In the most “duh” move ever, Peyton Manning was the first finalist revealed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the Class of 2021 to be officially announced Saturday at NFL Honors, the culminating league event before Super Bowl Sunday.
A two-time Super Bowl champ and NFL MVP five times over, Manning was considered as much a “no brainer” to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer as John Elway in 2004.
In fact, long-time Indianapolis Colts’ beat writer Mike Chappell’s speech before the Hall of Fame voters reportedly lasted just 13 seconds as he spoke via zoom:
“I’ll make it brief because my Wi-Fi’s screwing up.