Do not ask Peyton Manning when he is going to retire. The Denver Broncos quarterback is considered one of, if not the best quarterback in the league right now and he has no plans on calling it a career any time soon. Jim Rome of CBSSports learned the hard way that Manning has not even thought about the idea of retirement yet and will not any time soon.
In an interview with the Jim Rome Show, Manning was asked if a potential Super Bowl win this season would factor into his decision regarding retirement. V.P. of football operations John Elway simply said the team would cross that bridge when they come to it. Manning on the other hand has no plans on walking off into the sunset at the end of the year no matter if the team wins or not.
"I don't think it's about enjoying the games, it's about do you enjoy practice? Do you enjoy meetings? I've heard guys that retire, they just say they dreaded going to meetings, they dreaded going to a walk-through. If it's just so miserable, then you probably should stop. But I still enjoy the preparation. I still enjoy the practice. I enjoy getting to work with other great football players. And as long as I can still be effective, I'm going to keep playing," Manning said.
The Broncos quarterback notes that after his neck injury in 2011, he was not sure if he would ever play the game of football again. He had no guarantees of returning. Now that he is given another chance at playing, he has no plans on stopping.
Manning admits that he is not as good of a quarterback as he was prior to getting hurt. He says that while he had made significant improvements, he will never be 100 percent back to where he was.
"I'm not sure that I can ever get to 100 percent of where I was before my injury. I've definitely made improvements since last season. Time's probably been my best medicine. I've put a lot of time in, rehab wise and physical therapy and I still continue to do that," Manning said.
Manning is well aware of the pressure placed on this season. Many NFL experts have the Broncos pegged as a team to beat for the Super Bowl. With a year of the Broncos system under his belt, the quarterback should look better than ever. He admits that it was tough to learn the new system at first, but now everything is starting to get put together. Broncos fans will be happy about that.
