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.

At Least There Was Something Worth Watching

Most people, including the players, do not take the Pro Bowl very seriously. There have been recent changes to make it more visible but it is still played in front of half-empty stadiums by players who are only there for a Hawaiian vacation and a bonus paycheck.

 

For decades companies have included Pro Bowl inserts and subsets in releases, including relics in some recent sets. While Pro Bowl sets do not really draw much attention outside some of the very limited cards there is one image that I hope makes it in to a set this year.

 

With 5 minutes left in the First Quarter Jeff Saturday switched over to the AFC team for one last snap to Peyton Manning. Jeff Saturday, who announced his retirement this weekend, spent 13 of his 14 seasons snapping the ball to Manning and since his first NFL snap was to Peyton Manning it seemed appropriate for Saturday’s final NFL snap also be to Peyton Manning.

 

 

A Manning And A Question

Tonight is was great to see the old Peyton Manning show up in the second half. He started the half going 13/13 before he finally missed a pass and finished the night 24/30 with 309 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT.

 

Which brings me to tonight’s post, my Peyton Manning autograph.

 

Without going in to detail I have been battling a life-long disease that has caused me to spend a lot of time in the hospital over the years. In late 2003 I was in the hospital for an extended stay while going through a week-long series of tests, my wife was pregnant with our second child, and I was pretty down on things because I was away from my family at a very special time. On one of my wife’s visits she came in with our young son tagging along. He hops in to my bed and pulls a box of 2003 SP Game Used football from behind his back. We spent the next half-hour opening packs as I answered all his questions about the players we were pulling.

 

I pulled an amazing Peyton Manning Gold Autograph #/50 from the box, easily ranking among the best pulls of my life. The thing is that even though this card has decent monetary value it has more sentimental value to me because I pulled it while my son sat in my lap while I was going through a difficult time.

 

 

In a question to my readers:

 

Have you ever pulled/owned a card, memorabilia or autograph that has had more personal value than monetary value? Something that you would not trade or sell no matter what the circumstances were.

End Of An Era In Indianapolis

While not “Official” yet the word coming out of Indianapolis is that tomorrow Colts owner Jim Irsay will announce that the team is cutting ties with franchise QB Peyton Manning. Free Agency does not begin until March 13^th but because Manning will be released he will be able to sign with any team as soon as the paper work is signed.

Manning is saying that he is healed up from his three neck surgeries and has released a couple of videos showing him throwing comfortably in pads in a way that has been described as an “aggressive” manor showing that he still has the arm strength that he is known for in the past.

Even though he may only have 3 or 4 years left in his career a handful of teams have been linked to a possible landing spot including Seattle, Arizona, Kansas City, Washington, NY Jets and Miami. Each team has its pluses and of course fans of each team are hoping for a Montana/Chiefs or Warner/Cardinals late career type resurgence.

As a Manning and Seahawks fan I am pulling for him to land in the Pacific Northwest. With a stable of Wide Receivers (including a healthy Sidney Rice and Mike Williams plus Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate), a couple of young Tight Ends (Zach Miller and John Carlson) and solid Running Backs ( Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett) Manning definitely has plenty of options to work with. With Seattle possibly looking to draft a QB (Please please please draft Nick Foles) Manning would be a perfect tutor for a couple of years before handing over the reins.

If Seattle does not pan out I would be happy to see him come here to the Cardinals with the sales pitch of a single word… Fitzgerald.