I’ve always liked Peyton Manning. Ever since I first started watching football, I’ve always admired his work ethic and seemingly endless knowledge of the sport.
His “laser-rocket arm” and crazy pre-snap audibles made him the reason I enjoyed watching Colts games and football in general.
He was the guy I always picked first when I drafted my Madden teams and remains the only football jersey I own (when I was 16 I thought it would be cool to own one. I don’t know what I was thinking. Having a Manning jersey makes you even less gangster than not having one at all).
To me, he was a big nerd in the guise of an athlete, and that’s what was most appealing to him for me. I like guys who can make masculine things seem nerdy.
Unfortunately, his media saturation has given me Peyton Manning overload. There’s way too much focus on him. From analysts constantly swiping at him for never winning a big game, comparing him to Tom Brady, his rival, and Dan Marino, considered the greatest quarterback never to win a Super Bowl, to his commercialized PR campaign where he acts like a goof in order to humanize himself and make the entire nation fall in love with him – I can’t take it anymore.
Now I just want Peyton to win the Super Bowl and get the proverbial monkey off his back, and then everyone can stop talking about him all the time.
At least that’s what I wish.
If the Colts end up winning the Super Bowl, experts will discuss where Manning belongs among the list of greatest quarterbacks, try to figure out how many Super Bowl wins he has left in him and will question what kind of legacy he’ll leave on the NFL.
Then everyone will start asking whether or not Peyton’s brother, Giants quarterback Eli Manning, will ever be as good as his older brother (short answer is no) and it’ll be a shame because hardly any quarterback can be as good as Peyton, and Eli’s career will suffer as a result for being constantly compared to him.
And with the win, Peyton will become immediately less interesting.
One of the selling points for rooting for him is because he’s never won the Super Bowl. Sports writers and fans have for years wondered why the best quarterback in the NFL has never won the big game and Manning’s entire career has been defined by that question.
Of course, I won’t root against Peyton, because I want him to forever be the “won’t-you-feel-sorry-for-me underdog” and remain a lovable loser like the Chicago Cubs. I want him to win so he can enjoy all of his hard work and success.
I’m just bummed out because he’ll never be the same person again. He won’t be the big nerd who studies his opponents for 60 hours a week but doesn’t win the games that matter most. Instead, the clichéd “hard work pays off in the end” stories will be told – that he’s been destined for success since the day he was born.
Except the unthinkable could happen. The Chicago Bears could win the Super Bowl.
I can’t imagine what would happen to Peyton if this is one chance at winning a championship and he’ll have to read about how the inexplicably bad Rex Grossman upstaged him in American sports’ biggest game for the rest of his life.
Now that would be an interesting story.
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