Ethan Epley ’16

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Since drafted first overall in 1998 by the Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning has impressed millions with his incredible talent and leadership at quarterback, consistently considered as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. In his 14 seasons with the Colts(from 1998-2011), Peyton Manning had won the AFC South eight times, 5 NFL MVPs, and a Super Bowl. He also remains the Colts leader in passing yards and touchdowns with 54,828 and 399 respectively.

Manning missed the 2011 season with the Colts because of a surgery performed during the offseason on his neck. This caused him to miss the entire 2011-2012 season. Until then, Peyton had never missed a game in his career. In 2012, Manning signed with the Broncos, starting the second, equally successful part of his career. The 2013 season was when Manning really started to shine. He matched an NFL record with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the opening game against the Baltimore Ravens. From the beginning of that year he never stopped producing, eventually breaking Tom Brady’s single-season touchdown record with fifty-five touchdowns. That momentous season put him in the record books on more than one occasion and puts him in serious contention as one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

So with all the records he’s broken and the success he’s had, the question of where on the list of greats Peyton Manning stands begins to be asked more and more. At 71,838 yards, Favre’s all-time passing record stands in the crosshairs of Peyton Manning if he can stay in the game for another year. However most quarterbacks are defined by the number of Super Bowl rings each possess. In Peyton’s case, that is only one, which puts him on the lower end of the spectrum of great quarterbacks. Even his brother has more with two Super Bowl wins. So the idea of him being granted the best quarterback of all time based off of playoff and Super Bowl success isn’t going to get to far. However, if quarterbacks are only judged off of how many championships they have won, then Eli is a much better quarterback than Peyton. Anyone that is not a seriously biased Giants fan would agree that that is simply not true. So then the idea of how many records a quarterback holds begins to make sense as a way of defining success. Peyton Manning holds most single season touchdowns, most passing yards in a season, highest career passer rating, and most touchdowns of all time. And despite not winning as many Super Bowls as Joe Montana, Peyton sure has had a career filled with an insane amount of success. Surely his records speak for themselves and this future Hall of Famer will continue to impress viewers each week. In the meantime, his illustrious career is definitely worth consideration as the greatest by a quarterback in the history of football.