Peyton Manning was a great player, but will that make him a great GM?
May 21, 2019, 6:32 AM | Updated: 7:09 am
This weekend, rumors began to swirl that the New York Jets are targeting Peyton Manning as their next general manager. The future Hall of Fame quarterback won two Super Bowls (one with the Broncos), earned league MVP honors five times and holds multiple NFL passing records; but does that qualify him to run a franchise? History tells us it’s probably not the best idea.
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Exhibit A: Michael Jordan
The prime example of an incredible athlete who’s struggled in a front office position is Jordan. MJ’s tenure as majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets (formerly the Bobcats) might just be bad enough to taint his legacy as the greatest player of all-time. In the nine years he’s been in charge, Charlotte has finished with a winning record just twice, they’ve yet to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs and they own the NBA record for worst winning percentage in a season with a 7-59 record (.106) in the lockout shortened 2011-12 season. Jordan’s draft selections, aside from Kemba Walker, just haven’t panned out and Charlotte will likely watch their one biggest success leave this offseason. A short history and small market size don’t work in Jordan’s favor, but they don’t excuse him from the poor job he’s done running the team.
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Exhibit B: Joe Sakic
This one hits a little closer to home. One of Denver’s sports heroes, Sakic captained the Avalanche’s two two championships in his 13 years with the franchise. Twelve of those seasons he was an NHL All-Star and in 2001 he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Sakic holds nearly every Avs scoring record, plus a handful of NHL milestones as one of the greatest hockey players of the modern era. Since he’s taken over as the team’s executive VP of hockey operations, he’s been unable to live up to his previous successes. Sakic’s bunch has shown improvement during the last two seasons, but both years ended in heartbreaking fashion. To this point, it’s impossible to call what Joe has done with this team a failure, but for plenty of Avs fans it just hasn’t been good enough.
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Exhibit C: John Elway
Another hometown hero with a championship pedigree. Elway took over the Broncos in 2012 and led the franchise to the Super Bowl the next year. That team was embarrassed by the Seahawks, but two seasons later, Denver took home the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since Elway was quarterback. Then Peyton Manning left and the Broncos success left with him. Four years later, we’re left to question whether Elway is the best fit to run the team and how much credit he deserves for winning in the “Manning Era.”
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All three of these guys seem to have the perfect combination of leadership skills and understanding of the game, so what is it that keeps them from translating their greatness into the front office?
It’s one thing to lead a group of men to victory; it’s a completely different animal when you’re forced to build that group from the ground up then leave it to its own devices. Great players just aren’t great talent evaluators, probably because they spend their time looking for the next “them.”
In the front office, you don’t get walkthroughs or practices to perfect your craft and you can’t just take extra reps when you get something wrong. Adversity is a given, and as an executive that looks a lot different than it did on the field. It’s funny, the most competitive athletes seem to struggle the most in dealing with failure and criticism and there’s plenty of both once you step into the front office.
They don’t come any more competitive than Peyton Manning.
Could it work out in New York if he’s named the new GM? Sure, but I wouldn’t take that chance.
