I think there's something to be said for this. Here is a recent piece on Manning's future:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/...risco/24955597
A couple of things stood out in the piece:
"In the past, Manning would have simply said he was coming back, which is why in my heart I think this could be the end of the Manning era. If it is, it's a bad way to go out.
If it is, we should all be sad.
If it is, too many knuckleheads will sadly rejoice."
"For years, the Manning bashers have been waiting for this day. Through all of his playoff frustrations -- with all the morons who called him nothing more than "Stat Boy" -- they've waited to dig the hole on his career, readying to throw in the body.
For the life of me, I never figured out why. Unlike the greats of a sport who are appreciated, he is one player who always seemed to take the worst of it. Even when he battled back from what appeared to be a career-ending neck injury, something any other player gets lauded for doing, he continued to take verbal and written shots far worse than those he took on the filed."
"Some inside the organization wonder. I talked to some Broncos players who said Manning was throwing more picks in practice in the past six weeks than at any other time. Before the game, some Colts veterans expressed to Broncos players that Manning's arm looked spent.
"You could tell something wasn't right," one Broncos player said of practice the past month. "He just didn't look like 18 out there."