He signed autographs for stadium workers and corporate kinds. He answered questions around his team's miserable performance with out losing his patience or temper. He even asked Seahawks loudmouth Richard Sherman if his injured ankle was okay.
When you're talking around grace and character, class and integrity, Manning merely could be the ideal who has ever played the game.
But can we please forget all this talk around him becoming the finest quarterback of all time?
He's not.
Another Super Bowl loss, yet another postseason disappointment, yet another huge-game failure on the other hand keeps him from becoming the most effective quarterback to have ever played the game.
Is he a Hall of Famer? No doubt. A very first-ballot one at that.
Is he the finest quarterback at the game right now? You could produce the argument that even at age 37, he would be the perfect choice for your fantasy team.
Is he the finest quarterback of all time? No. No way. Not even close.
As long as his resume lists one championship, Manning can't be mentioned with the likes of Joe Montana, Tom Brady, John Elway, Johnny Unitas and a couple of others who've won many Super Bowls and/or NFL championships.
It's uncomplicated to make use of Manning as a punching bag right now, on the other hand such is life in expert sports as soon as we have a look at legacy moments soon after games end. And right now, Manning's legacy doesn't appear so hunky-dory.
Manning's favored Broncos threw a giant gutter ball Sunday, falling tough to Seattle's Legion of Boom in a Super Bowl that was every bit as lopsided as the 43-8 score would indicate. True, Manning was merely one of 53 Broncos players who, collectively, had their rear ends handed to them by the Seahawks.
The way Seattle's defense played Sunday, you've got the feeling that if Dr. Frankenstein developed a quarterback monster with Dan Marino's arm, Steve Young's legs, Joe Montana's poise, Bart Starr's smarts and Terry Bradshaw's grit and that quarterback started for Denver, the Broncos on the other hand would have been kicked all over the swamps of New Jersey.
Still, Manning had a dog of a game. Two interceptions. A fumble. A botched snap that led to a safety. Wobbly passes. Poor decisions. No answers.
The Seahawks had a great deal to do with that, even so so did Manning. He picked the biggest game of the season to play his worst game of the year.
And this is hardly the very first time in Manning's career that he has wilted on the huge stage.
He is currently 11-12 at the postseason. That includes 2 losses in 3 Super Bowls. That also includes eight 1-and-carried out postseason performances.
Of those eight, five games were on Manning's house turf, meaning Manning's teams were the greater seed. And that means they should have won those games.
In his 12 playoff losses, Manning has thrown only 13 touchdowns, yet 14 interceptions.
Again, I'm not saying Manning is actually a lousy quarterback. His unprecedented 5 MVP awards means something. He's a 13-time Pro Bowl player. He holds a bunch of passing records. He's a master at dissecting defenses and calling plays and running offenses. And, he has guided his team to the playoffs 13 times in 15 seasons.
But we cannot provide him all this credit for being his team to the playoffs then none of the blame once his team falls short of expectations in those playoffs.
This just isn't effortlessly about the number of championships. Just simply because Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson won the same number of Super Bowls as Manning does not mean they are in the exact same class as Manning. Just simply because Bradshaw and Troy Aikman won more Super Bowls doesn't mean they had been better. Manning's brother, Eli, has two Super Bowl rings, even so lots of would give some thought to Peyton to be the perfect Manning.
But at several point, championships should matter.
Jim Kelly was a terrific quarterback of a high-powered offense. He led the Bills to 4 consecutive Super Bowls. Marino may be the greatest pure passer in NFL history. But neither won a Super Bowl and that is the knock against both of them.
If we're basing everything on normal-season numbers then what around Brett Favre? He is the NFL career leader in virtually each meaningful quarterback category, such as completions, passing yards and touchdowns. And he did win a Super Bowl. Yet, does anybody think about him to be the best to ever play? No, in all probability given that he did not win sufficient championships.
Meantime, quarterbacks such as Montana, Brady, Elway and Unitas put up sparkling normal-season numbers and managed to win numerous championships.
In the finish, it's all subjective. Maybe you like Manning. Maybe you see what he does at the normal season, rolling up completions and touchdowns and putting up gaudy numbers and believe no one has ever played the game greater.
And, too at the end, Manning may be remembered by anyone, even his critics, as an excellent quarterback, a great quarterback. No 1 would dare suggest that he is not one of the greater quarterbacks of all time.
