Peyton (last name Manning) Is Ready To Call It Quits, but he still wants to play.

When the final story is written on the story book career of Peyton (last name Manning), there might be a retrospective on the good and bad of greatness.  Peyton has been so great over the course of his career, that he went long stretches of many season's barely getting hit by the opposition because he is simply too hard to hit.  And then he got hit so hard he almost had to quit.

Did his penchant for near perfection prolong his career in the end, or is it the key contributor to why his neck required three surgeries?  In other words, if Peyton was a regular Joe and had made his body more accustomed to the beating, would he have been more capable of taking one, or is it inevitable for all of these guys to leave battered and bruised?

Since his return, Peyton has vowed to take each year as a one year mission to be re-evaluated at the end of each year.  As it stands, he says he is ready to quit if his body is unable to allow him to achieve excellence.  Was Peyon providing the prelude to retirement?  Is there something wrong with that neck that might encourage him to shut it down sooner, not later?  According to Peyton, he enjoys the entire process and still wants to play. But does wanting to play have anything to do with being able to play safely?

It seems clear to me that the man upstairs is truly invested in Peyton's success. Not God silly.  Elway.  John Elway has funneled the message to his coach to tell his franchise quarterback to relax and be yourself.  Don't try to win it all by yourself and trust the rest of the team to do their jobs (including the coaches) .  If Peyton performs at his best, he will certainly be a champion this year.  Will the man upstairs (not Elway) and a pain in the neck force him to finish the El-way , or is his retirement even further down the line?

The Book of Peyton is a classic tale of a focused and driven superstar with just enough failure to dampen his shine.  The Book of Manning is a much more elaborate and complex tale of a football family that has seen the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and remain bonded by their experiences.  The matriarch of the Manning clan, Archie Manning, is probably the best losing quarterback to ever play in the NFL.  He was the first in his family to be known by one name. For a dozen seasons, Archie remained with the same franchise, and for every one of those seasons he lost.  If you saw him play, it seems unreasonable that Archie never won a thing.  How could a man so humble off the field, and so dominating on it experience such terrible luck?

The answer?

The 'man upstairs' knew that exuberant joy of parenthood and decided to bless the Manning clan with two Superbowl championship sons; one who could become the greatest quarterback to have ever laced them up. When I think about the way this story might end, I think back to good ol' Archie (last name Manning), and I imagine the way this story should end.