No Plan B: Peyton Manning's Comeback with the Denver Broncos

by Mark Kiszla

Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl, hosted Saturday Night Live, and threw 399 touchdown passes during 14 amazing years as an NFL quarterback.Then he got fired.Indianapolis no longer valued Manning, a four-time winner of the league’s Most Valuable Player award. Get The Colts cut the most-liked athlete in America."And I’m glad they did," Denver Broncos executive John Elway said.The Broncos made the most buzz-worthy signing in the history of NFL free agency during March of 2012. Despite missing a season with a neck injury that threatened to end his brilliant career, Manning was acquired to lead the Broncos back to Super Bowl glory."We don’t have a Plan B," Elway declared, as he presented Manning with an orange No. 18 jersey. "We’re going [with] Plan A!"Even for a quarterback as decorated as Manning, his task in Denver was daunting.At age 36, Manning had to relearn to throw the football with a right arm that had suffered extensive nerve damage. The new quarterback in town had to convert devout fans of Tim Tebow, who won games in the name of Jesus. A brutal early season schedule left the Broncos with a 2-3 record, as whispers grew the old Pro Bowler had lost his touch.What happened next is one of those great comeback stories that make us fall in love with sports. Manning went from washed up to nearly unbeatable. He led Denver to 11 consecutive victories to close the regular season. More important, Manning lifted the Broncos back to the elite status that had been slip-sliding away since Elway retired as quarterback in 1999.How did Manning do it? On the practice field, he can be a perfectionist who is a pain in the ass. On the team plane, he can be a comedian who has teammates rolling in the aisles. To get inside football’s most beautiful mind, award-winning journalist Mark Kiszla takes readers from raucous locker rooms to quiet film rooms for a behind-the-scenes look at Manning’s remarkable revival.Football is a violent game. Life can be a contact sport.Before moving to Denver, Manning was sacked 231 times by NFL defenders, but never harder than the 232nd, when Colts owner Jim Irsay hit him with a shot that shook the veteran QB to his core.So the toughest question for Manning was the same as the uncertainty facing any proud worker who has been slapped with a termination does a man respond after he gets knocked on his butt?Manning is the master of the no-huddle offense. But, with his physical ability fading and anything less than a championship considered failure, Manning has never had to beat the clock with such urgency.There's no time to waste. No excuses. No looking back.No Plan B.

Genres: Sports, Football

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

Award-winning sports journalist Mark Kiszla is a columnist for the Denver Post and a sports talk radio co-host. He has also written for ESPN the Magazine and is frequently a guest on nationally-syndicated radio and television programs.

Reviews

[Harry K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the book No Plan B: Peyton Manning’s Comeback with the Denver Broncos, by Mark Kiszla is a very effective book for all kids. The book describes that if experience a setback in life, you should get back up on your feet and try to make the situation better. A strength of the book is that it explains how Manning is a perfectionist and how he changed his style of play when he went to Denver. On the other side, a weakness of this book is when it discusses the story about Cody Hessler, a senior from Colorado, who is almost completely unrelated to Manning. I would recommend this book to all kids, because it would inspire them to keep trying after suffering a setback. If this book was in a series, I would definitely read the rest of the series.

[Jim Winski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiszla knows the players and Elway very well, and provides excellent insight into the events leading put to Manning's first season in Denver, as well as many during that first season. He injects some of his opinionated thoughts as well, and whether you agree with them or not, they are valuable and entertaining. It's a short book, so if you want a fast read on a timely subject, grab this one up.

BTW, I met Mark at his book signing for this, and he took the time to discuss his thoughts and answer a lot of questions. Many people say he is a cocky writer, but that's jus his style. He seems to be a good guy!

[Zack Davoodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the constant homerism, a very insightful and inspirational read.

"'Sooner or later, you're gonna need a plan B. The trick is figuring out what you're going to do after getting knocked on your ass.' Losing is not defeat. Defeat is surrendering the opportunity at a second chance. Never take a knee...

Losing stinks. Life hurts. But quit? No way. The strong laugh in the face of failure. The real game begins with Plan B. And every comeback begins with one absolute rule: Never Take A Knee."

[Mish Pre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave me some insight into Broncos history since I'm a new football fan. And I love Manning. Lots of typos though and that just kills a book.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting read with lots of tidbits and such about how and why Peyton is Peyton. I just wish the book had been able to escape feeling like an elongated espn article.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because it's PFM

I read this one as a lifelong Peyton Manning fan (yeah, I'm a UT Vol, have been one since before I went to college there in the 70s, I'm *still* a season ticket holder, in my house we bleed Vol orange, even during the lean years) and was interested in reading about his comeback with the Broncos.

I liked this, but it was more a series of sports essays than a true narrative. There is a story here and Kiszla tells it with a fan's true love, but his love is the Broncos, all things Broncos, but especially John Elway. The book ends prior to the best part: PFM does bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Denver. He's the first - but not the only (anymore) - and at the time, oldest, quarterback to win two Super Bowl rings with 2 teams under 2 different coaches. The book ends with the Broncos rather anticlimactic loss in the first round of the playoffs to the Baltimore Ravens.

There was a lot of insight into PFM's relationship with Elway and Todd Helton (another epic Tennessee player - in two sports). His family. His drive after being cut from the Colts - one of the most stunning sports moves ever. But overall, the book was less about Manning than Manning's effect on the Broncos (and the Broncos on Manning).

Quotes to remember:

Perfectionists measure themselves only against the guy in the mirror.

Miracles are not sustainable. Talent endures.

Helton and Manning are the classic rockers of Colorado sports...Brothers Orange, twin legends born on Rocky Top...Helton is the Sundance Kid to Manning's Butch Cassidy.

It is not the strongest of the species than survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Great quarterbacks make great plays in great games.

Welcome to the rise of antisocial media.

Losing is not defeat. Defeat is surrendering the opportunity at a second chance. Never take a knee.

[Blake David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to people who love football and are Broncos fans.
I like this book because I love football and one of my favorite football player is Peyton Manning

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I thought it was interesting because it only covered Peyton’s first season with the Broncos, so it ended with a bit of a downer, rather than the Super Bowl win!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but very dated. Sometimes feels like wanders but still an interesting read.

[Rachel Swords · Rating 3 out of 5]

11/24: So far this book is nothing special. I mean, the stuff regarding the Broncos administration, the conversations with Elway and Ellis is interesting, but otherwise it's okay. Book reads like one of those teenybopper boy-band books aimed at teenagers, the way the writer gushes over Manning. I'm a Peyton fan (have been since he was #16 at UT), and even I don't fangirl over him like Kiszla is doing.

Also, the profanity is not needed; I don't care if it's the guy's writing style, it's detracting. Plus the ridiculously biased bashing of Tim Tebow is uncalled for. Peyton Manning's a good enough player that the author really doesn't need to bash Tebow to build #18 up.

11/25: well, the writing has gotten a little better. Kiszla finally managed to say some positive stuff about Tebow. And I'd never known how Elway joined the front office, so that was good too.

11/27: finished the book! The latter half is definitely the better written part. I had never known the whole story behind the arrival of Welker to Denver (even though my mom is a diehard Broncos/Peyton fan, she never could give me all the details), and I missed the ill-fated Broncos/Ravens playoff game, so I never understood how Peyton had lost. Kiszla does a good job explaining all of this from several perspectives, and the book could easily be summed up in one sentence: "Can you love the game when a team cuts you...can you love football when it hurts?" Anyone who knows and has followed Peyton Manning's career easily knows the answer to these questions, but "No Plan B" serves as a good reminder for the rest of the football world.

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No Plan B" is one of the most effective books I have ever read because I never knew how hard Peyton Manning's life was. Peyton Manning played for the Indianapolis Colts then was fired even after he won a Superbowl, because he broke his neck. I love this book :because Peyton Manning is one of my favorite football players of all time, for the following reasons, he went to my favorite college Tennessee, and he also played on my favorite football team. "No Plan B" explains the timeline of Peyton Manning, and how he had a third brother, but his brother was the only manning to not make the NFL.Overall "No Plan B" is one my favorite books of all time.

[Adam McCaulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

great incite into the Payton Manning transition to Denver. Answered quite a few questions I had as a Bronco fan.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as much inside insight as you would expect. Felt like Kiz was stretching to come up with material.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Not a big PM fan, like Joy is...lol