:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/35762034/20140610_jla_ac4_004.jpg.0.jpg)
You love Peyton. I love Peyton. America loves Peyton Manning.
The Denver Broncos quarterback again ranked fourth in Harris Interactive's annual poll of America's favorite athletes, behind only LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Derek Jeter. And while it's hard to compete against basketball legends and biracial angels, Manning certainly belongs in the conversation of greatest athlete.
Broncos fans have definitely come to love Peyton - he's the first quarterback since John Elway to give us confidence in our signal caller. We have grown into a position of absolute faith in our quarterback.
A lot of that surrounds his work ethic - a unique trait that Jeff Legwold recently detailed.
How do you reboot the game of a legendary competitor coming off the most epic disappointment of his career?
This is how:
You dissect every piece of the 2013 season to see what worked, what didn't work and where the good and bad decisions were made. You prepare to win the last game of the 2014 season and watch Peyton Manning hoist the Lombardi trophy under a sea of orange and blue confetti.
"The first day back in the building, we watched the Super Bowl," said Broncos quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp. "I told him the day after the game we were going to watch it when he came back, not right then, but the first day he was back, and we were going to watch it without the emotion of what just happened. And that was step one."
Many of us joke about not having watched the Super Bowl since it happened. I still get the funny tweets about them all the time, and even though the joke has been told a hundred times, it's still funny. It's certainly more enjoyable than, y'know, actually having to watch the thing - something I've tried do a handful of times but only succeeded in doing once.
Not Manning. As embarrassing and disappointing as that game was, he has bitten the bullet. He's watched the tape.
Hopefully he's learned from it.
The Denver Post also notes that, only a year ago, Tim Tebow was still ranked in the poll at eighth. He fell out of the Top 10 in 2014.
More Broncos News
SI's Joan Niessen breaks down John Elway's successful role in Denver as Executive VP. Far from a publicity stunt, as many believed at the time, Elway has proven to be one of the NFL's top front office men across the league. I think John Elway would still be playing football if he could physically," Peyton Manning says.
As Scotty covered earlier, John Elway isn't looking to pay Julius Thomas Jimmy Graham-like money, according to Linsday Jones. NFL.com has a few more notes on the matter, now that Graham has actually signed his deal, with a slight implication at the end that Thomas may bet on himself in 2014 and force a Jimmy Graham-like deal a year from now. For now, NFL.com's Bucky Brooks ranks Julius as his fifth-best pass-catching tight end.
Charity news - Come say hi to Kaptain Kirk and the Denver Broncos Booster Club after the summer scrimmage on August 2nd in a few weeks for a charity Broncos bash... David Bruton Speaks at GENYOUth Summit, with Broncos Community Development in attendance... A round-up of good works from the Broncos.
Training camp previews hit pass-catchers by Andrew Mason and offensive line by Jeff Legwold. Legwold also touches on three storylines for Broncos camp.
Here's a Broncos cheerleaders calendar shoot Day 6 video.
Around the NFL
Stop now and read KSK's requiem on Kyle Orton's career. If everyone loves Peyton, you would think everyone hates Kyle Orton, but that really isn't the case. Okay, maybe it is.
49ers, Raiders to Share Stadium? - ESPN Video - ESPN
ESPN Video: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell floats the idea of the 49ers sharing their new stadium with the Raiders.
CBS will let individual announcers decide whether to say “Redskins” | ProFootballTalk
If CBS announcers don't want to say the arguably offensive name of the Washington NFL team, they don't have to. If they want to, they can. That's the word from CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus, who tells the Hollywood Reporter that although he hasn't told his on-air talent what to say regarding t...
Concerns About Thursday Night NFL Games - ESPN Video - ESPN
ESPN Video: Mark Brunell, Adam Caplan and Bill Polian talk about the concerns that players, coaches and people in the front offices have been voicing about the safety of Thursday night NFL games.
NFL draft advisory board will urge more players to stay in school | ProFootballTalk
After an all-time high of 98 underclassmen declared for this year's NFL draft, the NFL’s College Advisory Committee has changed some of its policies to encourage more players to stay in school.
Finally, via Broncos on reddit, here's a sweet picture of an F-16 flying over Sports Authority Field at Mile High (seen here in its former glory as Invesco Field).
