Many know who Peyton Manning is from Saturday Night Live and from Discover commercials. Many know him as the “funny quarterback.” To football fanatics, Peyton Manning is associated with the Indianapolis Colts and the fact that he is an elite quarterback.
The premise of Saturday Night Live is to poke fun at current events. At the time that Peyton Manning was on it, the National Football League (NFL) was promoting their partnership with the organization United Way, which works with the community. The NFL commercials showed players working with kids on the football field. Manning and SNL did a parody skit of it where Peyton yelled at the kids constantly and taught them things like breaking into a car. The tagline at the end said, “Spend time with your kids, so Peyton Manning doesn’t.” Watch this video here.
He was drafted to the Colts in 1998 as the first overall pick of the draft and has been there ever since. He has led them to win two AFC Championships, one Super Bowl, and has been to the Pro Bowl eleven times. Now can you see why there has been so much fuss over him lately? ?
Some of you are saying, “Yes,” while others of you are saying, “No. What’s been going on?” In 2011 Manning signed a $90 million deal and was seen as the Colts’ franchise quarterback. Following soon after, he underwent neck surgery and found that he needed to have another surgery in September of 2011. That surgery required him to miss the entire 2011-2012 season.
In this past season, his younger brother Eli Manning lead his team, the New York Giants, to another Super Bowl win. That is Eli’s second win in the past five years. His brother Peyton has only won once throughout his entire career, which spans longer than Eli’s. The pressure is on for Peyton to get back into the game and catch up to his brother. Even though Peyton would claim he was happy his brother, he must be itching to get back in the game and claim the title for himself.
There is only one problem: Peyton and the Colts have decided to split. There is a new coach and a new general manager, so the Colts seem to be going in an entirely new direction. However, Peyton was to be paid a chunk of his $90 million deal and refused to take a pay cut. It was a hard split for both parties, but business is business.
?It was tough choice to make considering we have seen everything Peyton is capable of and the relationship he had with the Colts. I’m sure everyone is interested in seeing where he goes in the future.