The Lead
Peyton Manning was inducted as a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2021, and he has long been in the discussion as the best quarterback of all time.
In a recent appearance with Stat Sports, fellow Hall of Famer Ray Lewis looked back on his battles with Manning and placed the Super Bowl 50 champion at the top of his quarterback raking.
"From a student level of the game, he made me alter my game," Lewis said. "He made me watch more film. And that's what I call the greatest quarterback — to me — me and his battle[s]. [Tom] Brady of course [has the] rings, but when you talk about just walking out there and seeing a man and knowing that, 'Oof, here we're go again.' Hey man, it was rough."
Lewis described his battles with Manning as "iconic" and acknowledged Manning's extreme knowledge of the game.
"The attention to detail, the way he studied film, the way he understood the offensive scheme and every check that he needed to make [was impressive]," Lewis said. "Every coverage, he knew what was coming."
Lewis also called former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a "classic" player, but he noted that Manning and Brady were in their own category.
"Those two guys were legendary," Lewis said.
