Is Peyton Manning the greatest football player ever?

MIAMI — Peyton Manning was stuck in the back seat of the family car. His terrible T-ball team had lost again.

The coach, keenly aware of how important it was to pump up morale no matter what, always told his tender young charges their games ended in a tie.

“Dad,” Archie Manning, sitting up front, heard his son say, “the coach must think we’re pretty stupid.”

By the time he was 6 or 7, young Manning fully appreciated the difference between winning, losing — and tying.

Eventually that drive and determination led him to win an NFL championship Super Bowl and become the league’s best quarterback. On Sunday, the middle boy of football’s first family will try to win another and transform the Super Bowl into Peyton’s Place.

He’ll strap on his helmet, the one with the famed blue horseshoe, and lead the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. A victory would do more than cement a legacy that’s been a lifetime in the making.

“If he wins the Super Bowl, you have to initiate a discussion of whether he’s the greatest player to ever play the game,” former star quarterback Joe Theismann said. “Not just the greatest quarterback, but the greatest player.”

The who’s-the-best question fires up fans in all sports. Babe Ruth or Willie Mays? Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano?

There are plenty of contenders for top quarterback.

Tom Brady, Joe Montana and John Elway won multiple Super Bowls. Johnny Unitas and Otto Graham were champs. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh was so good in the 1930s and ‘40s; he was an ace passer, punter and defensive back. Throw Dan Marino and Brett Favre into that mix.

“I don’t like to say greatest because it’s too hard to compare eras,” said Mike Ditka, a Hall of Fame player who later won a Super Bowl coaching the Chicago Bears. “You can judge on a whole lot of categories, but I like leadership. Who do you want in that foxhole with you?

“That’s what makes Manning stand out. He runs that whole offense. No other quarterback does that in this day and age,” he said.

On 31 teams, a coach signals in the plays. On the Colts, Manning calls them. He sees it as “controlled chaos” — a no-huddle set where he decides run or pass, puts his teammates in position and makes adjustments at the line.

At 33, he is already a four-time Most Valuable Player. Famous for watching film of his opponents, Manning hardly views himself as a finished product.

“You are always learning different situations. Two-minute drills, third-and-1s, red zone,” he said.

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