Peyton Manning retires as a legend with the Denver Broncos, too
I covered Jerry Rice’s retirement news conference in 2005. It was with the Denver Broncos, and that was very weird. Rice spent a preseason with the Broncos and it was clear he was finished. Most people probably don’t remember he was ever with Denver.
That’s expected when legends change teams late in their careers. Maybe you’re lucky and get one great year, like Brett Favre with the Minnesota Vikings. Mostly, you’re getting Franco Harris with the Seattle Seahawks.
When Peyton Manning came to the Broncos, there was probably a better chance for a Franco Harris ending. He was coming off a neck injury that kept him out all of 2010, he was 36 and could barely throw 5 yards as he rehabbed.
And then Manning had the greatest second act a quarterback — and possibly any great player at any position — has ever had. As he retires with the Broncos, it’s not strange. He’s now a legend with the Broncos too. What he did in his second NFL stop was unprecedented in the Super Bowl era.
Manning, in his late 30s, had 17,112 yards and 140 touchdowns in four Broncos seasons. All-time great Bart Starr had 24,718 yards and 152 touchdowns in 16 Green Bay Packers seasons. Much, much different era, but you get the point.
Manning helped the Broncos win four AFC West titles, two AFC championships and Super Bowl 50. They were a top-two seed every one of his Denver seasons. Manning had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history in 2013, setting NFL records with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns while guiding Denver to an NFL record 606 points. Scoff if you wish about anything that happened in 2015, when Manning fell apart and the defense carried him to a Super Bowl, but the entire body of Broncos work is amazing. Considering where he was physically when the Broncos signed him, it is practically miraculous. He goes down with Drew Brees and Reggie White as one of the three titanic free-agent signings in NFL history.
“When you look at everything Peyton has accomplished as a player and person, it’s easy to see how fortunate we’ve been to have him on our team,” Broncos general manager John Elway said in a statement Sunday morning. “Peyton was everything that we thought he was and even more—not only for the football team but in the community. I’m very thankful Peyton chose to play for the Denver Broncos, and I congratulate him on his Hall of Fame career.”
History will remember Manning first as an Indianapolis Colts icon. But we’ll also remember Manning prominently as a Bronco too, and that’s incredibly rare.
No other quarterback has started and won a Super Bowl for two different franchises. Manning is the only player to win an MVP award with two different teams. To put how great Manning’s Denver run was, only 13 quarterbacks in NFL history have won an Associated Press NFL MVP award and also started in a Super Bowl win for the same team. Manning did that in Indianapolis, then he did it in Denver too. Manning’s Broncos career by itself is something almost any player in NFL history would dream of having.
The best quarterback comparisons to what Manning did with two different teams come from at least 40 years ago.
Fran Tarkenton had a good five-year run with the New York Giants from 1967-71 between his Minnesota Vikings stints. Sonny Jurgensen was first-team All-Pro with the Philadelphia Eagles and later with the Washington Redskins. Y.A. Tittle actually had a long, great run with the San Francisco 49ers even though everyone remembers his final four seasons with the New York Giants, which included an MVP award. The best comparison to Manning’s great run with two different teams is probably Norm Van Brocklin. Van Brocklin made six straight Pro Bowls with the Los Angeles Rams and helped them to the 1951 NFL championship, then was an MVP and won another NFL championship with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960.
Others more recently have been passable with their second teams. Joe Montana was OK with the Kansas City Chiefs, Warren Moon had good years with the Vikings and Seattle Seahawks and Favre had one brilliant year in Minnesota. But Manning’s second chapter still stands alone.
Denver has embraced Manning, and memories of him will be fond as he leaves after the franchise’s third Super Bowl win. Go anywhere in Colorado and you’ll see a ton of No. 18 Manning jerseys around. Come back years from now, after Manning takes a rightful spot in the Broncos’ ring of honor, and you’ll still see a ton of those orange Manning jerseys everywhere. And it won’t seem weird at all.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
