John Elway thanks Peyton Manning for choosing Broncos

John Elway brought Peyton Manning to Denver four years ago, and now the Broncos GM thanks him for choosing the team, and congratulates him on a Hall of Fame career…

John Elway is the greatest quarterback in Denver Broncos history, but his work as a general manager should not go unnoticed. Four years ago, he helped reel in the biggest fish probably in free agency history, bringing in Peyton Manning who had been released from the Indianapolis Colts.

Elway thanked Manning on Sunday and congratulated him on his Hall of Fame career…

“When you look at everything Peyton has accomplished as a player and person, it’s easy to see how fortunate we’ve been to have him on our team. Peyton was everything that we thought he was and even more—not only for the football team but in the community.

“There’s no question that his work ethic is what made him into one of the great quarterbacks of all time. All the film study Peyton did and the process that he went through with game planning and understanding what the other teams did was second-to-none.

“Peyton was a player that guys wanted to play with. That made us better as a team, and I’m thrilled that we were able to win a championship in his final year. Peyton won a lot of awards and set a lot of records, but to me, what he helped our team accomplish during the last four years is what stands out the most.

“I’m very thankful Peyton chose to play for the Denver Broncos and I congratulate him on his Hall of Fame career.”

Elway deserves a ton of credit for putting a team around Manning that could get the job done, but his ability to bring Peyton to Denver in 2012 is one of the great moves in the history of this franchise, aside from trading for Elway himself back in 1983.

Manning’s career in Denver was phenomenal, but it might not have been possible if Pat Bowlen hadn’t hired Elway to run the show…