Dear Peyton Manning bashers,
I'm glad the entire Colts team could lose Sunday afternoon so that you could come out of the woodwork to bash Peyton Manning for any and every little thing that went wrong not only in the game but also in the world in the past couple of years. As popular as Manning is both on the field and off, I seriously doubt he had anything to do with the hanging chads in Florida nor do I think he was the one who gave Bush the intelligence documents to invade Iraq and which have now mired us down in this war. But, you know since, according to most of you, Peyton has the powers of Superman, Batman, Spider-man and the pyschic ability of Dionne Warwick.
Last time I checked, it took an entire team to win or lose a football game. So, while Peyton does deserve a share of the blame for Sunday's loss, it's not entirely on him. Also, those of you who come out and shout, "Oh he can't win a big game" let me remind you that he led his team to 13 straight wins this year, including the Patriots in Foxboro. Then if you want to shout out, "Oh but he never beat Florida" let me also point out that in his tenure for the Big Orange, Peyton led the team to a winning streak over Georgia, we ended a losing streak to Alabama and then won two more and he won an SEC title. The team also beat Ohio State when they had a certain Heisman Trophy winner named Eddie George in the backfield. Let us also not forget that Peyton set a great example for college sports by staying his senior season at UT instead of taking the easy payday in the NFL. And off the field, Peyton is a class-act. He gives back to his community, he takes blame for losses and he spreads the acclaim when they win. He's the type of player you'd want to have on your team.
And maybe that's what all this comes down to--he's not on your team.
But let me also point out some things--John Elway didn't win a Super Bowl until late in his career. Jim Kelly made it to four straight Super Bowls and lost all four. Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. But yet, all of these players are highly regarded and respected. They were in their careers and after. Now, I'm not saying Peyton's career is over, but how about we get over this bashing of him?
So how about let's turn off the bashing of Manning and turn the harsh spotlight of what is wrong with the NFL to such players as the entire Oakland Raiders organization and Pacman Jones. Those are the guys who deserve bashing--not a class act like Peyton Manning.
Thank you,
Big Orange Michael
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/17/2006 07:31:00 AM |
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