February 7, 2016: Peyton Manning's Redemptive Farewell

February 7, 2016, 10 years ago: Super Bowl 50 -- I guess they didn't want to use the Roman numeral for this one, since "L" can also mean "Loss" -- is played at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in suburban Santa Clara, California. (It might have been appropriate if the 49ers had won Super Bowl XLIX, but they didn't make the Playoffs.)

The Denver Broncos, who had lost the Super Bowl 2 years earlier, play the Carolina Panthers. It's an old master vs. a new jack: Peyton Manning, a few days short of turning 40 years old, and the oldest quarterback ever to start the game to that point, vs. Cam Newton, 26.

Only one quarterback had ever won NFL Championships with 2 different teams: Norm Van Brocklin with the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles. And none had done it since the start of the Super Bowl in 1967.

Manning had led the Indianapolis Colts to win Super Bowl XLI, but lost Super Bowl XIV. Two years before this, he had led the Denver Broncos into Super Bowl XLVIII, but they, and he in particular, flopped, and they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

In contract, this was the 1st Super Bowl for Newton, although it was the 2nd for the Panthers, who lost Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots in 2004. Newton had reached the Super Bowl in his 5th NFL season. And he had already exceeding Manning in college football: In 2010, he had led Auburn University to the National Championship and won the Heisman Trophy; only in his senior year, 1997, did Manning even win a Southeastern Conference title, and he finished 2nd in the Heisman voting.

Ultimately, though, for quarterbacks, it is Super Bowls that matter. The Broncos got on the board first: Manning led them into field goal territory, and Brandon McManus kicked a 34-yarder. Later in the 1st quarter, with the ball on the Panthers' 15-yard line, Von Miller stripped the ball from Newton, and Malik Jackson recovered the ball in the end zone, giving the Broncos a 10–0 lead.

The Panthers recovered, and Newton led them down, and Jonathan Stewart ran the ball in from the 1, making it 10-7. But McManus kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 13-7 Denver at halftime. The only score in the 3rd quarter was another field goal by McManus, 30 yards. In the 4th quarter, Graham Gano kicked a 39-yard field goal, to close the Panthers to within 16-10 with 10:21 to go. But Manning led another touchdown drive, completed by a 2-yard run by C.J. Anderson and a 2-point conversion, with 3:08 to go. The Broncos won, 24-10, for their 3rd title.

Newton completed 18 of 41 passes for 265 yards, and also had 45 yards rushing. Manning completed 13 of 23 for 141 yards. Each threw an interception, and neither threw a touchdown pass. Manning was not especially impressive in victory, and Miller received the game's Most Valuable Player award.

With 2 fumbles, Newton was blamed by many for losing the game. This was unfair. His receivers didn't exactly cover themselves with glory. Head coach Ron Rivera was calling the plays, and was totally outcoached by the Broncos' Mike Shanahan. What's more, the Broncos, especially Manning, were much more experienced. This game was won by the Broncos more than it was lost by the Panthers, or any personnel thereof.

Nevertheless, there was some irony: A man named Newton undone because his body stayed too long at rest, and fell victim to an outside force, then to gravity.

Manning retired, with 2 Super Bowl wins to his credit, just like his brother, Eli. Granted, Eli had won his against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, while Peyton was known for losing to the Pats, especially in the Playoffs. But Peyton had won with 2 different teams, which had only been done before by Van Brocklin, and that was before the Super Bowl.

Newton was young, and looked like he would get another chance. He never got back to the Super Bowl, and threw his last NFL pass at age 32. He and Manning have both gone on to work for ESPN.

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Cam Newton for the Carolina Panthers Losing Super Bowl 50

Yes, Cam Newton fumbled the ball in the end zone, and it was recovered for a Denver Bronco touchdown. And, yes, later on, he fumbled, and froze, and didn't pick the ball up, and the Broncos did. And, yes, as a result of these 2 fumbles, especially the 2nd, the Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl 50.

But Newton isn't solely to blame. In the tradition of the ESPN series The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..., here are...

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Cam Newton for the Carolina Panthers Losing Super Bowl 50

First, a few reasons that didn't make the cut: The Best of the Rest.

No Other Panther Picked Up the Fumbles. Obviously. There were 10 other Panthers on the field at the time. If one of them had picked either of them up, who knows?

The Misread Fair Catch. The Panthers thought Jonathan Norwood had called for a fair catch of Brad Norman's punt, but he hadn't, and he ended up returning a mere 28-yard punt for 61 yards, the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.

It was only 10-7 Broncos at that point. Granted, the Broncos only got a field goal out of it, but, if the Panthers had fielded the return properly, and then held the Broncos, it would have been only 13-10 Broncos at the time Newton began the play that led to his 2nd fumble, and the Panthers would've needed only a field goal to tie the game and, most likely, send it to overtime. There would have been considerably less pressure on Newton, and he might've gotten the job done.

The Missed Field Goal. Graham Gano kicked a field goal to make it 16-10 Broncos early in the 4th quarter, but he also missed one early in the 2nd half. That would have made it 13-10 Broncos, meaning the one he actually made would've made it 16-13, and made it a field-goal-to-tie, touchdown-to-win game. And we go back to the point about pressure in the previous reason.

The Broncos Were Already Winning. This one only applies to the 2nd fumble. But if Newton had hung onto the ball, there's no guarantee he would have gotten the Panthers downfield for a touchdown to tie the game 17-17. Even if he had led the Panthers to a tying touchdown, there's no guarantee the Broncos wouldn't have prevented overtime with a last-minute winning score. After all, they only would've needed a field goal.

The Iron Bowl. Cam Newton quarterbacked Auburn University against the University of Alabama. This rivalry is known, for Alabama's steel industry, as the Iron Bowl. Win it, and you are a hero to your school and its alumni forever. Lose it, and your name may as well be Mud. In rivalries like that one, there's more pressure than there is from the Super Bowl, because it's not from the whole country, it's from your own people.

Duane Thomas, one of the stars of the Dallas Cowboys' win in Super Bowl VI, said, "If it's 'the ultimate game,' why are they playing it again next year?" Well, if you've ever played in Alabama-Auburn, or Ohio State-Michigan, or Texas-Texas A&M, or Florida-Florida State... you get the idea... then your idea of what constitutes an "ultimate game" is a bit skewed.

Due to reasons I won't get into here, Newton only played 1 season at Auburn, 2010. But he won the Heisman Trophy, and led them to the Southeastern Conference and then the National Championship. More importantly, from their perspective, was what Newton did in that season's Iron Bowl. Auburn trailed Alabama 24-0. Newton led them to win 28-27. I'm surprised there isn't a statue of him outside Jordan-Hare Stadium already.

What's winning a Super Bowl compared to being a football god in the State where, more than any other (including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas), football is a religion?

Now, for the Top 5 Reasons:

5. The Media. They all seemed to want to make the game about Peyton Manning. They also dragged the racial aspect into it: Peyton Manning, a white Southern quarterback (he grew up in New Orleans while his Mississippi father Archie was the Saints' quarterback) who charmed the media and everyone else, vs. Cam Newton, a black Southern quarterback (from Atlanta) who refused to play the media's game, was "guilty" of "self-promotion," and represented the States that sent Jesse Helms (North Carolina) and Strom Thurmond (South Carolina) to the U.S. Senate.

You can argue that Newton shouldn't have allowed this to get into his head, which is why I've only listed it at Number 5. But it was still there, and it was something he couldn't control.

4. The Panthers' Receivers. Newton threw 41 passes in Super Bowl 50, and only completed 18 of them. But you know what? The quarterback is only half the issue. The men he's throwing to have to catch them.

In the 1960s, Johnny Unitas wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Raymond Berry, John Mackey and Lenny Moore to throw to. Bart Starr had Max McGee and Bowd Dowler. Joe Namath had Don Maynard and George Sauer.

In the 1970s, Roger Staubach had Drew Pearson. Terry Bradshaw had Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. In the 1980s, Joe Montana had Dwight Clark, and later Jerry Rice and John Taylor. The 3 quarterbacks who took the Washington Redskins to 4 Super Bowls in a 10-season span had Art Monk, Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders, Don Warren and Clint Didier. Phil Simms had Phil McConkey and Mark Bavaro.

In the 1990s, Troy Aikman had Michael Irvin and Daryl Johnston. Brett Favre had Antonio Freeman and Robert Brooks. John Elway had Shannon Sharpe and Rod Smith. In the 2000s and 2010s, Peyton Manning, when he was with the Indianapolis Colts, had Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai. Eli Manning had Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, David Tyree, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. Tom Brady had... ways to cheat.

Who did Cam Newton have to throw to last night? Corey Brown, Ted Ginn and Greg Olsen each caught only 4 passes. Devin Funchess and Jerricho Cotchery, only 2 each. Fozzy Whittaker and Jonathan Stewart each caught only 1. Mike Tolbert, none. And once they caught those passes, how far did they get with them? Newton's 18 completions went for 265 yards, an average of 14.7 yards per catch.

I don't want to sound like Sonny Corleone yelling at Tom Hagen in The Godfather -- "Pop had Genco, what do I got?" -- but, in this case, the Panther receiving corps was no Tom Hagen, let alone Genco Abbandando.

3. Ron Rivera. He's the head coach. He called the Panthers' plays. He called the plays that weren't working for the Panthers all night long. He called the plays that led to Newton's fumbles. Doesn't he share the blame?

2. Experience. The Broncos not only had a lot more of it, but having been in the Super Bowl before meant that, whatever problems they had, reacting to the hype was not going to be one of them.

When a team gets embarrassed like the Broncos were in Super Bowl XLVIII, one of two things is going to happen: Either they get discouraged, and they don't make it back; or they remember the taste of how close they came, and they get more determined than ever to get back. Usually, the latter happens more when the team loses in the Playoffs before the Super Bowl, i.e. with the 1985 and '86 Giants, or the 1996 and '97 Broncos.

But there are examples of teams losing a Super Bowl and coming back to win it within 3 seasons: The 1969-70 Kansas City Chiefs (3), the 1970-71 Baltimore Colts (2), the 1971-72 Cowboys (1), the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins (1), the 1977-78 Cowboys (2). Granted, the last of those examples was nearly 40 years ago, but it had happened a few times. The Broncos just made it happen again.

1. The Broncos Were Better. True, the Panthers were 15-1 this season -- 17-1 counting the Playoffs. But over the last 4 seasons, going into Super Bowl 50, counting the Playoffs, the Broncos were 55-18. Over the same stretch, the Panthers were 44-24. Between their 12-4 2013 season and their 15-1 2015 was a 2014 season in which they went 7-8-1.

The Bronco defense, led by game MVP Von Miller, faced a team that was 17-1, and held them to 10 points over the 60 minutes. They had to, because their vaunted quarterback Manning only led their offense to score 16 before the fumble. In the 1st 49 Super Bowls, only 3 times had a team scored so few points (or fewer) and still won: The 1968-69 Jets (16), the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins (their 14 is a record low for a Super Bowl winner), and the 1974-75 Pittsburgh Steelers (16). It hadn't been done in 41 years. The 2007-08 Giants were the only team in that span to score as few as 17 and still win.

So the Orange Crush defense had to step up, and hold the Panthers off, or even get the ball back and give their offense a chance to put the game away. They had the experience and the poise to do it. And they did it. They were simply better.

VERDICT: Not Guilty. This game was won by the Broncos more than it was lost by the Panthers, or any personnel thereof.

Peyton, Cam, Beyoncé and Rudy

Peyton Manning! You just won the Super Bowl in what was probably the last game of your career! Now, what are you going to do?

Essentially, the question that has traditionally been answered in commercials, "I'm goin' to Disney World!" was asked by Tracy Wolfson of CBS, after Manning's Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50 last night.

Manning did not say he was going to Disney World. Here's what he did say:

You know, I'll take some time to reflect. I got a couple of priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids. I want to go hug my family. I'm going to drink a lot of Budweiser tonight, Tracy. I promise you that.

He started off on the right foot. Then, he promoted binge drinking.

And people want to get on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for how he reacted after the game? Idiots.

This was a few minutes after Dame Helen Mirren appeared in an ad for, yes, Budweiser -- I thought she had more taste than that -- and said:

If you drive drunk, you, simply put, are a shortsighted, utterly useless, oxygen-wasting human form of pollution, a Darwin Award-deserving selfish coward. If your brain was donated to science, science would return it. So, stop it... Don't be a pillock.

She could have used a stronger word, also common in British street speech or pub talk, but it would never have gotten onto American television.

Peyton Manning, for promoting heavy drinking and unfair labor practices (through shilling for Papa John's pizza) before a tremendous worldwide TV audience...

You, sir, are a pillock.

And, if the rumor is true, and you also used human-growth hormone or some other performance-enhancing drug throughout your career, joining with your nemesis Tom Brady -- who, along with his team, has been caught in multiple cheats -- to do what performance-enhancing drugs did to baseball, which is cast doubt on the legitimacy of an entire era...

You, sir, are a... word that Dame Helen probably wanted to use.

See You Next Tuesday.

*

I'm just glad the game's Most Valuable Player award was given to Bronco linebacker Von Miller. I've often criticized the expression "Defense wins games"/"Defense wins championships." Defense never won a damn thing without offense failing. You can't win unless you score. You can't score unless you have the ball. If you have the ball, even if you're a traditional defensive player who's intercepted a pass or picked up a fumble, by definition, you are now on offense.

The Broncos' defense was the 2nd-biggest factor in the game. The biggest factor was the Panthers' inability to adjust to it.

That said, Miller was the player on the winning side who had the biggest impact, and was thus deserving of the MVP.

I was sure they were going to give it to Manning, what with him being beloved by the media, and what with it (probably) being his last game.

Because when the media loves a quarterback, they... how can I put this politely... never shy away from showing you that love. We've seen it before. Johnny Unitas. Joe Namath. Roger Staubach. Joe Montana. John Elway. Brett Favre. Now, Brady and Manning. (Not so much Eli Manning, though -- because he beat Brady in 2 Super Bowls, thus ruining the media's narrative.)

Yes, Elway retired as a back-to-back Super Bowl winner, and as the reigning Super Bowl MVP. But he wouldn't have won a Super Bowl without Terrell Davis in the backfield -- Sammy Winder was good, but, back then, Elway didn't have someone who was TD good, and that's a big reason why he went 0-3 before going 2-0 in the biggest game -- and Peyton wouldn't have won this Super Bowl without Von Miller and his defensive compadres shutting down the Panther offense.

Just in case Peyton was thinking it was all about him. Maybe he wasn't. But, going in, the media sure was.

*

As for Cam Newton: I could criticize him for his postgame reaction. Instead, I'll say that Newton is lucky on 2 counts: He didn't screw up that big for a New York team (or Boston, or Chicago, or Los Angeles), or for his alma mater, Auburn University, against their arch-rivals, the University of Alabama.

However, I can and do criticize Newton for not picking up that fumble that turned a decent shot at a winning touchdown drive into a final score that did not, at all, indicate how close the game was until that point.

Some people are telling him, "Act like you've been there before." Well, he hadn't been there before.

And he may never get back. That's the hard part: In the biggest game of his career, he froze. I'm reminded of Chuck Knoblauch in the 1998 Playoffs, although Knobby is white, was playing a much less important position, and was not in a Game 7, as Newton's game amounted to. On the other hand, Knobby also isn't nearly as smart as Newton.

If this had happened to Newton in a regular-season game, we'd talk about it until the next game. Instead, we talk about it forever, because it was in the Super Bowl. Ask Jackie Smith. Ask Scott Norwood. Ask Kevin Dyson -- and he didn't even do anything wrong; quite the contrary, he did his damnedest, and came up a few inches short.

But look at this list: Daryle Lamonica, Joe Kapp, Vince Ferragamo, Ron Jaworski, Ken Anderson, David Woodley, Dan Marino, Tony Eason, Boomer Esiason, Stan Humphries, Neil O'Donnell, Drew Bledsoe, Chris Chandler, Steve McNair, Kerry Collins, Rich Gannon, Jake Delhomme, Donovan McNabb, Matt Hasselbeck. Most likely, Rex Grossman will end up being added to this list. Possibly, so will Colin Kaepernick.

Each of those quarterbacks went to one Super Bowl, lost it, and never got back in.

There's a lot of talent there. Marino is in the Hall of Fame. McNabb becomes eligible next year, and will probably get in, if not on the 1st try. Lamonica, Jaworski, Anderson, Esiason and Bledsoe are all worthy of Hall consideration. At the very least, Newton should end up with a career as good as those last 5.

But this could have been his only chance, and he blew it.

The truly sad part is, the game wasn't even interesting until that play. And then, it got interesting in a bad way.

*

About the halftime show: Thanks to Newton, no one is going to remember that Coldplay never should have been selected. Not that they were offensive. They were just... weak.

But Beyoncé Knowles upstaged the whole thing. As she usually does. She gave a Black Power salute, a la Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics. The dancers behind her wore black berets, like the Black Panthers, founded just up the road in Oakland 50 years ago.

And Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, saw it as an attack on his favorite people (whom he refused to ever give a raise), the police. Here's what he told Fox News this morning:

This is football, not Hollywood, and I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers, who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive.

And what we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that, when something does go wrong, okay, we'll work on that. But the vast majority of police officers risk their lives to keep us safe.

Well, gee, Rudy, maybe African-Americans would have more respect for police officers if they didn't see some of them -- not 1 every 10 years, but several times in the last few, from Staten Island to Baltimore to Cleveland to Ferguson, Missouri and so on -- get away with murder. Who didn't "keep us alive." (I'm using "us" in this case even though I'm white.)

And that doesn't even include Trayvon Martin's murderer, a cop wannabe that the cops didn't think was mentally stable enough to join them.

You want black people to build up respect for police officers? Start by demanding that police officers respect them. The motto is, "To serve and protect." "Serve" comes before protect, Rudy, you fascist... pillock!

Rudy needs to shut the bloody hell up. His great achievement as Mayor, reducing crime, would never have happened without the crime bill pushed and signed by President Bill Clinton. (A liberal Democrat and Hillary's husband, in case you've forgotten.) And even at his moments of triumph, we all knew, even if we didn't want to say it out loud, that Rudy was a racist.

As the late Sidney Zion, a columnist for the New York Daily News and a strong supporter of Rudy's, put it, "The problem with Rudy Giuliani is that he's not a peacetime don." In other words, he can never accept victory, because he's always looking for a new war to fight.

And rather than accept the truth, which is that Beyoncé and the people who agree with her have a point, he attacks.

But you're not going to win a popularity contest with either of the 2 most popular women in the country. He's already lost one popularity contest to Hillary, when he refused to run against her for the U.S. Senate in 2006.

And now he's launching one against Beyoncé? Fool.

As the lady herself might have said, If you didn't like it, then you shoulda put a sock in it.