Life is not shrinking for me; it's morphing into a whole new world of possibilities.
Peyton Manning
Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what the hell you're doing.
If nothing else in life, I want to be true to the things I believe in, and quite simply, to what I'm all about. I know I'd better, because it seems whenever I take a false step or two I feel the consequences.
I pray every night, sometimes long prayers about a lot of things and a lot of people, but I don't talk about it or brag about it because that's between God and me, and I'm no better than anybody else in God's sight.
I'm totally convinced that the end of my football career is just the beginning of something I haven't even discovered yet.
I think I could describe the perfect quarterback. Take a little piece of everybody. Take John Elway's arm, Dan Marino's release, maybe Troy Aikman's drop-back, Brett Favre's scrambling ability, Joe Montana's two-minute poise and, naturally, my speed.
You hear about how many fourth quarter comebacks that a guy has and I think it means a guy screwed up in the first three quarters.
I revere football. I love the game. You don't have to wonder if I will miss it. I will absolutely miss it.
There are other players who were more talented, but there is no one who could out-prepare me.
My high-school coach Tony Reginelli was kind of famous for 'Reggie-isms,' kind of like 'Yogi-isms.' He always said if you want to be a good quarterback, when sprinting left you want to be amphibious and throw left-handed. I told him, 'You mean ambidextrous, coach?'
Everyone should play like Adrian Peterson. This guy does everything full speed. Pro Bowl - promoting himself for MVP.
I get asked a lot about my legacy. For me, it's being a good teammate, having the respect of my teammates, having the respect of the coaches and players. That's important to me.
If any other part of your body has some weakness, you go, 'Well I can probably manage.' But when you're a quarterback, and it's your right hand, you're certainly concerned far as being able to do your job.
Imitation is obviously a great form of flattery.
I feel like I've improved at everything I've done every single year - except golf. Golf, I've managed to stay exactly the same.
My dad told us up front, 'Guys, if you want to play sports, go ahead, but it's your decision.'
Some guys leave a place after a long time, and they're bitter. Not me.
I understand the seriousness of concussions.
I guess, to tell you the truth, I've never had much of a desire to grow facial hair. I think I've managed to play quarterback just fine without a mustache.
I've been a Colt for almost all of my adult life, but I guess in life, and in sports, we all know nothing lasts forever. Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL.
Football's been such a part of my life. It's allowed me to meet so many people and do so many things.
It truly has been an honor to play in Indianapolis. I do love it here. I love the fans, and I will always enjoy having played for such a great team.
My advice to the next quarterback that misses an entire year is to understand there is a little difference going out on the road again. You miss that. When you're hurt, you do not feel like you are part of it.
I've tried to keep myself out of bad situations, and if that means I'm a Goody Two-shoes, so be it.
I do vote. I have voted ever since I've been eligible to vote.
When I was drafted by the Colts, Indianapolis was a basketball and a car racing town, but it didn't take long for the Colts to convert the city and state of Indiana into football evangelists.
Don't ever think, no matter how old you are, that you don't need to be coached.
You can play pickup basketball, but you can't really re-create football.
A man's got to know his limitations.
I didn't play organized football until I was in the seventh grade. Up until that point, I only played at recess and in the backyard.
It goes without saying, winning against a good team in a hostile crowd on the road, it's just an absolutely huge win.
I don't believe in having a separate workout for quarterbacks. Other players hate that.
You certainly know when you have an opportunity, and you want to take advantage of it. And it's certainly disappointing when you don't.
I have to leave the games now if the announcer says something I don't agree with. I'm thinking, 'Peyton, it is not healthy to be all worked up before a game.'
One of the things about football is, it's a relationship business.
In my very first NFL game, I completed my first pass to Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk.
I never thought 'Sodapop Curtis' would announce my retirement. I always thought I would be the one to announce it. I'm a huge fan of the movie, but that caught me way off guard. I can't explain it.
Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL.
I'll always be a Colt. I always will be. That'll never change.
I'd like people to understand that I do have some personality.
I was talking to my good friend Kid Rock a while ago, and he told me if I'd send him a helmet, he'd send me an autographed platinum record. I thought that was a pretty sweet swap.
My closest friends are from my high school days.
I'm the best Manning.
I don't want to retire. I still want to play.
Each game in the postseason has its own identity.
Everybody is going to be excited to play in a Super Bowl. When you still enjoy the preparation and the work part of it, I think you ought to be still doing that. I think as soon as I stop enjoying it, if I can't produce, if I can't help a team, that's when I will stop playing.
When you go through a significant injury and have a major career change, you truly do go one year at a time, and you don't look past what's going on now, because you are not sure what's going to happen. Tomorrow is not promised.
I would love to have played in the '60s. Now that would have been fun.
Some people have this impression of me: 'Boy, he's always so serious on the field. Football. Football. Football.'
I committed my life to Christ, and that faith has been most important to me ever since.
