Dear Peyton Manning,

You are an incredible NFL quarterback. On the backstretch of your career, after multiple neck surgeries, you are attempting to make a comeback that would add a chapter to your legacy that could truly be remarkable, but it is something you really don’t have to do.

Your accomplishments on the field speak for themselves. As a Super Bowl MVP, a four-time NFL MVP and holder of numerous records in addition to being one of the most personable athletes of your generation, you have nothing left to prove. Hell, you even made hosting SNL look like a piece of cake, something many actors can’t even pull off.

As the leader of your team, you have already established you can take your team out of the doldrums and make it look halfway decent. You have been the equivalent of a chef being able to take garbage and cook a high-quality three-course meal out of it.

Realize that you do not have anything left to prove to anyone. Understand that it would be perfectly acceptable to walk away from the game at the top of your game, something few athletes can definitely say.

I’m not suggesting to immediately retire, especially when your ability is still greater than at least half of the quarterbacks in the NFL. But be cognizant of exactly what you are getting yourself into, because the odds are stacked on the other side. If the window of opportunity for winning a Super Bowl isn’t already shut, it’s extremely close.

Sure, the attention, huge contract, return to prominence and opportunity to revamp a franchise would be a feel-good story, especially if you led them to the playoffs.

But contrary to popular belief, retirement might be the smartest decision that you could make. Sometimes inaction is the best action.

Countless times athletes have stayed one year too many. Historically, you can take a page from the likes of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath or Joe Montana. All three moved on to a different team than the one that had made each a Hall-of-Famer. All three finished as shells of their former selves.

Meanwhile, Hall-of-Famers Jim Brown and Barry Sanders retired at their respective peaks. Both of their legacies will never be undermined because they were consistently great. Self-awareness emerges from an athlete who knows when to cash in his chips.

You have the opportunity to go nearly anywhere you want, with the leading teams being the Dolphins, Broncos, Titans and Cardinals. Each team has its benefits, but are any of them really worth it? What will the particular team you sign with give back to Peyton Manning?

These are questions worth answering because the teams you have been on strictly from a talent-based standpoint have not been the strongest. It is why you only have one Super Bowl ring, and will not be known as _the quarterback_ of your generation. Coming back from such a devastating injury on a new team will most likely not change that fact, even if it’s unfair to make such a claim.

Sometimes you have to play your cards and risk some chips in the process. And though you can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle, you can’t win much either.

Sincerely,

Mark Bergin