Peyton Manning Unfazed by Questions About Legacy

With a win today he'll be the only QB to have won the Super Bowl with two different franchises.

At LAT, "Peyton Manning and the legacy question":

At 37 and two years removed from four neck surgeries, Peyton Manning had a record-breaking regular season, throwing for more yards, 5,477, and more touchdowns, 55, than any quarterback in league history. He also set a record for distributing the ball, with five players around him scoring 10 touchdowns or more en route to being named the league's most valuable player for a fifth time.

Among the more popular debates during Super Bowl week was how Manning's legacy would be affected by Sunday's game, a conversation that rankles Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

"I don't think this game, one way or the other affects his legacy the way that he has played," said Elway, the Broncos' executive vice president of football operations. "So he's going to be one of the all-time greats no matter what.… The bottom line, this year that he's had — legacies don't get great until you're done. That's when people start talking."

Reasonable and informed minds can be on both sides of the argument, and two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Jimmy Johnson has a different opinion than Elway.

While conceding that Manning is "already one of the best to ever play," Johnson, a Fox analyst, said: "Obviously, winning more rings gives him more credibility. In professional football, and even college football, putting up numbers just doesn't do it. You've got to have the championships. Because a guy can go and throw for a tremendous amount of yardage, but because they're not running the football, or they don't have balance, or they're throwing interceptions, they lose games. So the real credibility comes from winning a ring."

Manning shrugs off the legacy question, noting he isn't even quite sure what legacy means.

More at the link.