The sheriff has hung up his holster. And football
will never again be the same. At least not for me anyway. For myself—and for
many fans of this generation—Peyton Manning was not only the poster child of
the NFL, he was the NFL (you have to
admit, without him, 2011 didn’t feel quite the same). In the past two decades,
nobody exemplified the game of football quite like the man who wore number 18.
And in my opinion, in the history of the sport, no quarterback has ever been as
exceptional. The following is my argument why:
Let’s
begin with the basics. Let’s start with the stats. Here are just a few of
Peyton’s NFL records:
·
Most
career wins (playoffs and regular season) by a quarterback: 200
·
First
and only quarterback to reach 200 career wins (playoffs and regular season)
·
Most
touchdown passes, season: 55 (2013)
·
Most
seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards: 14 (1999–2004, 2006–2010, 2012–2014)
·
Most
passing yards, season: 5,477 (2013)
·
Most
consecutive seasons with at least 20 touchdown passes: 13 (1998–2010)
·
Most
consecutive seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes: 13 (1998–2010)
And
now, some awards:
·
2x
NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2004, 2013)
·
14×
Pro Bowl (1999–2000, 2002–2010, 2012–2014)
·
7×
First-team All-Pro (2003–2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013)
·
2005
Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
·
2005
Pro Bowl MVP
·
2007
Super Bowl MVP
Okay.
Okay. I know what you’re thinking: What
more do you need to say? Don’t the records and awards speak for themselves?
If it was only that simple. Sure, the numerous records and awards should be
enough to establish Peyton as the greatest QB in the history of the NFL (5x NFL
MVP should alone be enough), but—here it is, that dreaded “but”—I know the argument
the naysayers will make. I can hear it already: “But he only won two Super
Bowls.” And that’s true. There is no disputing that fact. And the two
quarterbacks who time and time again get placed ahead of Manning in many
sportswriters’ rankings of the greatest QB of all time—Joe Montana and Tom
Brady—have won more, twice as many in fact. But—oh, if that “but” doesn’t work
both ways—if Super Bowl wins are the true indicator of greatness then is
Charles Haley not the greatest football player of all time? Charles who? You’re thinking. Charles
Haley is the only player to have won five Super Bowl rings. So, there goes that
argument. But, for the sake of arguing, let’s talk a bit more about Montana and
Brady in comparison to Manning.
One could
argue that Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL
playoffs. He never lost a Super Bowl. 4-0. But if winning is how we gauge
greatness, then Tim Tebow would still have a job in the NFL, because the only
thing that guy ever did was win. Also, if winning in the playoffs is how we define
greatness, then Eli Manning would be considered a far superior quarterback that
Dan Marino, and you’d be hard pressed to find any football aficionado to back
that statement. But fortunately, at least for my argument, winning is not the
only factor when determining greatness. When determining greatness we must look
at the supporting cast. And when discussing Joe Montana, we must factor in
Jerry Rice. For the majority of his career, Montana had the greatest wide receiver
in the NFL at his disposal. Not that Peyton didn’t have great receivers. He did—Marvin
Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, to name a few—but nobody that compares to Jerry
Rice. Not only was Rice the greatest receiver of his generation, but he is
arguably the greatest football player who ever lived (another argument for
another day). I can’t even imagine what could have occurred if Peyton had Rice
on his team for a majority of his career. And if we take away post season
victories, what did Montana accomplish concerning stats/records? Montana never
once threw for over 4,000 yards in a season (Manning did it 14 times), and only
had one season in which he threw over 30 touchdowns (Manning had 9). Montana
had 2 league MVP’s to Peyton’s 5. And it could be argued, that for much of his
career, Montana wasn’t even the best player on his team (Again, Jerry Rice) and
that during his last few seasons with San Francisco, he wasn’t even the 49er’s best
quarterback (Steve Young).
Alright, I
can already hear it: Manning and Montana played in two different eras, so comparing
their stats shouldn’t determine who was better. Well then, let’s move on to Tom
Brady, who did play in the same era as Manning, and who, like Montana, also won
four Super Bowls. First thing first, let’s pretend that Brady isn’t a dirty,
lying, cheater; that he didn’t let air out of footballs for much of his career
before finally getting caught; that his coach didn’t video tape their opponents’
practices, giving them an unfair advantage. Yes, for the sake of argument, let’s
imagine that Tom Brady is a respectable, upstanding athlete. In head to head
play, Brady has the clear advantage, having won 11 of their 17 matchups, but in
postseason play, Manning comes out ahead with 3 wins out of 5. As far as awards,
Brady has 2 NFL MVPs to Peyton’s 5, while statistically, trails him in almost
every category. Brady has 8 seasons throwing over 4,000 yards (Manning, 14) and
has thrown over 30 touchdowns 6 times (Manning, 9). Brady’s 4 Super Bowl victories
are twice that of Manning’s, but if a couple plays went the other way, say a
missed field goal, or an opposing coach’s decision to run the ball instead of throw it,
all of sudden Brady is 2-4 in the Super Bowl and there would be no discussion
concerning who was better (though I’ll be the first to admit, if a couple
miracle catches were incomplete, Brady could easily be 6-0 in the Super Bowl).
But, speculations aside, let’s look at some other factors that might determine
greatness. Brady had the luxury of playing under the same coach for his entire
career; a coach many consider to be the greatest football mind of all time.
Manning on the other hand, played under five different head coaches, taking his
team to the Super Bowl under four of them. Also, Manning is the only
quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl with two different franchises. We might
also take into account the fact that Brady was drafted onto a team which was
one of the best in the league at the time. Would his career have played out the
same if he was drafted by the worst team in the league and thrown into a
starter role on day one? How about Peyton Manning? Well, he was. Drafted first
overall, Manning took his team from a 3-13 record his rookie season to 13-3 his
second season, the greatest turnaround by any quarterback in the history of the
game.
I could go
on and on, though, unfortunately, I understand that none of the arguments I
made above will be considered credible to Patriots fans. So I guess it’s only
fair to give Tom Brady the last word.
To me, he's the greatest of all-time.
What he's accomplished and
the way that he studies, the way he prepares. He's really got a killer instinct
too. I've been fortunate to be around him on a lot of occasions and we always
hit it off; we have a great relationship and he's a friend of mine and someone
that I always watch and admire because he always wants to improve, he always
wants to get better and he doesn't settle for anything less than the best.
-Tom Brady on Peyton Manning, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment