Before us this past week has been a microcosm of how quickly we can annoint and disjoint public figures, particularly those considered at the top of their field, organization, government, etc.
Peyton Manning was all set to be annointed as the greatest quarterback of all time last Sunday. All he needed was a decent performance and a Colts victory. Peyton, as it turned out, had more than a decent performance, passing for 333 yards despite one or two crucial drops, one touchdown pass with another one dropped, and one lowly interception.
It seems that Peyton Manning is now a "choker" or "all stats and no substance." Our experts can't fathom him being in the discussion for "best all time." One commentator said on the radio, "he is more Dan Marino than Joe Montana."
Perhaps this is a function of our 24 hour news cycle, even for sports. However, don't we have to question this leap to judgement?
Peyton Manning was, once again, the league's most valuable player. He nearly took a team that would likely not have made the playoffs without him to an undefeated Super Bowl win. His head coach, if not for pulling the starters the last two games of the regular season, would have been considered an afterthought. After all, the Colts are Peyton's team.
That being said, the outcomes in football, like politics and others, are not determined by one player even if he is at the top. Peyton Manning was on the field less than half of the plays in this year's Super Bowl. At one point, he was off the field for more than an hour of real time.
So, we can blame Peyton for the loss even though the Saints had better talent. We can blame George W. Bush even though the final years of his presidency were accompanied by a Democratic congress. We can blame the banks even though the government pressured them to offer loans to low income borrowers. We can blame the oil companies even though they don't control the price of oil...
The point is that the easiest to blame or the most interesting to blame is not always the one to blame. Sometimes there is no blame at all-
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Couldn't you blame Reggie Wayne for not finishing that route?
ReplyDeleteJoe Montana in his prime couldn't have taken this year's Colts past the first round of the playoffs.
Yes, I'm not sure what Reggie Wayne was doing, but he did not play like a veteran all-pro receiver. I believe the ESPN was re-playing "The U" during the game, so he may have been focused on that.
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