Lindsay H. Jones

USA TODAY Sports

SAN JOSE — John Elway, the only man who might truly understand how Peyton Manning feels heading into Super Bowl 50, a game that could be his last, doesn’t want the Denver Broncos quarterback to spend any time worrying about his future right now.

“He's worked too hard to get to where he is now to talk about if he's going to end it now or not,” Elway said Monday night. “He's going to have plenty of time in the offseason to reminisce and look back. His key thing is, concentrate, stay in the moment. This is what he worked for."

Elway, the Broncos’ general manager, retired after winning his second Super Bowl title in January 1999 at age 38. But he seems reticent to offer his quarterback too much advice ahead of what could be Manning’s final game.

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Manning, who will turn 40 in March, missed six and a half games with a foot injury and had the worst statistical seasons of his career, including 17 interceptions in nine regular-season starts.

For Elway, the retirement decision 17 years ago was mostly a matter of health. He missed time his final year with a hamstring injury, and he finally decided his body just couldn’t hold up any longer.

Of course, winning his second consecutive title helped.

Manning cwould match Elway’s ring total with a win Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

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"The bottom line is that you have to stay in the moment. The one thing you don't want to do is think about not playing while you are still playing," Elway said.

"At some point, you're not going to be able to play. So it's important to stay in the moment, enjoy what he is going through right now, the hard work that he's put in this year to get himself where he is now, hopefully win this last game. And then in the offseason he can sit down and figure out what he wants to do."

Contributing: Eric Prisbell

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones

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