Cam Newton will dance Sunday. He will do his Superman gesture. He will almost certainly score in Sunday’s Super Bowl 50. Newton, the quarterback of the Panthers, will be flashy. He’ll be entertaining.
Peyton Manning won’t dance on Sunday, hopefully. He may not score. He definitely won’t be entertaining from a theatrical standpoint, but he’ll play Sunday. He may not be great on Sunday, but his career will be the epitome of it.
They represent two different eras. They represent two different types of quarterbacks. They represent how the quarterback position is meant to be played, although their two styles couldn’t be farther apart. They represent the new and the old in the NFL. Most importantly, they will both represent greatness.
Cam Newton has been great this year. He’s the unquestioned MVP. He’s dominated the league with wide receivers like Ted Ginn, Jr.
His best wide receiver, Kelvin Benjamin, hasn’t played a snap this season. He’s lost one football game this year, nine hours after his first son was born. He’s played amazingly. He’s been great.
Peyton Manning has not been great this year. In fact, he’s been quite underwhelming. He got benched earlier this year.
He has great wide receivers and a great defense— that’s why he’s in the Super Bowl. Cam Newton called him “The Sheriff.” His career, however, has been nothing but excellence. He’s won multiple MVPs. He’s taken two teams to the Super Bowl. Twice. He’s the picture of greatness in the NFL at the quarterback. He’s arguably the best to ever hold that position.
It’s not fair to say that Super Bowl 50 is the passing of the torch. There are plenty of great quarterbacks other than these two, such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. It’s not Cam Newton taking over as the new face of the NFL.
So, they’ll play Sunday. They’ll play for 60 minutes. Peyton will try to manage the game. Cam will try to go win it for his team. One will win. One will lose. That’s how sports works.
It’ll be fun though.
This, likely, is Peyton’s last game. It’s unlikely he’ll ever play in a Super Bowl again. Frankly, it may be the last time that he’ll ever play a football game. He’ll walk off the field as a Super Bowl champion on Sunday. Or he’ll walk off the field, maybe for the last time, as one of, if not the, greatest of all time.
