In sports, your legacy can be affected by moments that don't even involve you.
If safety Rahim Moore properly judges the rainbow thrown by Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in the final minute of regulation Saturday, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos are conquering heroes moving on to the AFC Championship Game.
On NFL Network
NFL Replay will re-air the
Baltimore Ravens' 38-35 win over the
Denver Broncos from the AFC divisional playoffs on Monday, Jan. 14
at 8 p.m. ET.
Instead, Moore got lost in space, and the Ravens scored a miracle game-tying touchdown. That set the stage for Manning's back-breaking interception in a 38-35 double-overtime playoff loss.
Despite the painful nature of that setback, Manning doesn't appear bitter. In fact, his ability to throw the ball in frigid conditions Saturday has him thinking ahead to next February.
"That was another good hurdle for me," Manning told Mike Klis of The Denver Post. "Weather-wise, we had not had anything like that all season. There was some unknown going into that game. You can't simulate it. I tried everything from putting my hand in a freezing tank. But you just can't simulate it.
"Next year, the Super Bowl's in New York. So that was a good hurdle for me to be effective in those type of conditions."
Yes, it was a bit of an odd takeaway. Then again, we can't imagine what Manning went through just to get to this point. Manning is like the guy who has a brush with death and comes out of the experience with a new appreciation of life.
"When you take a year off from football, you come back for all the enjoyable moments," he said.
"When you're not playing, you miss out on all the highs, but you also miss these disappointments. But I would rather be in the arena to be excited or be disappointed than not have a chance at all. That's football. That's why everybody plays it. You have to be able to take the good with the bad."
It's a good attitude to have. Manning will be back.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
