by Eric D.Graham
NORTH CAROLINA (BASN)
-After four neck surgeries, one Super Bowl ring, five regular season MVP awards, Peyton Manning's duck dynasty was shot down by the SEAHAWKS OF SEATTLE and the Legend of Boom in the 43-8 blow-out on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey during Super Bowl 48.
Due to Peyton's poor performance, which included two interceptions, many people feel that the son of Archie Manning and the big brother of ELI Manning should unbuckle his check strap and retire after buckling under pressure by not winning the big ONE once again.
One of those who thinks the 37-year old Peyton should take off the pads is former NFL QB Joe Theisman, who recently in an interview with Amani and Eyton on NBC Radio On Monday said: "I personally would love to see him retire. I think that what he can do is take a look at the off season, figure out what you want to do-because remember NOW, he is 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.
While Theisman believes Manning should retire, he also believes that there is still gas left in his tank, but fears that teams are going to use the Seahawks' blueprint in order to attack him next season. Matter of fact, Stanford graduate Richard Sherman, who has been called a student of the game, claimed that he and the Legend of boom, figured out Manning's complex hand signals and audibles in the first half of Super Bowl 48.
"Me, Earl (Thomas), KAM (Chancellor)...we're not just three All-Pro players. We're three ALL-Pro minds." Sherman told Monday Morning quarterback's Roland Kilimko
While many football purist may reject Sherman's claim, stat wise, the Seahawks did SHOUT DOWN THE BRONCOS' HIGH POWERED, HIGH SCORING OFFENSE TO ONLY 11 YARDS in the first half and NO touchdowns. Yes, after a week long discussion about Mannings' "Omaha" audibles and check-downs at the line of scrimmage, the ball-hawks from Seattle claimed that they had cracked the code of the calculated Colorado signal caller, which rattled and frustrate the 16-year veteran, who was seen throughout the game on the sideline intensely studying the Seahawks' cover-schemes and talking on the phone with his offensive coordinators in the booth up top.
Even Broncos' vice President John Elway, a two-time Super Bowl winner and Hall Of Famer, looked as if he had seen the ghost of Tim Tebow as Manning's passes left his arm like ducks, just like Richard Sherman had suggested during the pre-Super Bowl press conference.
Plus, with the Seahawks defense swarming non-stop the entire game while delivering spine-tingling blows to the bodies of the Broncos' banged up wide receivers, in the lost, some are questioning Manning's "greatness" and his legacy as one of the best signal caller in the game, despite him winning five-regular season MVPS and countless passing records, which included 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns this year.
With that said, despite many people's dislike for Espn's Skip Bayless, we have to give him credit for coining the phase that Manning is the "greatest regular season quarterback in NFL HISTORY." Why? Because, with the lost to Seattle, his Super Bowl record is 1-2, and his overall playoff record is 11-12, which is not that impressive.
NFL NETWORK'S Deion Sanders seemed to agree with Bayless's assessment with his recent comments that Manning's legacy has been tainted by his poor Super Bowl performance against the SEAHAWKS, which shocked some and upset others .
"This is not good." Sanders stated. "What we saw tonight is not GOOD. I can't even tell you one thing I saw that I can take home and say man, that was alright. This is horrible. And it started from the first snap.
Even though, Sanders critique seemed harsh, shockingly, Peyton Manning had a 24.4 QB rating in the contest, which was his lowest this season, despite him completing 34 of 49 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.
"Well, it's disappointing for our entire team," Manning said of the loss. "We worked hard to get to this point. Overcame a lot of obstacles to be here. Put in a lot of work, did some really good things just to have an opportunity. But certainly to finish this way, it's very disappointing.
Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio and Television and a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Managing Editor of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his articles appear daily along with his controversial cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater.” Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com or go to www.bobbeethehater.blogspot.com
