Ring was nice, but it didn't validate Manning's career

Charles Barkley called it the S**t List. Call it what you want. You know, the list of professional sports greats never to win a championship. Barkley knows about it. So do Dan Marino and Alex Rodriguez. But Peyton Manning no longer has to worry. He’s off of it following the Colts’ 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
Some out there may believe this is the game that finally elevates Manning to elite status, that it validated his Hall of Fame credentials. But that is a foolish notion. The man who has started all 157 games of his career (including postseason) already holds the NFL record for most seasons with 4,000-plus yards (7), consecutive seasons with 25-plus TD passes (9), and most TD passes in a single season (49, breaking Dan Marino’s coveted record of 48 set in 1984). Throw in a 92-52 record and five division titles, and Manning’s pedigree sans Super Bowl speaks for itself.
Granted, Manning already was a 99.9% sure bet for Canton and he is now a lock. But not even his six previous playoff failures were enough to have kept him from NFL immortality. Given that he likely has at least eight more years, his final numbers could be downright scary. But Manning will tell you all those records just became a lot more meaningful now that he has joined an even more elite club: Super Bowl champion quarterbacks. Number 18 is number 26 on that list, one that doesn’t include Marino, Frank Tarkenton, or Dan Fouts.
In making final reflections upon the 2006 season, Manning probably couldn’t have scripted it any better. Unlike in previous years, where expectations were high for the Colts, they entered the playoffs as one of the biggest question marks thanks in part to their 32-ranked rush defense and a No. 3 seed in the playoffs. And perhaps in the best scenario possible, Manning was able to orchestrate the biggest comeback in conference championship game history, leading his team back from a 21-3 deficit to beat his tormentors from years past, the New England Patriots. That was the game some labeled as the real Super Bowl, but the win over the Bears helped Manning accomplish something that even Tom Brady has yet to do, win four games in a single postseason.
Super Bowl or no Super Bowl, though, Manning is a Hall of Famer.