Peyton Manning jogs off the field after his Broncos lost 24-13 to the Colts in Sunday’s playoff game. (Getty)
In what has seemingly become a yearly ritual when his season ends, let the Peyton Manning retirement speculation begin.
Manning and his Denver Broncos had their season cut short Sunday by the Indianapolis Colts, who upset the reigning AFC Champions 24-13 at Mile High Stadium in the divisional playoffs.
Manning just finished his 17th season and will be 39 in a little over 2 months. But you can’t tell. He threw for 39 touchdowns (131 over the past 3) and led the Broncos to another AFC West title.
And you also can’t tell he has undergone 4 neck surgeries since 2010. He’s played in every game since missing the entire 2011 season due to the neck injury.
But as it is, the fans and talking heads on TV and radio have already started the “Do you think Peyton is gonna retire?” talk. Go type “peyton manning retire” into Twitter or Google. Happy reading.
Back in December Manning told the Denver Post he had no plans to retire after this season.
“I certainly plan on being back if the Broncos will have me.”
Well, it sounded as if a few fans didn’t want him back when he was leaving the field after Sunday’s season-ending loss. Were they actually booing Manning? Or the team in general? Probably both.
But after Sunday’s game, Manning wasn’t as straight-forward about his future when speaking to the media.
“My mindset right now is just disappointment after today’s game. I kind of need to process this game and we’ll meet tomorrow, kind of need to process this game, so I’m disappointed right now. … Yeah, I guess I just can’t give that simple answer. I’m processing it. I can’t say that. I could not say that.”
So you can understand why everyone is going to speculate about his future.
He has won a Super Bowl and was named the game’s MVP, but Manning still has a stigma attached to him that he struggles in the big games. He does sometimes. And maybe part of it is his most-commonly compared contemporary, Tom Brady, has won 3 world titles. And his little brother Eli has 2 under his belt.
But the bottom line is Manning appears healthy and is still better than nearly ever other quarterback in the world.
Smart money says he’ll be under center when the Broncos kick off the season in September.
But we’ll just have to wait and see.