...I love Peyton Manning, but not because he’s a great teammate or an incredible leader or a genuine person. He is all of those things. I love him because he changed my life, and he doesn’t even know it. During his retirement speech at team headquarters on Monday, I was sitting in the front row when he recited this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: “Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”
Peyton introduced me to this idea on my first day in Denver. Before my second NFL season, I had already been released by the Jaguars three times. My choices going into 2013 were: Return to the Jaguars’ practice squad; join a struggling Raiders team; sign with the Broncos’ practice squad. I chose stability over the opportunity to possibly get on the field sooner.
On my first day in Denver, coach John Fox introduced me in a team meeting. “All right guys, we have a new practice squad player,” he said. “His name is Brandon Marshall.” After the meeting, Peyton walked over to me and said, incredibly, “Hey man, I’m Peyton Manning. Nice to meet you.”
I'm thinking, Why is Peyton Manning introducing himself to me? But there was purpose in that introduction that I didn’t understand at the time. Peyton knows that each member of the team has the potential to play a critical role in preparation and on game day. Acknowledging the new practice squad guy and treating him like a veteran starter is about holding people accountable. That week, despite being winded by the high altitude, I earned my first of many Practice Squad Player of the Week awards...
