After legendary quarterback John Elway retired following the 1998 season, the Denver Broncos remained competitive for a little while, but by the late-2000s, they had fallen on hard times.
Prior to the 2012 season, an immense opportunity presented itself when the Indianapolis Colts released Peyton Manning after he had missed the entire previous season and the team had drafted Andrew Luck.
The Broncos pounced and acquired Manning, and just like that, happy days had returned for them.
Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was a rookie on the Broncos in 2011, and he said Manning’s arrival changed the culture, especially since he demanded greatness out of his new teammates, per “All Facts No Brakes.”
.@ChrisHarrisJr on Peyton Manning changing the culture in Denver & making him a better DB 👀
“If I can trick Payton, I sure as hell can trick Philip Rivers.” pic.twitter.com/MT5PPwJwLI
— All Facts No Brakes (@AllFactsPod) June 12, 2024
By 2012, Manning had already established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, and he had led the
Colts to a Super Bowl championship during the 2006 season.
He had fully recovered from the neck surgery that had knocked him out the previous year, and even at age 36, he was still a force to be reckoned with.
With men such as Harris, star cornerback Champ Bailey, linebacker Von Miller, and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, Denver had a team that was ready to win, and they got to the Super Bowl in Manning’s second season with them.
Although they got routed there by the Seattle Seahawks, the immediate future was still bright.
Manning finally delivered the goods with a Super Bowl 50 win over the Carolina Panthers, and it was a storybook ending to his career.
Ever since, the Broncos have again been in the situation of needing a great quarterback to come in and change their culture, and unfortunately for them, Russell Wilson wasn’t able to do so the last two seasons.
