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NFL star
quarterback
Peyton
Manning
chases
crowning
glory
By Rob
Woollard
Yahoo
Sports
SAN
FRANCISCO
-
Whether
he wins
or loses
on
Sunday,
Peyton
Manning
has
already
assured
himself
a place
in
American
football's
pantheon
of
greats.
But if
the
veteran
Denver
Broncos
quarterback
manages
to
mastermind
an upset
over the
Carolina
Panthers
in Super
Bowl 50
it will
be the
crowning
achievement
of a
career
that
once
looked
to be in
terminal
decline.
Manning,
39,
faced a
bleak
future
in 2011
when
neck
surgeries
left him
struggling
to throw
properly,
forcing
him to
miss the
entire
season
with the
Indianapolis
Colts,
who
eventually
cut him
in March
2012.
Yet
Manning
went on
to
relaunch
his
career
successfully
with the
Broncos,
enjoying
a
vintage
season
to lead
Denver
to the
Super
Bowl in
2014,
where
they
lost
heavily
to the
Seattle
Seahawks.
This
season
Manning
has
fought
through
adversity
once
more to
reach
his
fourth
Super
Bowl,
where he
is
chasing
a second
championship
ring to
book-end
the one
he
collected
with the
Colts in
2007.
The
nadir of
a
rollercoaster
season
came in
November
when he
produced
a
career-worst
performance
in a
defeat
to
Kansas
City,
featuring
just
five
completions
for 35
yards
and four
interceptions.
Manning
was
benched
for the
first
time in
his
career
thereafter,
losing
his
place to
deputy
Brock
Osweiler.
But a
refreshed
Manning
returned
for the
play-offs
and
rewarded
head
coach
Gary
Kubiak
by
piloting
the team
through
wins
over
Pittsburgh
and New
England.
"There
is no
question
it's
important
to me,
it's
very
personal
to me,"
Manning
said
this
week
when
asked to
reflect
on his
tumultuous
season.
"No
question
this
season
has had
some
unique
challenges."
Just 46
days shy
of his
40th
birthday,
Manning
will be
the
oldest
starting
Super
Bowl
quarterback
in
history
when he
takes to
the
field at
Levi's
Stadium
in Santa
Clara on
Sunday.
-
Farewell
appearance?
-
Many
pundits
believe
it could
be
Manning's
farewell
appearance
after 18
years in
the NFL
which
have
seen him
accumulate
more
passing
yards
than any
other
quarterback.
That
speculation
intensified
after
his
comment
to New
England
coach
Bill
Belichick
in the
AFC
title
game
that it
"might
be my
last
rodeo."
Manning
has
consistently
batted
away
questions
about
his
retirement,
insisting
that no
decision
has been
made. "I
haven't
made my
mind up
and I
don't
see
myself
making a
decision
until
after
the
season,"
Manning
said on
Monday.
Talk of
Manning's
retirement
invariably
invites
discussion
of his
place in
the
pecking
order of
great
quarterbacks.
Many
rank him
behind
the
likes of
Tom
Brady
and Joe
Montana
on the
basis of
superior
Super
Bowl
wins
(four
each)
compared
to
Manning's
lone
victory
nine
years
ago.
In the
words of
former
Dallas
Cowboys
Hall of
Fame
Receiver
Michael
Irvin
this
week:
"He's
gonna
need
more
than one
Super
Bowl
victory."
Yet
others
reject
the idea
that
Manning
needs a
second
Super
Bowl win
to
cement
his
place in
the
annals
of the
game.
"This is
not a
make-or-break
game for
Peyton.
His
legacy
is
already
set,"
said the
Denver
Broncos
general
manager
John
Elway.
"He's
already
going to
go down
as one
of the
greatest
players
to ever
play the
game so
if
anything,
this
will do
is just
add to
that
legacy."
Not
surprisingly,
Manning's
younger
sibling
Eli, a
two-time
Super
Bowl-winner
with the
New York
Giants,
agreed.
"Honestly,
I think
there's
maybe
too much
placed
on rings
and
Super
Bowl
championships,
because
it's not
one
player,"
Eli
Manning
said.
"The
quarterback
is not
the sole
reason
that you
win a
championship.
Peyton,
his
impact
on the
game of
football,
will not
be
determined
based
off this
one
game.
"I hope
he can
win, but
his
impact
has
already
been
made."
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