Fifty One

Written by: John Edward Betancourt 

Earlier in the season, in fact right after Peyton Manning dropped seven touchdowns on the Baltimore Ravens to kick off the season, I talked about what an incredible time it is to be an NFL fan as incredible feats continue to appear before our eyes week after week, year after year.  

Well...it happened again.  Yesterday, Peyton Manning shocked the football world once again by becoming the only quarterback in NFL History to throw 51 touchdowns in a single season.  

Yes, 51 touchdowns.  It may not seem like that great of a feat considering how liberal the rules are when it comes to offense in the NFL, but in reality, this is more than a feat, this is something of legend. Let's bear in mind the fact that Manning is mentioned twice in the single season TD record discussion when he broke the record in 2004 with 49 TD passes, only to see Tom Brady break it with 50 in 2007.  That alone is pretty impressive, but what has impressed me more is what a warrior this man is on the field and well...it seems like nothing can stop him anymore.  

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It was only two short years ago that there were nothing but question marks surrounding Peyton Manning.  With the nerve damage he suffered in his neck and the stories that later came out about his arm strength from said injury...there was a fair chance this man would never play football again.  In fact I even recall a good friend of mine say that Denver signing him was a bad idea because he was "broken."  

It's almost as though the chance of seeing his career end gave Manning a nothing to lose mentality that has now translated over to his game.  I don't know if any football fans will see an incredible year like this ever again, not from another future Hall of Famer who could have been washed up. In fact what impresses me more, was that yesterday's record came about from a set of pedestrian circumstances.  Denver was ahead, there was no need to throw to win.  Manning was simply doing what he does best, throwing passes and the two that mattered, the ones that tied the record and subsequently broke it...were just perfect.  

Super Bowl Championship come February or not, this is just incredible.  I've never seen quarterback play in Denver like this, and I grew up watching John Elway make miracles happen on the field.  Now before I get some ugly hate mail regarding the first sentence of this paragraph, I expect a Super Bowl win.  But for some, when things like this happen, these football miracles if you will, throughout the season and it ends without confetti an the Lombardi Trophy, they will say it meant nothing. I call the b.s.card on that one, let's not forget Favre only has one Super Bowl Ring and Dan Marino has none.  Sometimes it's just not meant to be, but something tells me...Peyton will get another ring in Denver before hanging up the cleats.

Either way, it was a proud moment in Bronco Country, it was our quarterback that broke the record.  It was our team that helped him do it and we will always remember the number 51 when they add 18 to the Ring of Fame at Mile High Stadium and enshrine his likeness in the Hall of Fame.   

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