Jim Saccomano - Peyton Manning: A Quarterback for the Ages

Copyright 2016 by Jim Saccomano and Craig Kelley

Foreword copyright 2016 by Tony Dungy

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo credits: Associated Press

ISBN: 978-1-61321-976-8

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61321-979-9

Printed in China

To my family, who are always there for me and who love the Broncos as much as I domy wife JoAnn, my children Jennifer and Jeff, and to the inspiration for this book, my grandchildren and special angels, Lucas and Rhea.

Jim Saccomano

To my late mother, Louise, and my dear wife, Katiethe women who respectively shaped and shared my most special football memories. Moms favorite player was Archie Manning and Katie loved Peytons dedication to excellence.

Craig Kelley

CONTENTS

Foreword

TONY DUNGY

I met Peyton Manning for the first time at the Maxwell Awards Banquet in February of 1998. I had just finished my second year of coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Peyton was being honored as the College Football Player of the Year. Immediately, you detected something special with him. On top of the physical skills that were so obvious throughout his college career, I saw an intelligent, engaging young man with natural leadership skills. Spending some time with him that night, it wasnt hard to see he would have a bright future in the NFL.

I had no idea, however, just how brightly his star would shine over the next eighteen years in the National Football League. And I certainly didnt know that I would have the privilege of being his coach for seven of those years. It was a blessing from God for me, not only to be able to coach him but to get to know him as a person.

Our Colts teams won a lot of games during those seven years, including Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears. But to me, the true greatness of Peyton Manning is not found in the Super Bowl rings, MVP trophies, or passing records. As great as those accomplishments are, I always was more impressed with how Peyton accepted the challenge of being a leader off the field as well. His commitment to preparation, to helping his teammates, and to impacting the communities where he lived was what set him apart from others.

In Peyton Manning: A Quarterback for the Ages, Craig Kelley and Jim Saccomano, two men who have seen his professional career from a unique point of view, have captured the essence of Peyton Manning, both on and off the field. They have chronicled his journey in an amazing collection of photographs with behind the scenes stories and anecdotes that bring the photos to life. If a picture is worth a thousand words this book will tell you millions of stories. It will be priceless to anyone who is a fan of Peyton Manning, the NFL, or who simply appreciates a talented athlete who was totally dedicated to making his teams and his community better.

Introduction

From his birth in New Orleans through his time at the Isidore Newman School in the Crescent City, at the University of Tennessee, then with the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, Manning truly checked every box of greatness along the way.

When the reality of career accomplishment exceeds all hyperbole, that is most remarkable indeed. Such is the stuff of his career and influence.

The NFLs career leader in combined regular season and postseason wins (200) by a starting quarterback, Manning is the only quarterback in league history to lead two teams to a Super Bowl victory. He quarterbacked the Denver Broncos to a win in Super Bowl 50 to end the 2015 season and his incredible career, after earning his first World Championship with the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI following the 2006 season.

Manning is the only five-time Most Valuable Player in NFL history. No player in league history has earned more Pro Bowl appearances (14) than Manning, a fourteen-time team captain who finished his career as the NFLs all-time record holder in career touchdown passes (539) and passing yards (71,940).

Selected by the Colts with the number one overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after his brilliant career at Tennessee, Manning started the first 208 games of his career, which set the NFL record for any position.

Manning earned eleven Pro Bowl selections in fourteen years in Indianapolis while being named to the NFLs All-Decade Team for the 2000s. He was named NFL MVP four times (2003 and 2004, 2008 and 2009) as a Colt and led the team to eleven playoff appearances, including nine consecutive postseason berths and 10-plus win seasons from 2002 to 2010. He also helped Indianapolis set the NFL record for the most consecutive seasons with at least 12 victories (seven, 2003-09).

Manning joined the Broncos as a free agent on March 20, 2012, after those fourteen glorious years in Indianapolis.

During his four years in Denver Manning helped the Broncos to the most wins (55) and highest winning percentage (.764) of any team in the NFL while becoming the first quarterback in team history to be a part of four consecutive AFC West titles. No player threw more touchdowns (151) in the regular season/playoffs combined from 2012-15 than Manning, who ranked third in the league in overall passer rating (99.6) as well as fourth in both overall passing yards (19,062) and completions (1,639).

In 2013 Manning posted the most prolific season of any quarterback in NFL history en route to earning his fifth MVP award and receiving Sports Illustrateds prestigious Sportsman of the Year award. Manning, who led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance in fifteen years, set the all-time NFL single-season records for touchdown passes (55) and passing yards (5,477) while leading the highest scoring offense (606 points, 37.9 per game) in NFL history.

And all of those Denver accomplishments came after many thought his career was over.

Mannings first season with the Broncos in 2012 saw him earn the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year award for his remarkable return to the field from a neck injury and four subsequent surgeries that forced him to miss the 2011 season. He went on to set Bronco single-season records in every major passing category and finished second in the MVP voting that year.

During his superlative regular-season career Manning played 266 games (265 starts and a 186-79 record) and completed 6,125 passes for 71,940 yards with 539 touchdowns. For good measure, he added 667 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing.

Leading his teams to an NFL-record fifteen playoff appearances, Manning had 43 touchdowns, 40 passing and three rushing, and took four of his eighteen playoff teams to Super Bowl berths.