Randy Smith
Remember when you were a kid watching westerns on television or at the movies, when there was a group of outlaws on the run, the sheriff would form a posse to help him round up the bad guys. Super Bowl 50 was a perfect example of that as the sheriff, aka Peyton Manning, rounded up all the bad guys and whipped them into submission; with a lot of help from a very talented posse.
The Sheriff's chief deputy, Vonn Miller was selected as the games most valuable player as the Denver Broncos scored a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers; a game I might add, that was fun to watch, but only if you were a fan of great defense. Super Bowl 50 had no long touchdown drives, in fact the game had just two offensive touchdowns.
But when you get to the Super Bowl, you take a win any way you can get it, and the Broncos did just that. Miller did more than his share of the work with six tackles, 2.5 sacks and two caused fumbles.
After the game Coach Gary Kubiak called his team the "Grinders" because of the way they groud out wins all season long, but the bottom line looked pretty good for the Grinders as they finish 16-3 with Denver's third Super Bowl title.
As for Peyton Manning, his worst season statistically ended on a very positive note. 143 yards passing with no touchdowns and an interception doesn't look good in the box scores, but it looked good at the end when the Broncos held up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl Champions. By the way, the win was Manning's 200th career victory, making him the winningest quarterback in NFL history.
So where does the Sheriff go from here? If the decision were left up to Peyton's mom Olivia, Super Bowl 50 would indeed be his "last rodeo." Most everyone feels that within a few weeks Peyton will announce his retirement, but not until he has gotten advice from the people he loves and respects most - people like his dad Archie, his brothers Eli and Cooper, as well as his former coaches. He doesn't need the money, he owns just about every passing record in NFL history and he is a two-time Super Bowl Champ. In addition, his health is marginal at best and he has been just one hard tackle or sack away from a serious neck injury, possibly even paralysis. He went out the right way; a world champion. There is nothing left to be accomplished.
For many seasons in his fabulous 18-year NFL career, Peyton has carried his teammates. He made a lot of mediocre teams much better simply by elevating his own game and making the players around him better. Finally it was time for his teammates to carry him, and they did. The defensive performance by the Denver Broncos will go down as one of the truly great performances in Super Bowl history. They choked the life out of the Carolina offense and totally frustrated Cam Newton for four quarters. In other words, the posse brought plenty of Kryptonite and took care of Superman.
Everyone I spoke to about this year's Super Bowl was antsy and even downright nervous about it. After all, Carolina was 15-1 and favored to win the game by a touchdown. Every Tennessee and Peyton Manning fan wanted this one badly and while they were confident, they also were faced with the stark reality that the Panthers were a great team led by a great player. At 39 years of age, their hero did what he had to do to win.
So now it's time for the Sheriff to do what we all wanted: to ride off into the sunset healthy, and with his family riding with him. All of them anxiously awaiting the next adventure in his life.
Sheriff...it's been a wonderful ride.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.