The Pursuit of Perfection Made Peyton Manning an NFL Success
Throughout Peyton Manning‘s 18-year career in the NFL, he experienced a tremendous amount of success along the way. Manning put together an impressive tenure that saw him establish himself as one of the greatest players and quarterbacks to play the game. Beyond his performance on the field, he had the intangibles with his work ethic, leadership, and personal drive. It may have been the latter of three that pushed him to greater heights in his career that will one day make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer in Canton, Ohio. That was an innate quality that Manning described in full detail during his playing days.
Peyton Manning’s NFL career
In his nearly two decades in the NFL, Manning put together one of the most illustrious careers in league history.
That saw him win five MVP awards, two Super Bowls, a Super Bowl MVP, earning 14 Pro Bowl selections, seven First-Team All-Pro nods, two NFL Offensive Player of the Year awards, and NFL Comeback Player of the Year among other accolades. He also set the league record for touchdown passes in a single season (55), 14 campaigns with at least 4,000 passing yards, and the single-season passing yard mark (5,477).
Beyond that, Manning also became the all-time leader with 71,940 passing yards and 539 career passing touchdowns before he stepped away from the game. During his tenure with the Indianapolis Colts, he led the franchise to eight AFC South division titles, two AFC championship games, and a win in Super Bowl XLI. His final four years he spent it with the Denver Broncos, where guided them to an AFC West division title in each campaign behind double-digit regular-season wins and two trips to the Super Bowl with his final year winning Super Bowl 50.
Manning accomplished it all during his career that has engrained him as being one of the greatest to play the game.
Peyton Manning’s motivational drive for perfection
Beyond just the accolades and records, all of that came from Manning’s unwavering passion for the game and desire for greatness.
It all withered down to strive for perfection on every single play and game. That is something that Manning described in detail during his playing days as it pushed him even harder to find success.
“When I’m out there playing football I just want everything to be just perfect and when you win it’s the greatest feeling in the world. There’s nothing like it, but when you lose it’s the pits. I never liked the guys that said ‘Well, we wil get them next year.’ It’s supposed to bother you, so you need to be intense and passionate about it.”
It’s that type of mentality that often pushes great players to the next level with their craft to become Hall of Famer caliber talents. Manning had the work ethic and personal drive to guide him toward tremendous success over his 18 years in the league.
He experienced his shortcomings along the way, but that determined drive for perfection is one that elevated his performance even greater heights.
Peyton Manning’s legacy
There will be the critics that point to his playoff shortcomings with many of those coming with struggles being one and done with nine exits coming with just one postseason game.
Manning may have had his issues in the playoffs, but he worked past those that saw him put forth a highly productive career that saw him earn numerous MVP awards and two Super Bowls wins. He was a game-changing talent that was the driving force that led his teams to tremendous success, and that will make him a Hall of Famer.
Regardless of those detractors and comparisons to Tom Brady, Manning cemented himself among the best to do it in NFL history, and a significant part of that was his drive for perfection.
