowed the fewest yards of any defense in the NFL and allowed the fourth-fewest points to their opponents in 2015. There is no denying that the seasoned Peyton Manning has ridden on the back of his energized, opportunistic defense thus far. But now that his team has reached their final destination, it is time for number 18 to shoulder the load.
As much as the youthful 17-1 Carolina Panthers seem to have the advantage come February 7, it feels like Peyton Manning has history on his side in Super Bowl 50. After all of the milestones and records, the one thing missing from the nearly perfect puzzle that is Peyton Manning’s career is a definitive playoff performance. And now in the twilight of his career–no, the midnight campfire of his career–a living legend takes to his craft one more time, guitar in hand as he croons a soothing southern melody, in a game that will determine the final memory an unbelievable career.