Peyton Manning, The Natural Born Leader

The Denver Broncos started their offseason conditioning program Monday, marking the team’s first day “back at it.”

Players met with the media and as you can imagine, most questions were Peyton Manning-related. How could they not be. Manning is the biggest free agent signee of the NFL offseason and he the biggest pick up for the Broncos in team history.

Manning pairs his outstanding football ability with his leadership skills which makes him arguably the best quarterback in the history of the game.

We all get to see what he does on Sundays or even Monday nights, but what we don’t think about as much is the work that Manning puts in with his teammates come April and May.

“He’s a natural born leader in the weight room,” Eric Decker said. “He’s the one taking command of running from station to station, and on the field doing drill work getting us lined up, and really having us do things for a particular reason. There’s no wasted movements, no wasted time, and it’s a great thing to have in a leader like him.”

Champ Bailey agrees. What makes Manning so unique is his General Robert E. Lee leadership skills.

“His leadership alone is bar-none, the best in the league,” Bailey said Monday. “You need a guy like that on your team. Where I want to go, what I want to do towards the end of my career is win a championship. I feel like he gives us the best chance.”

Not only does the Peyton Manning acquisition make the Broncos offense better, but it will likely indirectly improve their defense as well.

“He’s going to kick our butt in practice, so we’ve got to be ready to go,” Bailey said. “If you don’t put together good practices, the coaches don’t trust you on Sunday. It’s a lot of pressure…Just the way he breaks down the defense, and pretty much tells you what you’re in. Half the guys on defense don’t even know what we’re doing. It’s sad but true.”

That’s just how good Manning is on and off the field, in the huddle and in the weight room. That’s where the team’s $96 million is going. It’s going to Manning, but it’s also being put toward another Super Bowl ring. Now we wait on the return from this investment.

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