QBs Manning, Newton same at core

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It could be our inherent stubbornness, the part of us that continues to look through the eyes of the past and won't allow ourselves to see what the present offers. Generations pass. The gap widens. Change occurs.

Super Bowl 50 has arrived, and perhaps at no moment in NFL history has there been a more profound time when it comes to one era passing its symbolic torch to another, one quarterback nearly done writing the final chapter of an illustrious career and another just beginning the narrative that could forever alter how the game's most celebrated position is defined.

It has been two weeks since we learned Peyton Manning would oppose Cam Newton today at Levi's Stadium for the right to lift the Lombardi Trophy, that the Denver Broncos would meet the Carolina Panthers in a tussle of No. 1 seeds and quarterbacks at opposite ends of the timeline spectrum.

But for as much as their differences have been dissected, their games and personalities and wardrobes compared and contrasted to death, each possesses a singular desire that is insatiable and deeply rooted.

Each wants to win today in the most extreme manner.

"I think it is important to use all of your experience to your advantage," Manning said. "The more experience you have, you can use that to help you. I think this experience is so unique for everybody. It is hard to tell somebody how they are going to feel. It can be extremely emotional. You want to avoid it from being overwhelming.

"It is a very special opportunity to be playing in Super Bowl 50. If you have any appreciation for the game, and certainly you have watched Super Bowls, played in the Super Bowls, have a sibling that has played in the Super Bowls — it does make it maybe even more special."

Timing has brought Manning and Newton together for this historic snapshot, and doesn't it always seem to work out that way? Legacies are about circumstance more than anything else, because how many NBA championships do you think Kobe Bryant would have won in Charlotte had the Lakers not traded for him on draft night? Dan Marino doesn't have a Super Bowl ring. Trent Dilfer does. You get the point.

So for all the variances that exist between Manning and Newton — one white, one black, one old by NFL standards, one young by all others, one having reached his fourth Super Bowl more with his mind than broken body, one playing in his first with the brains to match freakishly athletic skills — none of it can override or loom larger than a singular quest of being crowned champion.

Not that it hasn't been tried.

The generation gap storyline between quarterbacks has taken on a life of its own in the past week. There is certainly a race element to it. Newton is right. We haven't seen anyone like him. He also happens to be the best goal-line running back in the league, and how many other NFL players, no matter their position, would you want running the ball with a few yards left to move the chains? He dances the Dab and plays Superman and hands footballs to children after scoring touchdowns. He has more fun than any other player in decades, and that angers and scares some.

"I think Cam, not only does he talk it, but he walks it," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. "He's one of those guys that's all in and truly committed. A lot of people don't see the things he does behind the scenes: the workouts, the extra film time, the extra meeting time, coming in on Tuesday on his day off to sit down with the other two quarterbacks and go through what they're seeing on tape and talking about things that might work.

"His teammates know that he's willing to make those kind of commitments. When you see a guy that's willing to do things on his own, I think that just signifies that there's a commitment."

Manning is unquestionably one of most sentimental favorites in Super Bowl history, for both the fact one of the all-time greats has declined to the point of being a Hall of Fame game manager and because for those old-school qualities most believe he embodies, a sense of class and professionalism and humility those rooting for him insist are lost on players such as Newton. Fans of Manning are loyal to indescribable levels, never once giving an ounce of credence to claims this season of his possible HGH use or caring that his attorneys reportedly hired investigators to vet his accuser before the story broke.

It all makes for a fascinating collision today, when soon-to-be-past leads his team against front-and-center-present, when two men separated by nearly 14 years in age and all the different characteristics that have been assigned them by others for the sake of a good yarn, return to the simplicity of playing the game they love and in pursuit of the same goal.

"I tell kids to dream," Newton said. "Don't be afraid to dream. When you see me play, you see a kid out there. Some people call it immaturity. I couldn't care less. At times, I find myself thinking like a high school student, 16, 17 years old. I'll tell you what my father told me: Just be good at something.

"Fortunately for me, I don't have to face Peyton Manning. I think my hands are pretty full trying to slide the protection the right way. Everyone knows I respect not only Peyton Manning but every single person that shares the Manning last name. But I'm not getting prepared for him."

It might be the final time we see Manning in an NFL uniform, and perhaps the only time we see Newton in a Super Bowl. These moments are hardly promised, and yet his ability and the fact Newton is still four years shy of 30 would make it more upset than not should he never return to the league's biggest stage.

But for now, for today, 50 years later, history has led the NFL to this moment and these quarterbacks, where differences will be debated and generations will pick sides and, regardless of outcome, a torch will be passed.

The gap widens. Change occurs.

But nothing is as plain and true as this: Each just wants to win more than life itself.

— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.