Peyton Has Called It A Career

Tomorrow afternoon when Peyton Manning announces his retirement at his 1pm news conference one of the greatest quarterbacks, after playing for 18 years, is finally ready to ride off in to the sunset. He holds so many records that his name will remain in the record books for many years to come. He is a two-time Super Bowl Champion, five-time NFL MVP, 14-time Pro Bowl selections and seven-time First Team All-Pro and those are just his awards. His records seem to run on for another mile and include most passing yards in a career, passing yards in a season, passing TDs in a career, passing TDs in a season and career wins by a QB (both regular season and playoffs)

There is no question that he is a first ballot Hall of Fame selection but you wonder if the way his career ended will his appearance be tarnished? His play in Super Bowl 50 was mediocre, he has been accused of HGH use, the lawsuit claiming sexual harassment while he was at the University of Tennessee and finally the way that the Broncos quietly pushed him to retire don’t help.

I have always been a Manning fan and my perception of him hasn’t wavered. I realize at his age, after neck surgeries and the foot injury this season, he wasn’t playing his best and may have really played one season to many but I do like that he ended on a big win.

In 2003 I pulled this 2003 SP Game Used Edition Peyton Manning Significant Signatures, still one of my best pulls. I was hospitalized going through seizure testing and my wife (now ex-wife) was pregnant and picked up the box to cheer me up when she came to visit. My son sat on the bed with me and we opened the packs together.