Peyton Manning: The Ultimate Leader for Denver Broncos

We all know about the four MVP awards, the 11 Pro Bowls, five-time All-Pro, Super Bowl XLI champion and MVP. We know about the passing statistics and what he can do on the field. But Peyton Manning is more than just a quarterback on the field; he's one off it.

During his time in Indianapolis, Manning started his own foundation, The Peyback Foundation. The foundation's full purpose is to help kids who are disabled, especially in the Louisiana, Tennessee and Indiana areas. 

In 2007, St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis even renamed their children's hospital after the future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital. The charities have never stopped.

For being a star like he is, Manning has no problem giving back to the community. That was no more evident than Sunday in Denver.

After the tragic cinema shootings in Aurora, Col., Manning made it his responsibility to call the victims (via ESPN). He took his time to call one-to-one and make sure the victims were doing as well as they could be.

He didn't have to do this. There's nothing in his $96 million contract saying that if something like this happened, he should personally call victims. He did it because he is a great man—a man who doesn't just lead on the field but off as well.

When the face of the franchise does something so sincere for victims that he doesn't know and has only been in the Denver area for just over four months, it speaks volumes.

Not only did Manning lead the condolences for the Denver Broncos, his teammates followed suit. Eric Decker, Jacob Tamme, Chris Kuper, Ben Garland, Ryan Clady, Joe Mays and former Bronco safety Brian Dawkins all visited with the victims at the hospital.

None of them had to do this, but they did. They made an effort to show their sincere remorse for the victims of this tragic crime.

But with Manning leading the charge, it made the other players follow their new quarterback. I'm not saying they wouldn't have gone without Manning doing what he did, but his having done so shows the leadership and most importantly what type of man each and every one of those men truly is.

The Broncos couldn't of asked for a better quarterback, leader or man than Peyton Manning.