Manning is great; his Super Bowl legacy isn't

SAN FRANCISCO — Kids will continue to grow up wanting to become No. 18. Babies will still be named for him. And he will remain one of the greatest players you’ve ever seen, no matter how old you are.

Peyton Manning’s place among NFL greats is unquestionably safe. His 71,940 passing yards and 539 touchdown passes ought to be enough to secure it. Try making a barroom argument against that.

But there is room for debate when the subject turns to Manning’s legacy. For some, there is no issue. For others, it’s in dispute. Wherever you stand, this reality remains: Manning has but one Super Bowl victory, fewer than his little brother, Eli. Tom Brady has four. Ben Roethlisberger has two. Russell Wilson could win numerous titles. Maybe Andrew Luck will, too.

The point isn’t that each of those quarterbacks — with the obvious exception of Brady — belong in the same conversation as Manning. Clearly, they don’t.

But if you think the result of Sunday’s Super Bowl is irrelevant to Manning’s legacy, well, try telling that to Kurt Warner.

“I think in perception (it does),” the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP said. “I can’t tell you how many people have told me, ‘If you win one of those other Super Bowls, you’re a lock Hall of Famer.’ I look back, and I tell myself and say, ‘Well, every time I left the field, my team was tied or ahead in the Super Bowl.’ I mean, if I don’t do anything different — literally nothing — and my defense gets an interception and we win, now I’m a lock Hall of Famer?”

Warner’s 1-2 Super Bowl record has been something of a ball and chain for him, just as a loss for Manning on Sunday would shackle him with a 1-3 mark in the sport’s biggest game. Only Fran Tarkenton (3), John Elway (3) and Jim Kelly (4) have more than two Super Bowl losses as a starter.

That’s not a club Manning wants to join, even though each of those quarterbacks has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — pretty good company to keep. But, when it comes to Manning, making the Hall of Fame barely scratches the surface. That’s a forgone conclusion.

No one is debating whether Manning is great. However, we can debate whether he is the greatest. And that’s where his Super Bowl record factors most.

“The other factor with Peyton is that we want to talk about him as one of, if not the best, quarterback to ever play the game,” Warner said. “When you get to that level, everything counts. Every nuance. Super Bowls, when you’re going up against a guy (Joe Montana) who is 4-0 in Super Bowls and a guy who’s played in six (Brady), yeah, it counts. These moments count, because it’s how we separate one over another. You have to look at everything.”

Hall-of-Fame cornerback Deion Sanders added, in demonstrative fashion: “You’re darn right it matters. The quarterback, along with the coach, is the only one who has a record. It has a tremendous impact. Brady is Brady. Everything flows from there. You can’t compare that. What Peyton is playing for now is his legacy, for his rightful place. I can’t put him beside Brady.”

But there are ways to measure Manning’s greatness beyond his Super Bowl results.

“The quarterback has a lot of control over the game, so Peyton is going to take a lot of blame (if the Broncos lose),” Hall-of-Fame receiver Cris Carter said. “But as far as him being an innovator and changing the game, that stands on its own merit. He has changed the way quarterbacks play the game, the way coaches call the game, the way games are (officiated). Everything. There’s no quarterback who’s had that much impact on the game.

“But 2-2 is a lot better than 1-3, especially when it’s your last game.”

Bill Polian is uniquely qualified to participate in this conversation.  Polian had a front-row seat for Manning’s greatest years when he was general manager and team president of the Indianapolis Colts . He was asked whether it’s fair to consider Manning’s Super Bowl record when discussing his place in history. His eyes grew bigger, and his voice raised a few levels.

When he hears the notion, Polian said, “I get mad. The Super Bowl is one game. To get here, regardless of what happens in the game, is an incredible accomplishment. While the winner is to be lauded, the loser is not to be denigrated. And that’s unfortunately the system that has evolved. George Young once called it the victor and the vanquished. But to judge a quarterback solely by how he performs in the Super Bowl, in the game itself, is as fallacious as it gets.

“To base a person’s legacy on how he performs in the Super Bowl, after having gotten there, in (Manning’s) case, four times, I think is foolish.”

But there are only so many measuring sticks. And the Super Bowl is undoubtedly one of them. And it’s a gigantic one.

“This game delineates between certain thresholds, and it always will (when debating) the greatest quarterback of all time,” Warner said. “Peyton is in that conversation.”

For Manning, Sunday’s game is massive. It will change that conversation — for better or worse.

Follow IndyStar reporter Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.