Manning adds title to stellar résumé
MIAMI – All those taunts from Steve Spurrier, who used to say you can’t spell the Citrus Bowl without UT, a swipe at Peyton Manning’s inability to win the big game at the University of Tennessee.
All those images of Bill Belichick dancing around inside Manning’s head after all those New England Patriots victories over the Indianapolis Colts, including two in the playoffs.
All those questions after last year’s home playoff loss to the Steelers after a nearly flawless regular season.
Finally, Manning can claim the only item missing from his otherwise magnificent resume: champion.
Manning’s Colts vanquished the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI on Sunday night, giving Manning, 30, the chance to hold aloft the most prized piece of silver in professional sports, the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The script was so very different this time because neither the Colts nor Manning had destiny affixed to them coming into these playoffs. As the third seed, they came in under the radar, stumbling down the stretch and looking like one of the worst run defenses in the history of pro football. They had to play in all four rounds of the playoffs. But just as the Pittsburgh Steelers had done the year before, the Colts went all the way despite having to play in the wild-card round.
Manning’s journey wasn’t exactly perfect. Through two playoff wins, he had one touchdown pass and five interceptions. You wondered whether it would ever happen for the most famous quarterback of his era.
You need not wonder any longer. Manning will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with a Super Bowl ring and a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy on his mantel. Who knows how many more there will be before it’s all over?
“We have won as a team, and everybody did their part,” Manning said. “There was no panic. We stayed calm the whole game. We truly won this championship as a team.”
Pressure? Manning felt plenty, but no more than usual. He joked the other day about how the most pressure he ever felt was when he had to do a tango in a school play in Louisiana. “It was a full-on tango,” he said. “Now that’s pressure. But I did it. I studied that, and I went full speed on that tango. There is video. Don’t look for it. It’s deep in the Manning vault, I can assure you.” (That home video actually aired the past two days, reportedly courtesy of his dance partner’s mother.)
So no, he didn’t feel any added tension leading up to the biggest game of his life.
“My dad used to give me quotes and put a quote on my bulletin board,” Manning said. “He would just peg them there, like Jimmy Connors saying, ‘I hate to lose, more than I like to win.’ And I agree with that. Chuck Noll’s ‘pressure is something you feel only when you don’t know what you’re doing,’ and that is how I feel. I get prepared as hard as I possibly can. Sure, you feel nervous, you feel anxious, but I don’t feel pressure because I feel that I have done everything I could to be prepared for that game.”
Boy, was he prepared Sunday night. It wasn’t perfect, but it was plenty good enough against a Bears defense that was mostly good and sometimes great throughout the season. There were a few hiccups in the red zone, but overall, Manning was firmly in control of an offense that had its way against the Bears. He finished the night 25 for 38 for 247 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He dinked and dunked when he had to, and he went deep when he had to.
Midway through the first quarter, when he faded back to pass on third-and-10 from the Colts’ 47, he saw Reggie Wayne alone down the middle of the field, wide open as the result of busted coverage. With Tank Johnson about to pounce on him for the sack and with an arm already on the quarterback, Manning heaved the ball downfield and connected with Wayne, who ran it in for a 53-yard touchdown.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Manning said. “I’m just proud to be a part of this team. Everybody did their part. It sure is a great feeling.”
No more questions for this man now that the following sentence belongs to him: Peyton Manning is a champion.