“When someone thoroughly exhausts an experience they can’t help but revere it”.
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“There has not been a guy who can say ‘I have done everything as quarterback can do (in the NFL)”, Elway said.
“‘I sure want you to win that trophy, ‘” his daughter added. I will absolutely miss it. He earned almost $249 million during his 18-year career, and he retired with one year left on his contract worth $19 million. After he signed in Denver in 2012 as perhaps the greatest catch of the free agency era, his four-year run with the Broncos resulted in four AFC West titles, 50 regular-season wins and two Super Bowl trips, including the Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers last month in Super Bowl 50. “And today I retire from pro football”, Manning said in a press conference.
All that said, Manning was looking forward to his future and “a whole new world of possibilities”.
He listed many things he will miss about football.
– Steak dinners at a place in Indianapolis after wins.
– Figuring out blitzes with longtime center Jeff Saturday.
No, that didn’t launch a rivalry to parallel Manning’s legendary battles with Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Manning said he was excited to call his grandfather when John Madden and Pat Sumrall, his grandfather’s favorite broadcast duo, called his game for the first time.
Thomas was among numerous teammates present as Manning spoke.
“I fought the good fight”, he said. “God bless all of you and god bless football”.
“I couldn’t have made a better decision than to come out and play these last four years in Denver”, Manning said Monday. But Peyton said that the end of his football career is the start of something new, and he’s looking forward to the next step in his life.
Elway praised Manning for “revolutionizing the quarterback position”. He responded, “I do too Mosley, and that’s what we’re going to try to do”.
“I hope he knows that I have stayed at it”. He used every asset God gave him to be the best QB he could be. That’s what sets him apart. Technically, it was his second meeting. Manning played 266 games to Favre’s 302, and he threw 85 fewer interceptions.
“It was the No. 1 signal”, Kubiak said. “Peyton is awesome and I’ve always respected him”. “I only spent nine months with you, but I will remember it a lifetime”.
With his departure, the discussion now begins on where he ranks in National Football League history, among quarterbacks. You kind of see it where, ‘Hey, this is it.’ He’s not playing, Brock’s playing.
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The team’s offense struggled throughout the year – and Manning was even booed by Denver fans before he was removed from a game against Kansas City in November, suffering a foot injury.
