History in the Making

Written by:  John Edward Betancourt 

I got into the sport of football for an interesting reason, to see my father on the sidelines.  He is a professional photographer, semi retired these days and in my youth he shot many an NFL game. So I would watch the games on the weekends to see if by chance we could see him shooting the games.  

In fact on several occasions I had the honor of being able to go onto the sidelines with him to help out.  I still recall my reluctance to head out with him to a December game that I eventually went along with and well, we damn near froze it was so cold.  But it was also worth it.  I got to watch John Elway destroy the Bengals and I got to spend time with my dad.  In retrospect, it was an awesome day.  

But all those years of watching out for my pops made me a die hard Broncos fan, and oddly enough, as I focused more on the games over the years, I eventually and finally spotted my father on the sidelines, go figure.  But more importantly, my father getting me into this incredible sport also led to another interesting side effect if you will and I've been pondering on it since Thursday...the fact that I have now witnessed one historic moment in this sport after another.

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I have watched passing record after passing record fall.  From passing yards to touchdowns, one quarterback after another has managed to shred records of yesteryear with seeming ease.   Hell, I've even watched the first team to go 18-0 in the modern era go 18-1, historic in its own right.  

But there is nothing, and I mean nothing that was as incredible as watching Peyton Manning tie the single game passing TD Record like he did the other night here in Denver.  Yet the surprise of seeing this record fall was not the fact that it did, but the sheer fact that it didn't even dawn on me until the second it was recognized after Baltimore's penalty was assessed. 

Yet something more incredible came over me that night, aside from sheer joy.  We are witnessing something beyond amazing.  Year after year, records continue to fall, and while I understand some of them are from a different time when players didn't get the same opportunities, I find myself wondering if we are fully appreciating the incredible feats we are now witness to.

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I mean, Drew Brees broke the single season passing yards in a season record. Both Manning and Brady have replaced one another in the single season passing touchdown record and now, I got to watch Peyton Manning throw seven touchdowns in a single game.   

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with what we are witnessing, and yes I understand that the league is different today and that records are indeed made to be broken.  But let's take a moment make sure that we hold these incredible moments in the highest regard.  Every single one of these records is a big deal. The best of the best put those records in place and now the best of the best are clearly taking them right down.  Either way, I am truly in awe of what I saw on Thursday night and I am most certainly appreciative of it.  I may never see anything like that again, and I thank Peyton for giving me not only a win, but a legend to tell others of, the night he dropped seven touchdowns in a game. 

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