Dismantling Stephen A. Smith’s idiotic argument against Colts unveiling a statue of former #Vols QB Peyton Manning

The Indianapolis Colts will unveil a statue of former Tennessee Vols and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, but First Take co-host Stephen A. Smith opposes it.

Peyton Manning became a legend with the Volunteers and then with two teams in the NFL: The Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. But Stephen A. Smith still is against him getting a statue.

Smith made the argument against Manning on First Take Wednesday morning. His case was simple: a player shouldn’t be deified if he has to look up to somebody. And according to Smith, Manning still has to look up at Tom Brady’s greatness.

He then went off listing other quarterbacks who won multiple Super Bowls with their teams, noting that they deserve statues if the Colts will give Manning a statue.

This is wrong in so many ways it makes my head explode.

Let’s start with the championships argument. Stephen A. says Manning doesn’t deserve a statue because he only brought one title to Indianapolis.

Assuming it’s all about titles, let’s look at other players with statues that I’m almost certain Smith doesn’t oppose.

Jackie Robinson has a statue outside of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. And his number is retired throughout all of baseball! Why? He only one won championship with the Dodgers, and that came while they were in Brooklyn.

Obviously, that would be an idiotic case to make against Jackie Robinson since his accomplishments go far beyond the game itself. He broke the color barrier! But using Stephen A.’s logic, being all about championships, Jackie Robinson doesn’t deserve any statue and especially not one in Los Angeles.

Let’s go to another baseball great.

Hank Aaron has a statue outside of the Atlanta Braves new stadium. Does Stephen A. think it’s not deserved?

After all, Aaron didn’t break any color barrier. He only won one ring with the Braves, and it was in Milwaukee anyway, not Atlanta. Again, this would be a stupid argument since Aaron broke the hallowed career home run record.

But Peyton Manning has the all-time passing touchdowns and passing yards records for a career and a single season, and he also has five MVP awards, two more than any other player. So his records are far more impressive than Aaron’s when you put them together.

Willie Mays has a statue outside of a minor league ballpark in Birmingham, and he never won a ring, nor does he have any record! But he’s likely the greatest baseball player ever.

Okay, let’s forget about baseball and go to Manning’s own sport, football. Heck, I can go to his own franchise.

Johnny Unitas has a statue in Baltimore, but he only won one Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts! That’s just as many as Manning with that franchise.

And speaking of Baltimore, should Ray Lewis’s statue come down when he didn’t win as many rings as Jack Lambert while Lambert was with the Pittsburgh Steelers or Teddy Bruschi with the New England Patriots?

In basketball, Larry Bird has a statue in Boston. But he’s not even in the Top 10 with his own franchise, the Celtics, when it comes to number of championships. So should we take down his statue?

I think we’ve made our point with the idiocy of the championships argument. But let’s also call out Smith’s proclaimed consistency in saying he’s against other star athletes having statues. The specific example he used was Oscar De La Hoya outside of the Staples Center.

Does Stephen A. seriously believe Oscar De La Hoya’s contributions to Los Angeles as a sports town rival Manning’s contributions to Indianapolis? That argument is so intellectually dishonest it should sicken anybody.

For the entire amount of intellectual dishonesty, check the video here.

Not only does Peyton Manning deserve a statue in Indianapolis, he also deserves one in Denver. Manning won a Super Bowl in Denver, just like Indy, and he set the single-season record for touchdowns and passing yards while there in 2013.

He also broke all the career records there, although the bulk of those came in Indy, where he won a record four MVP’s to go with his record of five overall.

For the record, I like Stephen A. Firmly disagreeing with him about a sports opinion does not have to be a character assassination.

He talks for five hours a day in giving his opinions, and I respect that. There will be things I disagree with him on.

But this opinion is one of the most asinine he has ever made, and it deserved to be called out.