One thing that's been gnawing at me for a while now, ever since the end of the Super Bowl, is this topic. But I think there are a few unexplored facets of this that make for a very interesting discussion, and they all stem around on thing: an airplane. Paul Allen's airplane.
Peyton Manning had a chance to come to Seattle. We threw out the red carpet; Paul Allen even sent his airplane down there to pick him up for a full-scale, no-holds-barred tour, in the hopes to land him here. Coming here would have made him instantly the best Seattle Seahawk quarterback ever to wear the uniform, and a chance to command a high-powered offense that was backed by one of the best defenses in the league. We're talking - at least for last year and this year - Denver's offense and Seattle's defense, all on the same team. Fully intact running game already there; all he would need is to throw to his receivers and make them look magical like he does with every other receiver he's ever thrown to. Looking back, this would have been a dream scenario. The thought that this year might have brought Manning his second or even third championship isn't hard to imagine.
But he's said before: he's an AFC guy. Wonder why. Could it be that he knew the NFC, and the NFC West in particular, plays a much more bruising, hard-hitting, smash-mouth style of ball? Could it be he compared the chance to play here with the future of having to play in the league's worst black-and-blue division for the foreseeable future? Could it be he just didn't have enough guts to consider it? The gain was greater, but the risk was higher. He might not have trusted his newly Frankensteined neck to withstand 16 games a year in the NFC, and six against the NFC West.
So he went to the AFC, where he'd minimize playing against those smash-mouth teams. Sure, he'd meet one in the Super Bowl, provided he got there, and sure, everyone plays a handful of inter-league games anyway, but that's far less than the gauntlet of pain he'd likely be facing week in and week out playing in Seattle. Remember; he was wooed by the 49ers as well, and that would have put him in almost the identical situation as here.
Maybe his legacy is cemented by this decision more than what first meets the eye. Maybe in the end it came down to just not being willing to pull the trigger on playing in the NFC; not having the balls to face that kind of play. And so he chickened out, went to a prime AFC team, hoping and banking on having enough finesse and talent to beat one of those smash-mouth teams once and get his second Lombardi trophy.
But Seattle took that decision and shoved it down his throat. If we'd have failed to make it to the big game, I have no doubt the 49ers would have done similarly to them. And if they'd have failed, the Panthers probably would have too. Most of the top several teams in the NFC Playoffs this year had crushing, punishing defenses. Not on Seattle's level perhaps, but enough to bring the hurt to Manning's Broncos come Super Bowl Sunday.
Hey, he gambled. And lost. He knows full well what he turned down, what he couldn't quite make the decision to do. And that decision, one way or the other, probably had a large part in shaping his legacy. He could have been the best quarterback ever, no questions asked. Now one can make the argument he isn't even the best quarterback ever on that team. Oh well.
Looking back on it, I'm not sure I'd have wanted it any other way than the way it happened.