While Peyton Manning might want to avoid it, the talk of his future will be one of the focal points of this Super Bowl week on both sides.
But another guy who has dealt age and with his share of injuries over the years doesn’t look at Manning and think of a player who is at the end of his career.
“I don’t think he’s done,” injured Panthers cornerback Charles Tillman said. “I think that’s football. We had a lot of guys on our team get injured as well. At this point in time, no one plays at 100 percent. Everyone is beat to crap, but you push through it because it’s for this moment. It’s the Super Bowl.
“You think you have all these opportunities to make it there, but you may not ever make it back. [Panthers linebacker] Thomas Davis was a prime example when he broke his arm. He said, ‘No, I will be playing in the Super Bowl.’ This is his 11th season, and I think his first appearance in the Super Bowl, so when you have that moment, when you have that opportunity, you’ve got to go for it.”
Of course, Tillman won’t be out there to try to stop Manning, because of his own body breaking down.
He tried playing through a partially torn ACL, taking a few weeks off before it blew out in November. But as with Manning, the goal made him push through.
“I knew there was a chance of me tearing it, but again, you never know when you’re going to make it again,” Tillman said. “At that point in time, we had a great shot and did I know it could possibly tear? Yeah, but I’m all in. I’m in for my teammates. If it was going to tear, hey, so be it, but if it could help us get to this point right now, I’d do it 10 times out of 10 times.”
As much talent as is in this game, there are also plenty of people like Manning who are limping to the finish line, creating the opportunity for one last push to see what they can extract from a body that might be screaming “Stop.”
