Peyton Manning Starts for Denver Tonight so Let’s Look Back at How He Got There

Tonight has the potential to be the most watched preseason game in a long time, as Peyton Manning makes his debut as the starting QB for the Denver Broncos. After sitting out last season because of multiple neck surgeries, fans and pretty much everyone in football, are anxious to see how he looks, how he throws and what's going to happen if he gets hit. Manning is only expected to play 10-12 plays tonight, so that could be one possession, or three tops.

Peyton's hardly the first legendary signal caller to switch teams late in his career, but there are a few factors that make his transition different than someone like Joe Montana when he went to the Chiefs. Like I said, the main factor is that he was out all of last year after multiple neck surgeries. That alone makes it a bit scary to think about what could happen. A blind side hit that snaps his head back could possibly destroy the guy, but multiple reports claim that Manning's neck is stronger than ever. Then again, what else would they say? 

The Broncos are betting that Manning will be fine, hence the $96 million over five years they signed him to in March. It's doubtful that he'll play the entire five years, but then again Manning has always been kind of a freak, so maybe he will.

Manning showed what he could do during his four years at the University of Tennessee, where he shattered school and SEC passing records. Manning threw for more than 11,000 yards and had 89 TD tosses. He led the vols to 39 wins in his career, a record that was broken in 2004 by Georgia's David Greene, who ended up with 42 wins.

The Colts wisely made Peyton the first pick of the 1998 draft over Ryan Leaf. Looking back all these years later, it's still funny to think that there was even a debate, though Leaf had a great college career at Washington State.

Manning started right away for Indy, and took his lumps. The team went 3-13, but Manning wasn't completely to blame. The defense was awful, and the team blew five games where they had big leads. Manning threw for 3,739 yards and 26 touchdowns, though he did have a league high 27 interceptions.

In his second year, the Colts were 13-3 and Manning made the once laughingstock of a team into a Super Bowl contender year in and year out (other than a 6-10 year in 2001), finally breaking through and winning the Lombardi Trophy in the 2006 season. Manning was the MVP after leading the Colts over the Bears in a rainy Super Bowl XLI.

Manning's career numbers (all with Indy) are staggering. Peyton led the Colts to a 141-67 record while there. He threw for 54,828 yards and 399 TDs, including a then single season record of 49 in 2004. Peyton connected on 64.9% of his passes and threw only 198 picks.

History shows that Manning probably won't win another Super Bowl in his time in Denver, but if he stays healthy, it's going to fun watching him try. It's sill going to take a while to get used to him in Broncos colors though.