The Biggest Football Day of the Year

Peyton Manning, left, and Tom Brady

By Nicholas Stix

This is it. I’ll watch the Super Bowl, but it’s too often anti-climactic, while the conference championships are most exciting, because they often pit great long-time rivals, each of whom could win the big game, often from within the same division. And today pits two contenders for the title of Greatest Quarterback in NFL History, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, possibly for the last time. Brady is still trying to tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the most Super Bowl rings by a QB, and to eventually break the record, which he would have done already, had his Patriots never run into the Giants in the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning, unlike his less statistically golden kid brother Eli (who has two Super Bowl rings with the Giants, from beating you-know-who), has a history of choking in this game, has only one ring, and seeks to redeem himself. Manning is the greatest regular season quarterback of all time, but Brady is the greatest postseason QB of their generation.

I remember when each was a young dynamo, but today, neither man has much time left. With my Jersey Jets at home this time of the year, I don’t have a dog in this fight, so may the best man win!