Peyton Manning is an 18-year NFL veteran, but every game still matters to him. Every. Single. One.
Manning’s a meticulous studier of NFL defenses, of his receivers’ play and of himself. He’s a master of offense, the maestro who changed the way quarterbacks call plays at the line of scrimmage. Manning’s a five-time NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion, but he still cares about every game, win or lose.
And even when his Denver Broncos win, Manning’s not always pleased with his play.
On Wednesday, the Broncos quarterback was asked if bad play in a game influences the way he practices the next week. His answer is classic Manning; insightful, historical, funny.
“That is a philosophical question,” Manning started. “I mean, obviously, we’ve had some good Mondays and Tuesdays around here. I had an old coach who used to say that you’re allowed until Wednesday to get out of the tank. You had Monday and Tuesday to be in the tank and then Wednesday of the next week, you have to move on.
“Look, I think if you don’t win a game in any week, if it doesn’t bother you, then something is probably not right,” the heady veteran QB continued. “It probably means you don’t care maybe as much as you should. It’s supposed to matter to you. It’s supposed to mean something to you. When you win, you’re supposed to be excited. When you lose, it’s supposed to bother you. We had a quote up in the team meeting room today saying when you truly invest in something, you care about your investment, you’re concerned about your investment. When you put a lot of work into the team, yeah, you want to win.
“As the great Ebby Calvin Nook LaLoosh said in Bull Durham, ‘I sure like winning. It’s, like, better than losing.’“
Let’s face it, everyone who’s a competitor loves winning and loathes losing. But, maybe no one takes losing – or even performing poorly, like throwing three interceptions – as tough as Manning does. Maybe it’s that photographic memory, the tool which helped him remember what defenses will do due to his film study, which is haunting him now.
Look, Manning’s not having a terrible year for a quarterback, but it is for him, compared to his otherworldly standards. And, for a 39-year old to care as much as PFM clearly does, there’s no way he won’t get it going as the season moves forward. We’ve seen flashes of the Broncos offense of old; just wait until they put an entire half or even full game of it all together.
“I want to play better every single week,” Manning said Wednesday. “I promise, like all my teammates, we’re out here working hard, we’re trying to get better and we want to do our part. We need to play better, especially starting this week against Green Bay. Our defense has their hands full. Green Bay is going to make some plays offensively. We have to be able to do our part to score some points. We’ve got our hands full going against their defense. They are No. 1 in points. It doesn’t come easy, but we’re continuing to work hard to try to improve. I certainly want to do my part better, as well.”
Manning isn’t just some 39-year old quarterback who’s gained every accolade imaginable and therefore resting on his laurels. He loves the grind, the work needed to be great, possibly more than anyone who’s every played the game. At least, in the last 20 years.
He’s working to be great again, Manning’s pushing his offense to be awesome again; Denver will get there, just you wait.
