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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Allegations Test Manning Sponsors

A prominent women’s rights group has called on companies to end their lucrative deals with Peyton Manning after allegations of sexual assault resurfaced in the press.

The allegations relate to his time at the University of Tennessee when he is accused of placing his genitals on the face of a female trainer. The case was settled out of court, with Manning claiming he was merely “mooning” a team-mate. The claims resurfaced last week in a lawsuit against the university that claims the athletics department condoned a “hostile sexual environment” towards female students.

“When institutions like the University of Tennessee tacitly condone violence against women by ignoring cases of sexual assault by student-athletes, it perpetuates a dangerous culture of violence that ultimately hurts women everywhere,” Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, said in a statement. “Nationwide Insurance and Papa John’s Pizza must show their customers that they will never stand for sexual violence – and suspend their relationships with Manning pending further investigation.”

Manning makes millions of dollars a year from his endorsements, many of which rely on his affable public persona. He is a lock to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he is eligible, and his legacy was boosted earlier this month when he won the second Super Bowl of his career.

“While it is outrageous that the University of Tennessee chose to turn a blind eye to sexual violence by student athletes like Manning, it would be flat out unacceptable for the NFL and major companies like Nationwide Insurance and Papa John’s Pizza to continue to stand with Manning in light of emerging evidence,” Chaudhary said. “The NFL should thoroughly investigate this incident before allowing Manning to play or work in [the] NFL again.”

The allegations have come under further scrutiny after some critics said the claims were treated more lightly by the media than if Manning had been a black player.

Manning’s career in the NFL may be coming to an end anyway. He will be 40 in March and it is likely he will choose to retire with the Super Bowl victory as his final game.

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Archie Manning Backs Broncos Peyton

Peyton Manning’s father Archie has backed his son over allegations the Broncos quarterback took the banned substance HGH, telling ESPN: “He didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”

A report from Al Jazeera America in December linked Peyton to human growth hormone delivered to his wife while he was recovering from neck surgery in 2011, but Archie Manning insisted his son has never taken anything he shouldn’t have.

“I didn’t like [the report]. I thought it was some pretty shabby journalism,” Manning Sr said on ESPN’s Mike & Mike. “Actually, I hadn’t done a lot of interviews this year. This is the first time I’ve been asked about it. But I’m pretty much with him.

“He told me: ‘I didn’t do that.’ I always had a saying when he was going through everything, and he had to talk to a lot of different doctors and trainers, and I always said: ‘No voodoo.’ That was kind of our theme. And he didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”

The report claims Manning received HGH from an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic in 2011 while he was still with the Colts. It said the drug, which was banned by the NFL in 2011, was delivered to his wife, Ashley, so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to the shipments.

Manning denied the story when it emerged just after Christmas. “The allegation that I would do something like that is complete garbage and is totally made up. It never happened. Never,” he said.

“I really can’t believe somebody would put something like this on the air. Whoever said this is making stuff up.”

Peyton Manning also supports an NFL investigation into the report.

“I do welcome it. It’s no news to me,” Manning said in January. “I still stand by what I said then – that it’s garbage from the first day that it came out, garbage today.”

Archie Manning also said he hasn’t spoken with his son about whether he’ll retire next year – but thinks Peyton hasn’t yet made up his mind.

“He’ll find the right time to sit down and discuss it. He hasn’t talked to me. He’ll talk to Ashley,” the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, told SportsCenter later in the day.

“I think it will be pretty clear-cut. He loves this game. The end of last year being hurt, this year being hurt could affect this. When the time comes, he’ll sit down and make the right decision.”

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NFL Open Manning Investigation

The NFL has opened an investigation into allegations that Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had human growth hormone sent to his house.

Manning, 39, has described the allegations, made by broadcaster Al Jazeera, as "complete garbage".

Its source - Texas-based pharmacist Charlie Sly - has since recanted.

The allegations surfaced in an Al Jazeera report that said Manning's wife received deliveries of HGH, which is banned by the NFL, at their home.

At the time, Manning was recovering from neck surgery suffered during his spell with the Indianapolis Colts.

The NFL does not expect to reach a verdict before Manning's Denver side play the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl on 7 February.

Manning holds the records for most passing yards and touchdown passes and has been voted the NFL's most valuable player on a record five occasions.

The 39-year-old been plagued by injury and there is speculation that the Super Bowl - his fourth appearance in American football's showpiece event - could be the final game in his illustrious career.

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Manning Surpasses Elway Record

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Peyton Manning — the 39-year-old quarterback who was supposed to be on his way to a retirement party — will be playing in the Super Bowl two weeks from now.

Manning engineered a 20-18 victory over the Patriots — not settled until Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby picked off Brady’s pass on a two-point attempt that would have tied it with 12 seconds left.

The New England Patriots had to go for two after Brady hit Rob Gronkowski in the back of the end zone because Stephen Gostkowski missed his first extra point in 524 tries in the first quarter. Aqib Talib stepped in front of Brady’s pass and deflected it skyward.

Roby, who forced the game-changing fumble in last week’s victory over Pittsburgh, made the pick. The Broncos (14-4) recovered the onside kick and the celebration began. Manning is now 6-11 in his vaunted series against Brady, but 3-1 when it has counted the most — with the AFC title on the line.

“Well, it’s been a special rivalry over the course of my career against the Patriots, the entire organization,” Manning said. 

“To play four times in the AFC championship with so much on the line, those games have been very special.”

Manning surpassed his boss, John Elway, as the oldest quarterback to take his team to the Super Bowl. The Broncos will play Arizona or Carolina, who met later in the NFC title game.

Whether it’s been Manning lining up under centre, or Brock Osweiler, who took snaps while Manning was injured for six weeks toward the end of the season, the Broncos have depended on a defense that gave up the fewest yards this season and came up with game-saving plays time and again.

Von Miller finished with two-and-a-half sacks and an interception. The Broncos harassed Brady all day. He finished 27 for 56 for 310 yards. After being shut out twice inside the Denver 20 late in the fourth quarter, Brady lobbed a 40-yard pass to a double-covered Gronkowski to keep a desperation drive going on fourth-and-10.

Then, on fourth-and-goal from the four with 12 seconds left, Brady found Gronkowski — again double-covered — in the back corner of the end zone. The tight end stepped in front of Chris Harris Jr for the catch, and the game came down to one play.

Denver tight end Owen Daniels was the hero in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, catching two Peyton Manning passes for touchdowns in the first half as the Broncos booked their Super Bowl place

The Broncos defense made it once again, and the franchise are now headed to their eighth Super Bowl. This marks No4 for Manning, who could become the first quarterback to lead two different franchises to titles.

“The one thing we’ve done all year long is we just grind as a football team,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “Our fans are great to play for. Defensively, we played our tails off all year long and we found a way to win another tough one.”

Was it vintage Manning? Not quite. Vintage Manning has never been known for taking off when the field is clear, the way he did with 9:49 left in the third quarter and nothing but air between him and the first-down marker on the Patriots sideline.

The 17-for-32 performance certainly won’t go in his top half, nor will Owen Daniels go down as one of his top 50 all-time favourite receivers. But 17 completions was enough, and it was Daniels, the tight end who has played his whole career somewhere with Kubiak, who caught both of Manning’s touchdown passes.

Faced with the new title of game manager, Manning made the best playoff scramble by a Broncos quarterback since Elway helicoptered his way to a first down in the Super Bowl 18 years back to help the Broncos finally break through.

More fresh in the minds of Broncos fans was Manning’s decision to pull up and throw in the playoff game against the Colts last season when he had as much or more open space in front of him as he did Sunday.

Some thought his career might be over after that one. But there’s at least one more game in his future — 7 February in Santa Clara, California against the Carolina Panthers.

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Peyton Places Broncos Beyond Steelers

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Peyton Manning earned one more and possibly final game against his rival by leading the Denver Broncos to a come-from-behind 23-16 win over Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers on a blustery Sunday.

That set up an AFC championship game next weekend in Denver against Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Manning and Brady have squared off 16 times before, a full season’s worth of matchups between the two quarterbacks whose careers are so intertwined that a conversation about one almost has to include the other — like Bird v Magic or Ali v Frazier.

“It’ll be the Broncos v the Patriots,” Manning said of the AFC’s top two seeds, both 13-4. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight. I think you knew that answer was coming. To kind of quote Bill Belichick, we’ll be on to New England. But I’ll be talking about them on Wednesday.”

Football fans won’t wait that long. Brady has won 11 of the 16 meetings against Manning’s teams, but they’re 2-2 in the playoffs, including Denver’s 26-16 win in the conference championship game two years ago. This game marks just the seventh time Manning will face Brady at home.

The 17th chapter was slated for November before Manning went out with a foot injury that pushed longtime backup Brock Osweiler into the starting — and starring — role.

Osweiler led the Broncos back from a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter deficit against New England on 29 November in a game Denver won 30-24 in overtime. Manning had just gotten out of his cast and watched that game from the locker room after shaking Brady’s hand in pregame warmups.

He returned to action in the season finale, his cameo propelling the Broncos past San Diego and into the AFC’s No1 seed that ensures Brady & Co will have to play at altitude in their fifth consecutive trip to the conference championship game.

Just before kickoff Sunday, a strong wind blew over the Rocky Mountains, wreaking havoc on passes and kicks alike, although Brandon McManus tied an NFL playoff record by converting all five of his field goal attempts and Chris Boswell made all three of his.

Manning’s team-mates dropped seven passes, but came through in crunch time. Denver is 10-3 in games decided by seven points or fewer, and Manning said being battle-tested helped them on this blustery night.

With Denver down 13-12 with less than 10 minutes left, cornerback Bradley Roby, burned time and again, punched the ball from Fitzgerald Toussaint’s arms and teammate DeMarcus Ware recovered at the Denver 35-yard line.

“I could have protected the ball a little bit more,” said Toussaint, who scored his first career TD in the first half. “Obviously, they made a great play. You’ve got to give them credit, but in that situation, I put it on myself.”

Manning went to work, driving Denver to its only touchdown, a one-yard run by CJ Anderson, followed by Demaryius Thomas’ catch on the two-pointer that put Denver ahead 20-13 with three minutes left.

That was Manning’s 55th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, extending one of the dozen NFL records he owns.

Ware’s sack ended Pittsburgh’s next drive and McManus kicked his fifth field goal, joking it was such a tricky crosswind that he just kept aiming “at the guy holding the beer in the top left corner.”

Chris Boswell made a 47-yarder with 19 seconds left, but Anderson, who gained 72 yards on 15 carries, recovered the onside kick.

Manning credited Denver’s NFL-best defense for thwarting a team that piled up 34 points on them last month.

“Obviously, down in the fourth quarter and down the home stretch, great play by our defense,” Manning said. “They gave us some good opportunities all day. Pittsburgh did a great job down there in the red zone, keeping us from touchdowns. We had to settle for field goals.

“The best thing we did, we stayed patient all game. We didn’t force anything and we didn’t give them any short fields. Obviously, when we needed it, we had that big drive and we got that touchdown that really put us up.”

Roethlisberger completed 24 of 37 passes for 339 yards despite playing with a sore right shoulder and missing his top receiver — Antonio Brown (concussion) and rusher — DeAngelo Williams (foot). Martavis Bryant had nine catches for 154 yards.

Manning completed 21 of 37 passes for 222 yards, including five to Emmanuel Sanders for 85 yards.

Manning, two months shy of 40, has said this could very well be his final hurrah, and he’s 60 minutes from another chance to win his second Super Bowl ring.

Brady — who else? — stands in his way.

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Manning Surpasses Favre Record

Denver Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning became the NFL's all-time leader for passing yards on Sunday.

Manning found Ronnie Hillman in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs to increase his career passing yards total to 71,840.

That exceeds the previous best of 71,838 by former Green Bay Packer Brett Favre, who congratulated Manning.

Manning, 39, who is in his 18th NFL season, is one of only three players to have surpassed the 60,000-yard mark.

Although he broke Favre's record, the ex-Indianapolis Colt player did not have the best of days on Sunday.

He was replaced in the third quarter after throwing a fourth interception pass in the 29-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Manning Charge Seals Broncos Win

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It took a quarterback of Peyton Manning's calibre to pull off this kind of comeback.

After the Denver Broncos slogged through a nightmare of a first half, Manning showed that he's still one of the NFL's best.

Manning threw three touchdown passes in the second half and Tony Carter and Chris Harris scored off turnovers by Philip Rivers as the Broncos overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to shock the San Diego Chargers 35-24 on Monday night.

"It sure was special considering what was on the line," said Manning, a Super Bowl winner and four-time NFL MVP who's in his first season with the Broncos.

Manning was 13 of 14 for 167 yards in the second half for the Broncos (3-3) who tied the Chargers (3-3) atop the AFC West.

It tied for the fourth-biggest regular-season comeback in NFL history.

Manning had been 1-5 in his last six games against San Diego, all with Indianapolis.

Rivers was intercepted four times -- three in the fourth quarter -- and lost two fumbles. The four pickoffs and six turnovers were both career-highs.

A week earlier, the Chargers blew a 10-point lead in the third quarter in a 31-24 loss at New Orleans.

"When you lose it's rough, especially in a game where you had a big lead and so much at stake," Rivers said.

The Broncos seemed finished after an awful first half in which Manning served up an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by Quentin Jammer and two special teams fumbles led to 10 points for the Chargers.

"I thought we had a good plan. It was so disappointing to have these special team mistakes," Manning said.

Manning began the comeback when he hit Demaryius Thomas on a 29-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half.

On the ensuing San Diego possession, Elvis Dumervil stripped the ball from Rivers and Carter ran 65 yards for a touchdown, holding up the ball in celebration as he approached the end zone.

Denver then sacked Rivers to force a punt and Manning capped the next drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker to pull to 24-21.

Manning's 21-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley gave Denver its first lead of the game, 28-24 with 9:03 left. Stokley outleaped defensive back Marcus Gilchrist to catch the ball, and then got both feet down before tumbling out of the end zone.

That score was set up by Carter's interception.

Harris sealed the victory with a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:05 left. It was his second pick of the game.

"This was as good a second half of football as I've been involved in," Broncos coach John Fox said.

As for Manning, "He's real high on my list," the coach said. "He performed very well and has performed well in the last four games. He's going to keep getting better and better."

Manning finished 24 of 30 for 309 yards with one interception.

"Regular-season game, I think this is the best," said Stokley, who was a teammate of Manning's with the Colts. "The second half was unbelievable. We needed to win big-time and to perform like he did, it was awesome."

Fox said there "were no mystery words of wisdom" at halftime. "Given how poorly we played in the first half, we just said we could play better in the second half and we broke out of it."

Manning agreed.

"We came out in the second half, everybody was accountable and professional," he said. "We had 30 minutes and I thought it was important to get off to a good start with that first drive. Hitting DT for the touchdown really set the tempo for the second half."

Jammer intercepted Manning and returned it 80 yards for his first career touchdown, and Antonio Gates caught his second TD pass of the game in the second quarter, extending the Chargers' lead to 24-0.

Before Jammer's TD, the Broncos appeared on their way to their first score of the game with Manning's 55-yard pass to a wide-open Decker. But Decker tripped himself at the Chargers' 40, got up and was tackled at the 30-yard line.

Manning clapped both hands to his helmet in disbelief, one of several times the star quarterback expressed frustration.

"A piece of grass made a nice tackle," Manning joked. "Those kind of plays happen. You do kind of wonder, is this not meant to happen? Obviously Decker was sick about it.

"It's about playing 60 minutes. There's no quit in this team," Manning said.

Three plays later, Manning threw a pass straight to Jammer.

Rivers was 25 of 41 for 242 yards.

"We've got to go play a complete game," San Diego coach Norv Turner said. "We've shown through three quarters of a game what we can do."

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