Peyton Manning: Product of Unfair Expectations, Still One of the Best

My wife and I were returning from a Super Bowl party last night, happy that the team we chose to root for, the New Orleans Saints, won.

On the way home, I predicted that there were going to be several articles written about Peyton Manning and how this loss, the interception thrown in particular, was going to affect his legacy.

And, sure enough, I log on this morning and there they are, speaking of how this will affect conversations around his being the best or greatest ever.

To be brutally honest, this expected destiny of Manning's career is not fair, not only to Manning but to any other QB to have played or will play the game.

I know that fans view their heroes in a false light. Perhaps false isn't the right word. More accurately, fans hold their heroes to a much loftier expectation than we hold ourselves.  That's okay; it's human nature. And a little hero worship isn't a bad thing unless it takes over your life.

We can agree that every time Peyton Manning, or any other NFL player, gives their best effort, we cannot expect any more than that. We pay our money, and we want our team to win, but in reality, one team loses and one team wins, and there are times when it's not going to go the way you want.

Trust me, this perception is deep-rooted in me. I am a long-suffering Detroit Lions fan. We haven't had seasons go the way we'd like them to for decades.

If my article hasn't caused your eyes to glaze over just yet, I want to dispel the myth of any player being named the best or greatest ever. This may come off as weird, and I expect I'll be called a whack job for postulating such a theory but here goes:

There Is No Such Thing as the Best Player of All Time.

It can't happen until time ends. And I'm pretty darn sure that when time does end, the question of who the greatest quarterback of all time is won't be on any top ten list.

What we can have are players who are the best ever in their respective eras. We can also argue about the degree of greatness of each player and on how they would do in other eras. Jim Brown would be very high on everyone's list because I'm pretty sure he would have been successful no matter when he played.

But we can't say the same about Manning. Passing the ball in the early history of football was not something that was done. The focus was run, run, run, and then run some more.

Barry Sanders, who I feel is one of the best to ever play the game, may or may not have been successful in other times. Or perhaps since no one before him ever ran the way he did, perhaps he would have been successful playing in the 1920s.

Peyton Manning's interception will not affect his legacy one way or the other. This nonsense that he must have multiple Super Bowl rings to be considered one of the best is ludicrous as well. He will always be mentioned in the same breath as great QBs that have won Super Bowls such as Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre, and Terry Bradshaw.

But he will also be forever linked to those quarterbacks that revolutionized the game but didn't win a Super Bowl like Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, and Dan Fouts. 

Just how great does a player have to be?  Does the number of championships indicate there are levels of greatness? Does Montana's induction into the Hall of Fame mean more than Dan Marino's simply because Montana has four Super Bowl rings?

I'm sure when we talk of Manning 10, 15, or 20 years from now, the conversation won't come down to this one interception in the Super Bowl. If he never gets back to the big dance for the rest of his career, he can still hold his head high because he is a champion.

Indianapolis Colts fans: Be happy that you have a quarterback of Manning's abilities. I'm damn sure at least 90 percent of the other NFL teams would kill to have him on their roster.

While the interception that Manning threw will be on his stat sheet, let's not forget the great play that Porter made on that pass. Manning's throw was perfect; it was right where it needed to be. Porter made a great play on the ball and just happen to turn it into six points.

In closing, I offer this: On pass plays, only three things can happen and two of them are bad. And even when the play goes off as designed, bad things can still happen.

It wasn't your time Colts. This one was for the Saints to win. The Colts will be back, perhaps as soon as next year and then all this nonsense can be put to rest.  Because you know if you give Peyton Manning another shot, he's going to win.