Hoping to return to their glory days, the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos have opted for new quarterbacks in the form of Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson, respectively. In addition to the desire to be at the top of the NFL again, these franchises are united by the fact that they both achieved it with Peyton Manning as their mastermind.
Manning began his elite football career with the Indianapolis Colts in 1999, a franchise that had only won the Super Bowl once before, in 1970. It took Peyton 5 seasons to take them to the deciding game, and he did not fail at the key moment to lead them to win the XLI edition, the last great success of the Colts.
When Peyton Manning's departure from the Colts to the Denver Broncos was announced in 2012, few imagined that the legendary quarterback would still have magic to show on the field. Thus in 4 seasons in Denver, he took them to the Super Bowl on a couple of occasions, of which he came away with the win in the iconic 50th edition in 2015. It was the third league championship won by the franchise and the last, so far.
Peyton Manning opens up about the future of Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson
Clearly, there is no more authoritative voice to speak about the quarterback position in Indianapolis and Denver than Manning. What will happen for these two teams now that they finally have big names, such as Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson, to fill the iconic position?
"I mean, look, obviously when you play quarterback in the NFL there’s certainly expectations. I think Russell and Matt, they have high expectations for themselves. They want to work together with the team, get on the same page and want to help the team win and do their part. So, I think both of them will handle that well.”, explained Peyton Manning to NFL.com.
Ryan, 37, already knows what it's like to play in a Super Bowl, but also what it feels like to lose it, as he lost the only time he led the Atlanta Falcons to the biggest match, which could be his main motivation to seek the NFL glory with the Indianapolis Colts. On the other hand, Wilson, 33, played a pair of Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks, with a 1-1 record and will push the Denver Broncos to reach ten years without returning to that stage.
