Emotional Peyton Manning Makes Retirement Official (VIDEO)

Peyton Manning made it official today (3/7). He's retiring from the NFL after 18 record-breaking seasons. Manning will ride off into the sunset on top, winning his second Super Bowl last month with the Denver Broncos (his first coming in 2007 with the Indianapolis Colts). Watch his retirement speech here...

As with any sports star, or celebrity of any ilk, we should not elevate Peyton Manning to God-like status. He was a really good quarterback. That's it. Until recently, I can't think of any smears on Peyton Manning's reputation. His reputation was squeaky clean. He was funny on SNL, he hocked pizza and insurance on TV commercials, and he had the "aww shucks" attitude. And, as I said, his record-breaking career finished up in storybook fashion with a victory in Super Bowl 50.

Then there was the recent claim of sexual assault dating back to his days at the University of Tennessee. There was also the claim that Manning used HGH, a performance-enhancing substance to help him get back to his elite status after injuries and Father Time started to take their toll. We don't know the truth. Yes, he was a really good quarterback who's retiring. If you need to argue that he's any more than that, you might take sports a little too seriously.

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