It wasn’t an Oscars speech. There wasn’t a statuette for him to hoist, or an orchestra to cut him off after he reached page two of his thank-you list. Peyton Manning already held the Super Bowl trophy for the second time, the final time and the most unlikely time in February. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity Monday, as well as the 17 seasons that came before. He did it the same way he practiced: thoroughly. He did it the same way he played: calling out players on the defense, making sure everyone was aware of their names.
“I’m going to miss a steak dinner at St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis after a win. My battles with players named Lynch, Lewis, Thomas, Bruschi, Fletcher, Dawkins, Seau, Urlacher, Polamalu, Harrison, Woodson and Reed,” Manning said at a press conference announcing his retirement from football. He started listing opposing coaches in the same vein of respect. He reminisced about specific teammates and coordinators, handshakes with admired rival quarterbacks, and Sunday night phone calls with one who happened to be his brother (Eli, of the New York Giants).
Peyton Manning was a nonpareil of efficient play, a conductor, a man who could make the Washington, D.C. metro transit system run on time if given the chance. He perfected the “two-minute drill”. But Monday he spoke for six times as long, and the entirety of his talk, from his mentioning of former teammate Marshall Faulk in the opening and an ode to the sport he mastered at the end, was about people and recollections. Such was the power of his memory.
The Associated Press wrote about it in 2014:
It was a well-trained one, too. He was famous for carrying iPads loaded with game film everywhere, stopping teammates in the locker room during break time to go over particulars, and wearing his football helmet in the hot tub so he could listen to audio from the practice field. Manning made almost $250 million in career salary. His old teammate Rahim Moore said he prepared “as if he never had a penny.”
Manning’s retirement comes amid a lawsuit against the University of Tennessee, his alma mater, claiming that the school violated Title IX regulations and created a “hostile sexual environment”. He was named in the suit for a 1996 training room incident involving a female athletic trainer, though he is not listed as a defendant. Manning reiterated his previous dismissal of the allegation, saying, “First off this is a joyous day and nothing can overtake from this day. I think it is sad some people don’t understand the truth and the facts.”
