Elway, Favre, Marino took longer to choose retirement than Manning

The confetti hadn’t even stopped falling at Levi’s Stadium when the questions began: would Peyton Manning retire? If so, when would he announce it? We want to know now! Now! NOW!

In an always-on, last-week-is-ancient-history culture, we want answers and we want them immediately. Fron that standpoint, it seems like Manning is taking FOREVER to decide whether to retire. Truth is, though, Manning hasn’t taken nearly as much time as other all-time greats to make the retirement call.

Yahoo Sports broke down the time between many Hall of Fame quarterbacks’ final games and their retirement announcements. As of early March, Peyton was still within the timespan of the greatest slam-dunk retirement call ever, Brett Favre’s third.

Granted, there are some extenuating circumstances on many of these players. Steve Young, for instance, was injured early in his final season and retired rather than getting cut from San Francisco, though he flirted with the idea of playing with, yes, Denver. Troy Aikman retired after he was released and couldn’t catch on with another team. Others, like Warren Moon and Jim Kelly, were so beaten down by years of football and stumbling ends to their careers that retirement was a foregone conclusion.

The closest comparisons to Manning’s situation would be Joe Montana and, of course, John Elway. Like Manning, both finished their careers in the playoffs, Montana with a wild-card loss, Elway with a Super Bowl win. Montana still had a year remaining on a deal with the Chiefs, while Elway was just one year into a six-year deal when he stepped away. Both were younger than Manning at the time of their retirement. If Manning follows their lead, we’ll be waiting until at least May for a decision. Sit tight, everyone.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.