The Broncos’ quarterback struggled in some regular-season games (completing fewer than 20 passes in six of seven during one stretch) as the offense became more run-accented. Late in the year, he suffered a strained leg muscle. The Broncos were upset in the playoff game at home when they couldn’t score their usual 30- or 40-plus points.
Radioheads and nincompoops declared him done. He was too old and too slow, his arm was shot, and he couldn’t win another big game. He should retire, to be replaced by the young quarterback drafted by the Broncos.
He didn’t quit. He won seven postseason games (two on the road, two at neutral sites), including back-to-back championships, and became the oldest NFL quarterback to triumph in a Super Bowl.
John Elway knows exactly what Peyton Manning is going through. He’s been right there, done all that.
Elway proved those people wrong. Manning will prove you people wrong.
Shane didn’t come back, but John did, and Peyton will.
As I wrote first Jan. 20, Manning wanted to return if he were healthy and could pass his annual physical, according to three sources, and that Elway and his new coach and old friend, Gary Kubiak, wanted Manning to return.
Manning told a group of us after the Bart Starr Award breakfast before the Super Bowl that he didn’t “see that physical being that significant. … I feel pretty confident I would pass … and my neck is in good shape.”
Two days ago he was flown in Pat Bowlen’s jet from New Orleans to Denver, talked with team president Joe Ellis on the flight and met with Elway at Dove Valley.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Manning informed both Broncos executives he “is physically and mentally prepared to play at a significant level in 2015” and that his “strained quad is fully healed.”
One of my sources has confirmed Mortensen’s story and asserted that Manning’s injury was worse than the quarterback or the team acknowledged. (He was not limping when I saw him in Arizona.)
Manning and the Broncos are expected to make the official announcement of the quarterback’s return within two weeks.
That’s great news for Denver, the Broncos and the NFL.
But, as when Elway and the Broncos lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1996 playoffs, misanthropists will continue to believe that Manning should retire, and Brock Osweiler must take over as starting quarterback.
Osweiler is not ready. He has started only 15 games (7-8 record) since graduating from high school, and he has appeared briefly in 13 games with the Broncos. His exhibition and business play has been sketchy.
Three Broncos defensive backs who appeared with me and Les Shapiro on “The Sports Show” say Osweiler still is raw and needs more playing time. Is he Aaron Rodgers, who started in his third season, or Jeff Lewis, drafted by the Broncos in 1996, or Brian Griese, who was drafted in ’97? Who knows?
The Broncos have started 44 quarterbacks in franchise history.
Only one has played three consecutive seasons without missing a start.
Manning.
If the coaching and training staff, and Manning, had been very wise the past season, he wouldn’t have played the final two regular-season games and been given a sufficient recovery period before the playoffs. In 1998, Elway sat out four full games (and part of the last game) with hamstring, chest and back injuries, and was healthy for the Super Bowl run.
Manning could have been relieved earlier in five games last season. As it was, Osweiler participated in only 10 plays. Blame that mistake on John Fox. In 2015, Osweiler should see action sooner in games than later, and even in tight situations in the first half. Let him start a couple. Kubiak certainly understands as a former backup.
Manning wasn’t, and isn’t, finished.
The Broncos averaged almost 37 points in 10 games, and 33.4 in 13. Peyton threw for 39 touchdowns and 4,727 yards, the third- and second-highest numbers of his career, while the Broncos were tinkering with the offense and emphasizing the run. And the Broncos have won 40 games in Manning’s three years.
Manning has brought back prominence, respect, excitement, awe and the Super Bowl to the Broncos, and he deserves a chance to go out on his terms as a champion.
As Elway did.
Welcome back, Peyton.
Woody Paige: woody@woodypaige.com or twitter.com/woodypaige
