- May 5, 2024
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Over the last two years, I have watched one NFL game. Ironic? Yes, seeing I’m a sports editor, but it is intentional. That single game was last year’s Super Bowl, which I only watched, because I wanted to hear my friend, former NFL player Ike Harris, share his testimony at halftime, at my church. This year, my church will be hosting another party, which I have to attend, but I’m actually looking forward to this matchup.
Yeah, Yeah, I know that two 53-man rosters just punched their tickets to Super Bowl 50, but let’s not kid ourselves. This game and the two-week long story lines will center around two people, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning and Carolina’s Cam Newton; they may be the only players you know.
This matchup puts the old school against the new school, the Sheriff against Superman, the guy who owns a lot of quarterback records against the guy who’s breaking them, the guy who couldn’t win an NCAA championship in four tries against the guy who won in his only attempt.
But make no mistakes, when it comes to Newton and Manning, nothing is more contrary than their personalities, on and off the field.
Manning, a pocket passer, gets the overwhelming majority of his yards in the air. Over his 17-year career, he has thrown for nearly 72,000 yards while rushing for less than 700 and 18 touchdowns. In Newton’s rookie year, alone, he rushed for over 700 yards and scored 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Then, there are the celebrations. Manning usually pumps his fist, after a touchdown pass, but that’s as far as he goes. Newton, on the other hand, celebrates! In addition to other maneuvers, he will either “dab,” a new dance move, or perform his famous superman routine, where he symbolically rips open his jersey to show the “S" on his chest.
And, in the media room, I’m not sure if Peyton Manning has ever said anything interesting about himself that has caused any controversy. We could all answer his questions for him; he offers the same boring, political rhetoric interview after interview. Though Newton has gotten better over the years, some of his early interviews have led to frequent sports talk discussions.
So, no matter who you’re rooting for, or against, we can all thank the football gods for handing us two of the most opposing but popular quarterbacks of the last 15 years to duke it out in the nation’s biggest game.
