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Former Vol and NFL Star Peyton Manning Receiving No Offseason Love

By Caleb Calhoun

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Former Tennessee Vols Quarterback Peyton Manning is a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer, but going into this season, the Denver Broncos star is getting no respect.

Those of us in Vol Nation will be the first to admit that we are not objective when it comes to Peyton Manning. He is our favorite son and has represented the program as well as anybody since going to the NFL.

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So when Manning gets any kind of disrespect, we will defend him before Indianapolis Colts or Denver Broncos fans do. But, even with that, we could accept arguments for Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady over him if they were valid.

And we could listen to people say he may have slipped behind them a tad simply due to his age.

But the disrespect directed toward him this offseason is now going too far. It started on Monday, July 20.

Manning fell to No. 4 in the USA Today Quarterback rankings, which you can see here. He was behind Rodgers and Brady and then…Drew Brees? Let’s get back to how ridiculous that is in a minute.

Then came Mike Sando’s Tier Quarterback Rankings, where Peyton Manning was a Tier 1 but fell to No. 5 there as well, this time behind…Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger?

And to add insult to injury on that one, First Take’s Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith agreed that Manning had slipped off that top tier island that Rodgers and Brady were on.

But then came the insult of insults, the Madden Player Rankings.

Manning was not a Top Five quarterback in those rankings. Those slots went to Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, and Luck. Seriously?

This is the most absurd case of prisoner of the moment I have seen in a long time. Last season, Peyton Manning threw for 39 touchdowns and had more than 4,700 yards passing for a 101.5 passer rating. But because at the end of the season, after he got banged up and had an injured leg, he struggled, throwing three touchdowns and six interceptions the final four games of the year, all of a sudden, people are ready to be done with him. The playoff loss, which he played still hurt, only confirmed.

Yes, one injury that makes him look mortal all of a sudden has everybody thinking that age has finally caught up with Manning. How does that make sense? Should we point to the fact that before the last quarter of the season, he had 36 touchdowns and only nine interceptions? What happened? Did he just get old once December of 2014 hit but remain in his prime on Nov. 30?

Yes, getting banged up points a bit to age because of the fact that Manning never really got hurt outside of that one freak injury that caused him to miss the 2011 season. But injuries hit everybody, sometimes at the wrong time. If Manning is going to be fully healthy going into the 2015 season, are you going to bet on the first three quarters of 2014 Manning or the last quarter?

Anybody with sense would bet on the last quarter. The guy is two years removed from the greatest single season a quarterback has had in NFL history. While he may be too old to do that anymore, it’s hard to believe he’s too old to be a top tier quarterback and still on the island with Brady and Rodgers.

Maybe we are just biased in Tennessee about the former Vol. But calling him old seems a bit premature. And all analysts appear to significantly be caught as prisoners of the moment.

Next: Vols 2015 Preview by Position: WR

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