There were rumblings leading up to the Super Bowl that Peyton Manning would retire after the big game, but the 37-year-old quarterback has not indicated any plans to retire. Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann is one person who would like to see the Denver Broncos quarterback hang up the cleats.
“I personally would love to see him retire,” Theismann told “Amani and Eytan” on NBC Sports Radio Monday. “I think that what he can do is take a look at the offseason, figure out what you want to do — because remember now, he’s going to be a year older — I don’t know what the physical beating is like for him. I’m not sure exactly where he is in that situation, but I do know one thing — his arm is not going to get any stronger going forward.”
Not only does Theismann believe things will get more difficult for Manning physically, but he thinks opposing defenses will improve their schemes against him.
“You have to look at what happened (for him) with Seattle and say, ‘how many more teams are going to want to try and attack him that way? And will the Denver Broncos be able to do the things they want to do?’
“I think Peyton still has gas in the tank. It’s not like it’s over for him. It’s just that he’s done so much. I don’t believe his legacy was affected at all in this game. I think if he won it, his legacy would be enhanced. But I don’t believe that we should look at Peyton Manning and think anything less of what he accomplished.”
Theismann is saying that Manning has nothing left to prove even though he played poorly in the game. Some probably would agree with him, while others, such as Deion Sanders and myself, believe it negatively affects his leacy.
I don’t know much about Manning’s thought process at this point, but I can’t imagine he would want to go out in this manner. Maybe he would have given serious consideration to retirement had he won the Super Bowl, but after that disaster, I bet he comes back. And one point of disagreement with Theismann. Even if opposing defenses will try to do what Seattle did to Peyton, none of them have the personnel to replicate what the Seahawks did. Why do you think Peyton carves most of them up?
