{"id":1693,"date":"2016-03-07T16:28:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T20:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2019-06-26T16:51:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T20:51:31","slug":"the-complicated-legacy-of-peyton-manning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=1693","title":{"rendered":"The Complicated Legacy of Peyton Manning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Photo Credit: Al Diaz\/Miami Herald<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How will you remember Peyton Manning?<\/p>\n

There are many answers to this question; that’s the point. \u00a0Will you remember him for his tenure with the Indianapolis Colts, one in which he shattered the record for touchdowns in a single season with 49 in 2004 and won Super Bowl XLI? \u00a0Will you remember Manning for his days with the Denver Broncos, the ones in which he broke the single-season touchdown record….\u00a0again<\/em>, and won Super Bowl 50?<\/p>\n

Will you remember Peyton for the commercials? \u00a0Yes,\u00a0those commercials<\/a>. \u00a0The ones for MasterCard, Gatorade, Papa John’s, Nationwide (Chicken Parm, you taste so good….), among others. \u00a0The ones that made us talk about Manning in a completely different light, not only as star quarterback but also as pitchman, funnyman, everyman.<\/p>\n

But, as we speak about looking at Peyton in a different light, will you look at him differently because of a Title IX lawsuit<\/a> against his alma mater, Tennessee, in which Manning is mentioned for improper behavior toward a trainer and then conducting a smear campaign against her and her family to impugn her name? \u00a0Would that change your opinion of him, if the allegations are true?<\/p>\n

Will your remember Manning for his regular season successes or his playoff losses? \u00a0His broken records or ultimate January failures? \u00a0His nice-guy reputation or the allegations of sexual harassment and steroid use?<\/p>\n

That’s the problem with Peyton Manning’s legacy; it’s complicated. \u00a0It isn’t clear-cut. \u00a0It leaves a lot of questions unanswered. \u00a0And because of this, the opinions of Manning and his career accomplishments run a very wide spectrum; one only has to look\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see that wide range of opinions.<\/p>\n

If you’re of the belief that statistics and production are the two most important things for a quarterback, you would say that Peyton may be the best quarterback ever. \u00a0If you believe that playoff wins is the be-all, end-all of a starting quarterback’s career, then Peyton wouldn’t even be in your top five. \u00a0The general opinion of him, in some ways, is even more scattered than that of Tom Brady, and he may be one of the most polarizing athletes in sports.<\/p>\n

And while he is polarizing, he did get to go out (mostly) on top with a win over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. \u00a0While he played absolutely no part in the victory other than to not turn the ball over, he did win the game. \u00a0The defining moment of the postgame celebration, in the minds of many, was who Manning first greeted after the big win:<\/p>\n