Date: Friday, February 12 2010

Manning the best right now, but greatest?

By JIM STEELE, Editor pressbox1.com

First of all, we heard for two weeks or better how Peyton Manning was the greatest quarterback of all time. Yes, he led the Colts to 14 straight victories and another Super Bowl. But this is the problem I have with today's sports media. Too often, we're told that players of this era are the greatest ever and they are still in the midst of their playing days. we hear over and over that a certain event, series or game is the greatest ever. We hear how current players are the next (insert legend's name here). I actually heard a broadcaster say that Jeff Francoeur was the next Roberto Clemente. Today we see the fallacy of that moronic remark. Case in point: Peyton Manning. Yes, I am a Manning fan. And this just in, he's pretty damned good. He threw 33 touchdown passes, 16 picks, had 4,500 passing yards and an efficiency rating of 99.9. The NFL average is 83 or so. But this wasn't even his best season. In 2004, he tossed 49 TDs agaisnt 10 picks for 4,557 yards and had a passer rating of 121.1. If the media wanted to make a case for annointment, that was the year. Now let's not dismiss Manning's performance this year. He is, to be sure, on top of his game. He's playing better than anyone else at his position, without question. And let's be honest, this team is built around him. Take Manning off this team and the Colts become the Cleveland Browns. Reggie Wayne becomes Kelley Washington. So yes, Manning is a big deal. But the best ever? He still has three for four good years left. He's 33, he is embarking on his 13th season in the NFL. Manning has a great work and study ethic and is a film room rat. But even Manning is due a bad season. It happens. And given the fact that the Colts' running game was essentially window dressing this year, you are going to see more cases of Manning having good games statistically, but still lose, like Sunday in Miami. Manning was 31-45 passing for 333 yards, a TD and a pick, and his team still lost the game. When talking about the greatest ever, there are a lot of guys who belong in that conversation. I seem to remember guys like Unitas, Staubach, Bradshaw. Bart Starr who won championships and MVPs. There is this other dude named Favre who holds all the records, the same guy the media called the greatest ever a year or so ago. Okay, maybe Unitas wasn't the physical specimen Manning is. But he was playing in the NFL during the 50s, 60s and 70s when the best football players of the time were in the league. He was quarterback of the NFL-champion Baltimore Colts in what was termed the greatest game ever played in 1958. Baltimore beat the New York Giants 23-17 in sudden death overtime. You remember, don't you? That was the game Alan Ameche scored on the last play of the game to clinch it for the Colts? Okay, I don't really remember it either because I wasn't born yet. But I saw the video clips. The game, played at old Yankee Stadium, was televised on NBC and is generally believed to be the magnet that drew the American public to the NFL. When it was said and done, Unitas played in a record 10 Pro Bowls, led the Colts to two NFL titles, two Super Bowls and was NFL MVP four times. You could argue that Unitas was the best ever. Given his era, he may have been. But there are guys like Joe Montana with four Super Bowl titles and two MVPs I get sick of hearing about how today's sports media folks forget that a lot of significant crap happened before 1990. These guys talk about Pete Sampras being the greatest tennis player ever. He won a lot of majors, but never won the French. Federer has won them all, so did Andre Agassi. Can you make a case for Agassi being the best ever? I say you can have that conversation and make a case. The point is let's dial it down with Manning. He's certainly one of the best playing today. But Tom Brady has three rings, Rothliesberger has two. Troy Aikman has three rings. Manning may be the best ever to play when it's all said and done. But not now, while he's still a superior work in progress. And another thing, one interception in the Super Bowl doesn't horrifically tarnish his legacy. A Super Bowl victory doesn't put Drew Brees in that greatest-ever category either, no more than it does Trent Dilfer or Mark Rypien. Manning is probably the best player right now and could be the best of all time when he's jumped the shark. But let him get his hall-of-fame jacket before we crown him. The media needs to dial it down...and read a bit of history.