http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/sportsman/news/20131215/peyton-manning-sportsman-2013/?eref=sihp
Given how much the media (especially SI's Peter King) have always loved Peyton, I'm a bit surprised this is the first time he's won it. That said, he's an easy guy to respect, he's having a helluva season, and the article does a decent job delving into just how remarkable his comeback has been--apparently for a long while after the sugery the dude couldn't throw a football more than a few feet. Given that it was probably either giving it to Peyton, or handing it to Lebron again, I'd say they made the right call.
Now I'm just hoping we can get one more Peyton vs Brady playoff matchup while these guys are still elite. I think decades from now people are going to talk about them the way modern basketball fans discuss Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, as all-time great rivals who not only defined a decade, but who ushered in a revolution in the sport--the NFL probably would have trended toward pass-happy offenses regardless once rule changes went into effect, but I certainly think that the dominance of Manning and Brady accelerated that shift by a lot.
Given how much the media (especially SI's Peter King) have always loved Peyton, I'm a bit surprised this is the first time he's won it. That said, he's an easy guy to respect, he's having a helluva season, and the article does a decent job delving into just how remarkable his comeback has been--apparently for a long while after the sugery the dude couldn't throw a football more than a few feet. Given that it was probably either giving it to Peyton, or handing it to Lebron again, I'd say they made the right call.
Now I'm just hoping we can get one more Peyton vs Brady playoff matchup while these guys are still elite. I think decades from now people are going to talk about them the way modern basketball fans discuss Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, as all-time great rivals who not only defined a decade, but who ushered in a revolution in the sport--the NFL probably would have trended toward pass-happy offenses regardless once rule changes went into effect, but I certainly think that the dominance of Manning and Brady accelerated that shift by a lot.