The List Keeps Getting Longer

I have lived long enough to see them come and go: quarterbacks. Norris Weese and Craig Penrose stand out as names from a past that might be forgotten by bandwagon types. The same might be said for Brian Griese or even Frank Tripucka. More will remember Craig Morton, since he was the field general for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos when he was the starter, years apart, for those two teams. In my memories, Craig isn't wearing the silver helmet with star on it. He's the old guy rolling out in one of the world's worst attempts at a bootleg. When he showed up in Denver in 1977, he was thirty-four years old. Five years later, he hung up his cleats and retired without wining the Lombardi trophy.
It was his successor, John Elway, who brought that prize back to Denver. It took him several tries, but he managed it. Twice. Along the way, he engineered a barrel full of last minute comeback wins and became part of the argument that people have about who is the best quarterback of all time.  That shadow lingered over the Mile High City for years. Plenty of other men, old and young, took their shot at being the one to make everyone forget about Elway. For ten games, some people thought that guy was Tim Tebow. It wasn't.
Then came the big deal. The real deal. Peyton Manning picked the Broncos to be the team that he would use to ride off into the sunset. It was a great story, as "The Sheriff" blazed through that first year with his new team, breaking records and Colts fans' hearts, and then Denver fans' hearts again. His second year in Denver, he took his new team to the Super Bowl. And still the record books fill up with Peyton Manning's name. He broke those records with a picture of a horse on the side of his helmet.  And all the while, the clock was ticking. The clock that said, "There aren't a lot of thirty-nine year old Super Bowl quarterbacks."
This past week, Brock Osweiler added his name to that list of names. Peyton Manning got a cast for his foot. The last person I would bet against in this world when it comes to winning a football game is Peyton Manning. He has won more games than just about any other quarterback in professional football history. He might never win another. He might be done. He might become a part of the legacy of Denver Bronco quarterbacks who have not won a Super Bowl during their time in orange and blue. And while it seems like a tragedy, it is really a triumph. When I think about my own ever-expanding list of old-guy-ailments, I imagine just how much longer it would be if I had a three hundred pound man throwing me on the ground on a regular basis. I've got fourteen years on Mister Manning, that's the same difference between the ages of Brock and Peyton. I can't imagine playing quarterback for the Denver Broncos. I'm glad that Peyton did.