As Manning prepared to say his tearful goodbye to football, Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams reminded all of us on Twitter how much No. 18 struggled in his swan song. He’s known for reading defenses from the line of scrimmage, waving his arms, yelling (if you’ve ever watched him play, you’ve definitely heard one of his favorite audibles, “Omaha!”), and rearranging his offense to try to throw the opposing line off balance. “But I’ve always had a good sense of timing”.
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Harris and his teammates realised Manning would be that type of guy right from the start, and now, almost four years later, Harris remembers his first introduction to Manning as one of his favourites. “So you don’t need to wonder if I’ll miss it. Absolutely I will”.
When it was Manning’s time to speak, he held nothing back in an emotional address.
“I mean, he made football here really exciting, especially after a few years of really troubling quarterbacks and sad results for our team”.
But before that, Manning was a favorite son of the Tennessee Vols. From the moment he committed to the University of Tennessee in 1994 thanks to Phillip Fulmer and David Cutcliffe, Manning raised the expectations of Tennessee football.
“When someone thoroughly exhausts an experience they can’t help but revere it. I revere football”.
“18 great years for the great #18 Peyton Manning”, Miles posted.
Not long afterward, Manning replaced Brock Osweiler in the lineup during the Broncos’ final regular season game against the Chargers.
Speaking after executive John Elway paid tribute to Manning’s four seasons in Denver, Kubiak said he’s spent 17 seasons trying to beat Manning and he “wasn’t very successful”.
“Grateful is the word that comes to my mind when thinking of the Denver Broncos”, he added.
Manning, who turns 40 on March 24, told the Broncos over the weekend that he had chose to retire just a month after helping the Broncos win Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif. It was Manning’s second Super Bowl win, as he became the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl for two teams.
“But after 18 years, it’s time”. “He utilized every aspect to be the best athlete he could be, we got every ounce of ability that he has”.
Elway retired in 1999, a few months after the Broncos won their second Super Bowl title.
Team president Joe Ellis told Manning, “If there is a list of achievements needed to attain greatness, you’ve checked every box”.
“I know it was tough, and you were special along the way”, Kubiak said, turning to the five-time MVP.
“We had him in for a pre-draft interview in ’98, and he had a notebook full of questions for us, including one about the in tax code”, said Arians, who is now the coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
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Manning leaves the game while the National Football League investigates a report linking him to HGH allegations and having his name mentioned in a sexual assault case that occurred while he was Tennessee.
