Still Smiling, Still Perfect

Heading into the season, apparently the Indianapolis Colts were in for a weaker season. They had lost head coach Tony Dungy and wide receiver Marvin Harrison. Peyton Manning was getting older, and the defense was continuing to decline. They were finished right? The Colts were to compete, but fail to win the division due to the much-improved Houston Texans.

Funny how that sounds today, isn't it? I didn't say any of that. On the contrary, I felt that the Colts were still a great team. I'm only summarizing what I learned from Sport's Illustrated's NFL Preview. Shouldn't be a huge surprise. They also failed to see what I saw when Jay Cutler went to the Bears: As I predicted, Cutler didn't shape Chicago. Chicago shaped Cutler. But I digress.

The Colts won again on Sunday. And I'm sure Peyton flashed that old, lovable smile of his sometime after winning. The Manning smile. The one we see him flash all the time. Whether it's after the game, or in one of his funny little commercials.

It is virtually impossible to not love Peyton Manning. He is America's quarterback. Unlike many other stars, he never did anything wrong. Everything that Manning has done has been good. So we smile too. We smile when we watch him playing. We smile, sometimes laugh hysterically, when we see him performing some kind of comedic act. We smile when he throws a touchdown, unless it's against our favorite team of course. Even then, we're tempted.

Why do we love this guy? Is it the casualness of the smile, the small little grin that it is? Maybe it's the droll in his voice that makes him irresistably funny. Perhaps it's that we see in him what we don't see in virtually all of the other stars: A guy that doesn't get into trouble, doesn't lose his cool, doesn't have ridiculous celebrations following his success, and isn't afraid to poke a little fun at himself, rather than bashing someone else.

Manning deserves respect. What he has done is truly amazing. At 33, he is in what may just be his best season yet. He has a league-leading 3,685 passing yards and a 101.9 passer rating.

But even more impressive is what Peyton has done with the cards he was dealt. This isn't New Orleans, where Drew Brees can enjoy the luxury of a great offensive line and several talented wide receivers and running backs. Instead, Peyton has been forced to play with a new coach and mostly new receivers. Yes, Brees is a good quarterback. But the difference here is that New Orleans shaped Drew Brees. Peyton Manning shaped Indianapolis.

He has made names out of unknown people. Fun names, too (for some reason I can't stop saying "Pierre Garcon"). He has done so much for the team. Who would've thought that they would be 12-0 at this point, with the only other undefeated team being the New Orleans Saints, who, due mainly to luck, narrowly escaped the clutches of the oh-so-talented 3-9 Washington Redskins? Not me. As I said earlier, I thought that they would be good. But even I did not see this coming.

What makes Manning great is, well several things. But his greatest attribute is his head. The greatest quarterback ever would be one with Tom Brady's heart and Peyton Manning's head. It's amazing how great Manning is at managing the game, how he always seems to be calm and in control. I always laugh when I hear people questioning how the Colts are doing so good with a "new coach". My response is always the same. The Colts don't have a new coach. It's the same coach they've had for 12 years.

Peyton Manning.

Peyton has once again worked his way into the MVP talk, and I hope he wins it. He deserves it. I'm not sure if Peyton really cares, though. He already has 3 of them, the most of all time.

Whether he wins it or not, one thing is for sure. Peyton Manning will continue to smile, and so we will, too.