Number 18 Ends 18 Year Career - Peyton Manning

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Peyton Manning has announced his retirement, ending a sparkling 18-year career in the NFL.

Manning struggled to hold back tears as he confirmed the news at a media conference in Denver on Monday.

He said: "I fought a good fight. I finished my football race. After 18 years it is time."

Manning, who turns 40 on 24 March, played his last game when he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in February.

It was his second Super Bowl win, the first coming in 2007 during a 14-year spell with the Indianapolis Colts.

One of the game's most prolific passers, he was voted the NFL's most valuable player a record five times.

Manning retires as the NFL's all-time leader in passing touchdowns (539), passing yards (71,940) and quarterback wins (186, tied with Brett Favre).

His teams made the play-offs in 15 of his 18 seasons.

"You don't have to wonder if I will miss it. Absolutely I will," Manning added.

"There are players who were more talented - but none could out prepare me. I have no regrets."

Manning's Denver Broncos defeated Tom Brady's New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game to reach this year's Super Bowl

One of his biggest rivals, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said Manning "set the standard for how to play the quarterback position".

He told Sports Illustrated: "What just happened, winning the Super Bowl in his last game, is a perfect way to end a career. But what he's accomplished through all these years, what makes it so admirable, is the pressure he's had on him his whole life.

"Who has lived up to the expectations year after year after year as well as Peyton? He's done it so gracefully, so admirably."

Recently, Manning has also faced controversy. Before this year's Super Bowl, the NFL began an investigation into allegations that banned substance human growth hormone was sent to his house when he was recovering from neck surgery in 2011.

He has described the allegations, made by broadcaster Al Jazeera, as "complete garbage".

During his retirement news conference, he also denied allegations of sexual misconduct stemming from his college playing days at Tennessee.

"I did not do what has been alleged and I am not interested in re-litigating something that happened when I was 19," he said.

In defeating the Carolina Panthers on 7 February, Manning became the oldest quarterback to win the showpiece event - and the first starting quarterback to win it with two different teams.

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Brady to Extend New England Deal

Tom Brady will sign a contract extension with the New England Patriots that will see the quarterback play well into his 40s, according to reports.

ESPN reports that Brady will tack two years on to his current deal, extending his career until 2019. Brady is due to earn $9m in 2016 and $10m in 2017, with a salary cap charge of $15m this year. However, the extension is likely to lower the latter figure which could help free up room to negotiate new contracts for players such as Chandler Jones and Malcolm Butler, whose deals are up at the end of next season.

While Brady’s great rival Peyton Manning is likely to announce his retirement in the near future, the Patriots quarterback, who turns 39 in August, has spoken of his desire to extend his career for as long as possible. “I’d like to play a long time,” Brady said in October 2015. “There’s a lot that goes into playing well. I’ve played with a lot of great team-mates. But I want to play for a long time, maybe 10 more years. I think that’s probably what my goal is.”

Brady, unlike Manning, has shown little sign of decline as he approaches 40. He threw for 36 touchdowns last season – his highest tally in the regular season since 2011. His seven interceptions were also his lowest total since 2010.

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MVP Curry Strikes Again with Thunder

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Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer from beyond 30 feet with 0.6 seconds left in overtime gave the Golden State Warriors a 121-118 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

Curry finished with 46 points as his winning shot was his 12th 3-pointer, tying the NBA single-game record. He also broke his own NBA record for 3s in a season, leaving the new mark at 288.

Curry, the league’s scoring leader and reigning MVP, missed about six minutes of the third quarter with a left ankle injury. He drove to the basket and rolled the ankle before Thunder guard Russell Westbrook stepped on it.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 37 points, but he fouled out in the first minute of overtime.

The Warriors won the previous meeting with the Thunder 116-108 at home on 6 February. The teams play again Thursday at Golden State.

Oklahoma City led by 12 in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors rallied. Klay Thompson made a 3 from the left corner to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 100-99. It was the first 3 of the game for any Warriors player other than Curry.

Durant responded with a 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds left to put the Thunder up 103-99.

Thompson quickly scored a layup, then the Thunder turned the ball over, and Andre Iguodala was fouled with 0.7 seconds left. Iguodala made both free throws to tie the score at 103 and force the extra period.

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Postive Rousey Beaten But Unbowed

Ronda Rousey’s trauma after her shock defeat to Holly Holm last year has been well documented but she has revealed new details of her feelings during a TV interview.

She gave her first sit-down interview since her defeat to Holm on Tuesday’s Ellen DeGeneres Show, and said she had felt suicidal immediately after being knocked out in Melbourne. One quote in particular gives insight into how much she had invested in her status as an unbeaten fighter:

“Honestly, my thought I was like, in the medical room and I was down in the corner,” an emotional Rousey told DeGeneres. “I was sitting in the corner [thinking[ like, ‘What am I anymore if I’m not this?’ And I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself and that exact second, I’m [thinking] ‘I’m nothing ... what do I do any more and no one gives a shit about me any more without this.’”

Rousey emphasised that the feelings had been temporary. “To be honest, I looked up and I saw my man [UFC fighter Travis Browne] was standing up there and I looked up at him and I was like, I need to have his babies. I need to stay alive,” she said. “I don’t know if I’d have made it without him.”

Rousey also said that some positives had come from her defeat. “Maybe winning all the time isn’t what’s best for everybody ... maybe I had to be that example of picking myself up off the floor.”

While stating she did not want to make excuses for her defeat, Rousey said the build-up to the fight had not been “perfect”. “I think the one thing that was different was that it was my third title fight in nine months and I don’t think anyone has ever attempted that before,” Ronda said.

She added that she wants her next fight to be a rematch with Holm: “Of course I want to fight Holly. I want to beat her.”

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Manning Makes No Future Plans...Yet

Peyton Manning has the perfect opportunity to go out on a high after winning his second Super Bowl but he said on Sunday he will take his time before deciding whether to retire.

“I got some good advice from Tony Dungy, who’s going into the Hall of Fame and is my old coach. He said don’t make an emotional decision,” Manning told CBS after the Denver Broncos had beaten the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50.

“This has been an emotional week, an emotional night, and I’ve got a couple of priorities. I want to go kiss my wife, kiss my kids, I want to go celebrate with my family and team-mates, and I’m going to drink a lot of beer ... [Super Bowl MVP] Von Miller is buying. Those are my priorities at this point. I’ll take some time to reflect. And I’m going to say a prayer and a thank you to the man upstairs for this opportunity as well.”

Manning has been a shadow of his former self this season, and the Broncos’ championship was down to the team’s defense rather than any offensive brilliance from their veteran quarterback. He also has nothing left to prove on the field, and would end his career as the all-time leader for passing touchdowns and passing yards.

One person who is certain Manning should quit is his mother, Olivia. “I want Peyton to retire,” she said after the game.

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Panthers Davis to Play with Pain

Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis is prepared to play through the pain barrier at Super Bowl 50 after having surgery on a broken arm only nine days ago.

Davis has received the green light from the NFC champions' medical team to face the Denver Broncos this Sunday in the biggest game of his 11-year NFL career.

He is no stranger to overcoming serious setbacks following three torn anterior cruciate ligament injuries, but there has been little time for him to overcome his latest problem before the season finale at Levi's Stadium.

Davis broke his right arm in the 49-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game and knows he is likely to be in discomfort on Sunday having had a plate and screws inserted.

"You don't sit around and think about it," he said. "Our doctors came up with a game-plan and they feel confident that I can go out and play at a high level.

"With them having confidence, that pushes my confidence level up. I know how I feel right now.

"I understand that on game day it's really going to boil down to how much pain that I can actually play through. There are not going to be any limitations, I can go out there and actually play.

"But I just had surgery a little bit over a week ago, it's going to hurt but you play the game with pain all the time.

Asked about his pain threshold, he added: "It's definitely a lot higher than you would imagine and given that this is the Super Bowl, you figure out a way to play through things. That's something I'm going to be doing.

"When it comes down to actually playing with limitations and playing through pain - it's two different things. Playing with pain is something that you can deal with and that's what I'm going to be doing, I'll deal with it."

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Belichick Patriots Problems Surface

Bill Belichick refused to blame his Pro Bowl kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, after a missed extra-point contributed towards the New England Patriots’ defeat in the AFC championship game.

Gostkowski’s miss in the second quarter meant the Patriots had to go for a two-point conversion as they attempted to tie the game against the Denver Broncos. The attempt failed and New England’s season ended with a 20-18 defeat. Gostkowski said he blamed himself for the loss but at his end of season press conference on Monday, Belichick said the defeat was a team responsibility.

“Steve is a great kicker. He had a great year for us,” Belichick said. “I think every coach or player who participated in the game wishes there was a couple things they could have done differently. I feel that way. Everybody I’ve talked to feels that way. I can’t imagine that anyone who participated in the game doesn’t feel that way. I feel like it’s my fault, I’m sure all the other players who played feel like it’s their fault.”

Belichick was one of the coaches who pushed to move the extra-point back to 33 yards, a rule that was introduced at the start of this season. But on Monday he would not be drawn into a discussion on the change. “Whatever the rules are, we play by them. We don’t make the rules. That’s decided by the league,” Belichick said.

The Patriots also received criticism when they decided to go for it on a fourth and one in the final quarter, when they trailed 20-12 and were well within field-goal range. Again, Belichick refused to rue the decision: “At that time, there was no hesitation in doing that,” Belichick said. He explained “time, and number of possessions you have left” played a part in his thinking.

Tom Brady was pressured all day, taking 23 hits from the Broncos. But like Belichick we he took the defeat as a team. “When you play quarterback, you’re going to take hits. You have to stand in there and make throws. There are no excuses for me for not getting the job done,” Brady said. “Our guys fought hard. I’m proud of all the guys for what they tried to accomplish. We just came up one play short to a very good football team.”

Belichick was also hampered when the Patriots’ Microsoft Surface tablets went offline for 20 minutes, leaving his staff at a disadvantage. The outage did not affect the Broncos. Meanwhile, some fans wondered whether the Pats were victims of double standards.

“Our team on the field confirmed the issue was not related to the tablets themselves but rather an issue with the network, said Microsoft in a statement. “We worked with our partners who manage the network to ensure the issue was resolved quickly.”

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Newton Takes Panthers to Final

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Cam Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others, and Carolina’s big-play defense stifled the league’s top-ranked offense in a 49-15 romp on Sunday for the NFC championship. It was the most points for a winner of an NFC title game.

The NFL’s new top man at quarterback — Newton is an All-Pro this season — will lead the Panthers against five-time MVP Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in two weeks.

“Playing the sheriff,” Newton said of Manning. “We’re going to live in the moment right now. We’re going to be excited.”

It will be Newton’s first trip to the Super Bowl and the second trip to the big game for the Panthers (17-1), who lost to New England 12 years ago. Denver, of course, have made a habit of going to Super Bowls, reaching it for a record-tying eighth time.

“We won as a team,” Newton said. “We came out here and fought our tails off and we did what a lot of people said we couldn't do. It’s not over yet. We’ll be ready to go in two weeks.”

And while the Broncos’ defense carried the team past New England 20-18 for the AFC crown, Carolina’s D was just as destructive. They picked off Carson Palmer four times, forced two fumbles by him, and never let up the assault.

Special teams also had a takeaway, and when Carolina grabbed a 24-7 half-time lead this time, they didn’t back off, as they did in nearly blowing a 31-point margin a week ago against Seattle.

When Newton flew into the end zone for a 12-yard third-quarter touchdown, dabbed a bit, and pointed the Panthers toward the Bay Area and Super Bowl 50.

Newton finished with 335 yards passing and 47 rushing as Carolina won their 13th straight home game, including three in the play-offs.

One of his biggest helpers was Ted Ginn Jr, who was dumped by the Cardinals after last season. Ginn had a 32-yard punt return to set up his weaving 22-yard TD run, and chased down All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson to prevent a second-quarter touchdown. He also had 52 yards on two receptions.

Carolina’s defense did the rest, most notably making Palmer uncomfortable in the pocket and turning Larry Fitzgerald, the star of last week’s overtime victory against Green Bay, into a virtual non-entity. The unit led the league with 39 takeaways, and at times they made an Arizona team that gained more yards than anyone look amateurish.

Capping the barrage was All-Pro Luke Kuechly, who returned an interception 22 yards for a score. The 49 points were the most this season for Carolina, who led the NFL with 500 points.

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