NFL: PEYTON  MANNING CHOOSES THE BRONCOS

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NFL:      DURING the recent NFL season, Tim Tebow was the nation’s most popular football player, in Denver an icon-in-waiting from quarterbacking enough wins moving the Broncos into the 2011 playoffs. Now, in Denver anyway, Tebow is being upstaged by another quarterback, Peyton Manning, famous nationally for more than a decade, who chose to be a Broncos QB after being courted by several franchises.

Questions abound, e.g., why did Manning select Denver? And, what will be for the younger, and popular, Tim Tebow?

Looking at why Manning chose the Broncos, we can assume that most, if not all of his football wants and important personal needs were met by the Denver franchise, and that other teams may have offered him more in particular categories such as money or location, but they couldn’t deliver for enough of a top quarterback’s areas of concern.

More than likely, Manning’s selection-criteria included being with a team that he could help transform into a multi-year Super Bowl contender, and there’s no reason to believe that the Broncos are not potentially that organization. Specifically, Manning being older would prefer the truly supportive offense, i.e., working with receivers the likes of Broncos Eric Decker and DeMaryius Thomas, and he’d certainly covet the pass protection that he’d receive from Broncos sack-maestro, Elvis Dumervil.

Of course, the talk about Manning’s neck surgery, and that he’s to be 36 years old, will be print, radio, TV, barfly and water cooler buzz into the next NFL season, while there’s no way of knowing what the impact of the neck surgery and aging will mean for Denver’s new quarterback until evidence can be seen from stadium seats and from the couch. Meanwhile, Broncos VP for Operations + football legend, John Elway, and Broncos Head Coach, John Fox, have bet that neither issue will undo that which Manning can contribute to an NFL franchise.

Fact, and as cited here in a previous column, a Peyton Manning limited by surgery and age is still a star quarterback, a serious challenge to QB’s Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and brother Eli. In other words, the best passer in the NFL taken down some from a neck operation and from being older will remain one of the NFL’s best athletes during the 2012 season and after.

Tebow, where goest thou?  Franchise owners, general managers and head coaches reviewing film of Tebow scoring those last-minute touchdowns that lifted the Broncos from being losers to winners in 2011 will certainly be impressed, and so will owners looking at receipts from last year’s Tebow T-shirts, jerseys and jackets sold. But if these officials look at the rest of the film, at Tebow’s flubs and his just-above-the-margin passing game, they will think twice before deciding to bid for him.

If a decision about the future is up to Tebow, he’ll surely wonder where he could be a “starter” with the support needed for his run-the-ball skills, and still be able to develop deeper and more accurate throws, however to receivers who can adjust quickly and effectively as he transforms into being one of the league’s better passers.

Also, Tebow would be advised to consider reserve QB-ing for the Broncos, a drop in status and popularity but means by which to learn from two masters, Elway and Manning.    

From Jay Cutler to Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn, then on to Tebow and now Manning, in Denver there’s been a long drama titled, “the QB,” a city where fans and a lot of Broncos team-members are hoping that with Manning aboard no-one will be saying next December, “new guy, but the story has stayed the same, that happy ending still out of reach.”

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