Manning should have always been a Colt the way John Elway was always a Bronco, Dan Marino was always a Dolphin, Troy Aikman was always a Cowboy, and so on and so forth.
Instead, Manning will take the same career path as Joe Montana, as each played 14 seasons with their original team before moving elsewhere. In fact, Montana and Johnny Unitas (17 seasons with the Colts, one season with the Chargers) are the only quarterbacks of the Super Bowl era to spend that much time with one team before changing addresses — that is, until a few years from now when Manning joins them in Canton.
Montana's legacy, much like Michael Jordan's in Chicago, will always be defined by his world championships in San Francisco. That two-year run with the Chiefs was successful, but looking back, it's no secret that players are always more revered when they stay in one uniform for the duration of their career.
Manning's story is slightly different than Montana's. After signing a five-year contract worth $90 million in 2011, Manning missed the entirety of his first season under his new deal. The Colts tanked, got themselves into position to draft a franchise-caliber quarterback in Andrew Luck and decided it would have been financially irresponsible to pay Manning a $28 million roster bonus this week.
There's little harm in that, and in reality, it makes the release easier to comprehend. At this point, it's too late to debate whether or not Manning should have restructured his contract — a sign of good faith would have been nice on his part, considering he didn't earn a dollar of his salary in 2011 — but there's no guarantee it would have made sense for the Colts to carry both Manning and Luck, especially with the uncertainty of Manning's health.
Since Manning sealed his fate and, ultimately, his release, it's now on him to show he can be nearly as successful elsewhere as he was in Indianapolis. Plus, Manning has a chance to become the first quarterback in history to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.
Unitas and Joe Namath (12 seasons with the Jets, one with the Rams) were a pair of quarterbacks who appeared to hang on too long for one more opportunity. Brett Favre deserves that distinction, too, though his career began in Atlanta before he spent 16 seasons with the Packers, one with the Jets and two with the Vikings.
But again, Manning's situation is more similar to Montana's case. Montana lost his starting job to Steve Young after suffering an elbow injury that derailed his career in 1991 and 1992, and the Niners' elder statesman was traded to Kansas City, where he won 17 regular-season games and led the Chiefs to a pair of playoff appearances before retiring after two seasons.
Manning's situation might be more uncertain due to the complexity of his neck surgery, but if he can fully recover, there's a strong belief that the soon-to-be 36-year-old will continue to succeed. After all, he'd led some lousy Colts teams to the playoffs, and Manning should be smart enough to link up with a team that will surround him with some complementary pieces.
It won't be easy for Manning to start anew at this stage of his career, as other greats have already proven. However, if he's healthy enough, Manning has the necessary talent to be remembered for more than the player who donned a Colts uniform for 14 years. That in itself would be a worthy accomplishment.
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