Eli Manning says Super Bowl 50 won’t decide Peyton’s legacy

Eli told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that he has not discussed Peyton’s future plans with him, but if Peyton does decide to retire, doing so after a Super Bowl win would be the best way to end his celebrated career. Either way, the outcome of this game won’t define the legacy Peyton leaves behind when his NFL days are finished.

“He’s not said anything to me about it. I think I kind of think like everybody else where you see this as possibly being the last game. I don’t know if he knows himself or if he’s thought about it,” Eli said, via Big Blue View. “When you get to year 19 and kind of deal with some injuries and things going on, it’d be a good way to go out. I don’t know if it is, but because of that possibility, I hope that he can win this game and if he decides to hang it up, go out on top.”

Eli added that Peyton’s impact on the game of football has been built over the course of his entire 19-year career.

“He’s kind of changed the game, and the no-huddle offense they had in Indianapolis for so long, and doing things at the line of scrimmage, and changing plays and getting out of bad plays and getting into good plays. He was the starter of doing that,” Eli said.

It’s difficult to argue with Peyton’s accomplishments. He has four AFC Championships, has been named to 14 Pro Bowls and has been a first-team All Pro seven times in his career. Eli said the outcome of the upcoming Super Bowl doesn’t change any of that for Peyton.

“He [has] five MVP’s and Super Bowl appearances and won a lot of football games, thrown a lot of touchdowns, and he’s played at a high level for a long, long time. I hope he can win, but his impact has already been made. His legacy, whether it will or not, I don’t think it should be affected by this one game.”

Peyton has surely at least considered retirement and suggested to New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick following Denver’s AFC Championship win that this may be his “last rodeo.”

Not surprisingly, Eli said he’ll be rooting for Peyton and the Broncos when they take the field against the Panthers in Super Bowl 50, especially after a year filled with so much adversity and change for Peyton.

“I’m excited for him. I know this has been an interesting year for him. From a new coach to a new offense and trying to learn that, dealing with an injury, having to sit out for seven weeks -- he’s never gone through that before,” Eli said. “I’m sure once the game gets there, yeah, I usually get a little nervous. That’s just kind of how it is whenever I watch him play a game. Just rooting for him and want the best for him.”