Denver is buzzing today. I walked into a client meeting that was scheduled to start at 10am, and their front conference room was packed with people milling around, and a TV going up at the front of the room.  As our client came to retreive us from the lobby and walk us to the back, he apologized over his shoulder for the commotion.  “Peyton Manning is coming to Denver. They just announced it on ESPN, and everyone wants to see the press update.”  And it seemed as natural as the blue sky that everyone would drop everything to go and watch.

Peyton as a quarterback does great things, that much is for sure. The level of excitement about Bronco games will escalate quickly if he does indeed end up coming to Denver – but then again, anyone who got caught up in the Tebow mania that struck the city last year will be familiar wtih that ride.  But what happens when the guts of the months long season is upon us and the week to week slugging it out starts to take its toll? That’s when we will really see what a Peyton Manning can do for a city.

Like him or not, Tebow has the personality to move steadily through a sea of craziness – we saw that last year.  And the world knows Manning has demonstrated it season after season – that ability to keep people coming back, to help the city keep the faith…. and to keep spending on the whole economy that is football. Rumor has it the Broncos won’t keep both, but from a succession planning perspective wouldn’t that make some sense?