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If this Peyton Manning’s last start, you better believe he’ll be ready If this Peyton Manning’s last start, you better believe he’ll be ready
(35 minutes later)
SAN FRANCISCO — Peyton Manning comes into Super Bowl 50 like he’s an old car puttering and chugging to a last gas station stop with smoke pouring out of the hood. As if he’s just a rust patch away from being up on blocks and salvaged for parts. Like he’s junk. SAN FRANCISCO — Peyton Manning comes into Super Bowl 50 as if he’s an old car puttering and chugging to a last gas station stop with smoke pouring out of the hood. As if he’s just a rust patch away from being up on blocks and salvaged for parts. As if he’s junk.
Don’t buy it. This is still “P freaking M,” as Carolina Panthers safety Josh Norman calls him. This is a guy who can sell you on anything. He can sell you an insurance company jingle until it goes around in your head like a carousel horse. He can sell you a gummy-crusted pizza. And he can sell a false impression to a defense with a flick of those scanner eyes. Don’t buy it. This is still “P freaking M,” as Carolina Panthers safety Josh Norman calls him. This is a guy who can sell you on anything. He can sell you an insurance-company jingle until it goes around in your head like a carousel horse. He can sell you a gummy-crusted pizza. And he can sell a false impression to a defense with a flick of those scanner eyes.
[Everything you need to know about Super Bowl 50][Everything you need to know about Super Bowl 50]
The Super Bowl will probably be the last game of Manning’s career, at 39 years old and in his 18th season. Maybe. Unless it’s just one more “Omaha,” given that he’s healthier than he’s been all year. Maybe his arm strength is really that bad — or maybe he is intentionally underselling it. Asked the “status” of his arm, he was circumspect. The Super Bowl will probably be the last game of Manning’s career, at 39 years old and in his 18th season. Probably. Unless it’s just one more “Omaha,” given that he’s healthier now than he had been all year. Maybe his arm strength is really that bad — or maybe he is intentionally underselling it. Asked the “status” of his arm, he was circumspect.
“I’ve never really given the status of an arm,” he said. “It’s not like giving the status of a player, kind of a whole human body. Just the one arm? I’m not sure if I’m able to do that. My arm is what it is.”“I’ve never really given the status of an arm,” he said. “It’s not like giving the status of a player, kind of a whole human body. Just the one arm? I’m not sure if I’m able to do that. My arm is what it is.”
He’s got everybody as confused as a defensive line trying to read his gestures at the line of scrimmage. Don’t be distracted by it. Manning’s real status is this: he’s capable. After four surgeries on his zipper-scarred neck atop those slack shoulders, he may not drive the ball the way he used to, no. But he’s got timing, and recognition, and disguise. Not to mention the best surrounding cast he’s ever had with this Denver Broncos. He’s got everybody as confused as a defensive line trying to read his gestures at the line of scrimmage. Don’t be distracted by it. Manning’s real status is this: He’s capable. After four surgeries on his zipper-scarred neck atop those slack shoulders, he may not drive the ball the way he used to, no. But he’s got timing, and recognition, and disguise. Not to mention the best surrounding cast he’s ever had with these Denver Broncos.
[The biggest plays in Super Bowl history, from every yard line][The biggest plays in Super Bowl history, from every yard line]
“He’s obviously in the Super Bowl again, so he can’t be that far out of his prime,” Panthers defensive end Jared Allen said.“He’s obviously in the Super Bowl again, so he can’t be that far out of his prime,” Panthers defensive end Jared Allen said.
Manning is the lord of deception, whatever else he was or is. He will endure as the most guileful and cerebral man to ever play the quarterback position. He’s the only quarterback to reach four Super Bowls with four different head coaches, a feat that shouldn’t be underestimated. Name another quarterback who could have done what Manning did this season, mastering new Coach Gary Kubiak’s system, language, and rhythm, going to a more play-action predicated scheme than he was accustomed to, despite missing a half dozen games with an injured foot, only to return to form in the playoffs. He is capable of endless transmutations, with an unmatched ability to command games at the line of scrimmage. Manning is the lord of deception, whatever else he was or is. He will endure as the most guileful and cerebral man ever to play the position. He’s the only quarterback to reach four Super Bowls with four different head coaches, a feat that shouldn’t be underestimated. Name another quarterback who could have done what Manning did this season: mastering new Coach Gary Kubiak’s system, language, and rhythm, and going to a more play-action-predicated scheme than he was accustomed to, despite missing a half dozen games with an injured foot, only to return to form in the playoffs. He is capable of endless transmutations, with an unmatched ability to command games at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s got an audible for just about everything it seems,” says linebacker Luke Kuechly, the man who calls the Panthers’ defensive checks, and who will have the primary responsibility for trying to counter him. “He’s got an audible for just about everything, it seems,” says linebacker Luke Kuechly, the man who calls the Panthers’ defensive checks and who will be primarily responsible for trying to counter him.
[Is Manning’s legacy on the line? Some thing so.][Is Manning’s legacy on the line? Some thing so.]
Kuechly tried studying film on Manning’s signals, to see if he could pick up any words or tendencies, decipher anything that might be a tell. He found that watching Manning too much just further mystified him. “He’s got all kinds of stuff,” Kuechly said. “I tried to look at it a little bit but the more you look at it, the more you get confused. So I dropped that hope a little while ago. . . . You try and find a word and sometimes that word means one thing, the next week it’s a different word. You never know what it is and that’s why he’s so great. It’s fun to listen to all of the different vocabulary he has and what it means and doesn’t mean.” Kuechly tried studying film on Manning’s signals, to see if he could pick up any words or tendencies, decipher anything that might be a tell. He found that further watching Manning just left him further mystified .
Panthers defenders are preparing for an arm that can still get the ball where it needs to go. Norman says that to anticipate Manning’s passes coming up short is to risk watching it sail over your head. “He’s got all kinds of stuff,” Kuechly said. “I tried to look at it a little bit, but the more you look at it, the more you get confused. So I dropped that hope a little while ago. . . . You try and find a word and sometimes that word means one thing, the next week it’s a different word. You never know what it is, and that’s why he’s so great. It’s fun to listen to all of the different vocabulary he has and what it means and doesn’t mean.”
“We’re not going to look too much into his arm strength because it’s deceptive in a way,” Norman says. “You feel like you’re going to get him and then he’s going to dink you over the top. I ain’t got time for that.” Panthers defenders are preparing for an arm that can still get the ball where it needs to go. Norman says that to anticipate Manning’s passes coming up short is to risk watching them sail over your head.
“We’re not going to look too much into his arm strength because it’s deceptive, in a way,” Norman says. “You feel like you’re going to get him, and then he’s going to dink you over the top. I ain’t got time for that.”
[Wait, you can bet on that? A history of prop bets at the Super Bowl][Wait, you can bet on that? A history of prop bets at the Super Bowl]
He has taken the phrase “student of the game” to the level of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. When Emmanuel Sanders joined the team in 2014, Manning invited him to his room during training camp to help him learn the playbook. Sanders found that Manning had set up his room like a miniature library, and his playbook was placed neatly and exactly squarely on a desk. He was “like clockwork with his business,” Sanders says. During meetings, Sanders sat right behind Manning and watched him take notes on everything that was said. Sanders had never taken notes, but now he pulled out a notebook and a pen. Manning has taken the phrase “student of the game” to the level of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. When Emmanuel Sanders joined the Broncos in 2014, Manning invited him to his room during training camp to help him learn the playbook. Sanders found that Manning had set up his room like a miniature library, and his playbook was placed neatly and exactly squarely on a desk. He was “like clockwork with his business,” Sanders says. During meetings, Sanders sat right behind Manning and watched him take notes on everything that was said. Sanders had never taken notes, but Manning got him hooked.
“I started putting my playbook on my desk,” Sanders says. “And I started having success because I started studying. . . . That’s the one thing I learned from him; just apply yourself, take the game serious, know your job, because it’s more than physical. Peyton shows that. What is he, the oldest starting quarterback in the NFL? Some of that is physical, but the majority of that is mental. His mental edge over the competition is great.” “I started putting my playbook on my desk,” Sanders says. “And I started having success because I started studying. . . . That’s the one thing I learned from him: Just apply yourself, take the game serious, know your job, because it’s more than physical. Peyton shows that. What is he, the oldest starting quarterback in the NFL? Some of that is physical, but the majority of that is mental. His mental edge over the competition is great.”
[Riverboat Ron Rivera bet on himself. And it paid off.][Riverboat Ron Rivera bet on himself. And it paid off.]
There is more than one way for a resourceful quarterback to win. Back in 2011 when Manning was trying to decide whether he could still play after his fourth neck surgery, it was two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells who told him that. Parcells advised Manning not to worry so much about throwing perfect spirals. Think more like a baseball pitcher, he said. Throw junk. That’s what Manning has done — he has thrown off speed junk, creative junk, deceptive junk. He has junked himself right into a Super Bowl. There is more than one way for a resourceful quarterback to win. Back in 2011, when Manning was trying to decide whether he could still play after his fourth neck surgery, it was two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells who told him that. Parcells advised Manning not to worry so much about throwing perfect spirals. Think more like a baseball pitcher, he said. Throw junk. That’s what Manning has done — he has thrown off-speed junk, creative junk, deceptive junk. He has junked himself, in the end, right into another Super Bowl.
“The guy that used to throw 95-plus, as he gets older maybe he can’t still throw the same fastball but he can work the corners of the plate and still strike a guy out,” Manning says. “I feel like I can still move the chains. Maybe in different ways.” “The guy that used to throw 95-plus, as he gets older maybe he can’t still throw the same fastball, but he can work the corners of the plate and still strike a guy out,” Manning says. “I feel like I can still move the chains. Maybe in different ways.”
For more by Sally Jenkins, visit washingtonpost.com/jenkins.For more by Sally Jenkins, visit washingtonpost.com/jenkins.