Legacies

People like to talk about legacies in the NFL. For example, every game that Peyton Manning wins from here on out is "big for his legacy." And it's true, if he wins the Super Bowl next Sunday he goes down as one of the greatest passers of all time, a member of a select group of quarterbacks with two rings, and the first quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different franchises. If he doesn't, he's still just a really good quarterback who hasn't even won as many titles as his little brother.

You know whose legacy took a big shot last weekend? Mike Shanahan.

For some reason, the unseen powers that decide things such as football legacies determined some time ago that Mike Shanahan needed to win a third Super Bowl (without John Elway) to cement his legacy as a legendary NFL coach. He was never able to do it - not with Brian Griese, not with Jake Plummer, not with Jay Cutler, and not with Robert Griffin III after moving on to the Washington Redskins. In fact, the Redskins fired him earlier this month after they finished with a 3-13 record. It's possible, at the age of 61, that Shanahan will never be a head coach in the NFL again.

Last weekend, the Denver Broncos advanced to Super Bowl XLVIII. Part of the credit is due to their vice president of football operations, who helped rebuild the Broncos into a contender. His name is John Elway.

So not only did Mike Shanahan never make it back to the Super Bowl, but also John Elway made it back before him. Oh, and there's the part where John Elway wasn't even working in the NFL for more than a decade before taking the job with the Broncos.

I'm not sure why the unseen powers decided Shanahan needed to prove himself again. No one ever said to Bill Walsh that he needed to win another without Joe Montana to prove himself. No one is going to tell Bill Belichick that he needs to win another without Tom Brady, because he can't even win another one with Brady right now.

It's probably not fair. Mike Shanahan is one of only seven coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls, which is a pretty remarkable achievement. Sometimes I think we forget how good a job he did with those two Broncos teams, just because he was never able to replicate it. But I guess that's why "what have you done for me lately?" is a phrase often heard around the NFL.