EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – This was after Peyton Manning approached his offensive line on the opening snap of the Super Bowl, trying to scream a change in cadence only to have the din of MetLife Stadium make his voice mute. "No one could hear me," he said. Soon, the unexpectedly snapped ball was zipping by his ear en route to a safety for Seattle, the quickest score in Super Bowl history.

This was after Manning threw two interceptions, including a crushing 69-yard pick-six, after he missed reads and overthrew open receivers, after he'd been pushed out of his comfort zone by a brilliant, brutish Seahawks defense. "An excellent defense," he said.

This was after he trudged off the field, the scoreboard above reading "Seattle 43, Denver 8," one of the worst and certainly most painful losses of his long career. "It's not an easy pill to swallow," he said.

This was after Manning dressed quickly in a silent, emotionless, beaten-down Broncos locker room, after his dad Archie and brother Cooper waited outside. "That's football. It's why I hate football," Archie said with gallows humor.

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This was after Peyton received a compassionate pat on the back from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, after he huddled with his wife Ashley and a couple friends, after he received a couple of supportive words from John Elway.

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This was after he walked slowly, hands in the pockets of his blue suit, headed down toward the interview area, escorted by police. After a reporter from a Mexican TV station tripped over his luggage – pulled by a Broncos employee tailing the quarterback – and wiped out on the floor in a failed, ill-advised interview chase.

This was after he arrived to find a throng of cameras and microphones 15 deep around podium No. 2, after he gave praise to the Seahawks, took blame himself – and even handled, without losing his cool, a question about whether he'd been "embarrassed" out there.

"It's not embarrassing at all," Manning said. "I would not use that word. There's a bunch of professional football players in that Denver locker room who put in a lot of hard work to play in that game."

This was after all of that, after the developments and aftermath of a night Peyton Manning – the great Peyton Manning – had been so profoundly ordinary and the Denver offense with its 37.9 points per game in the regular season, the 55 touchdown passes, was nearly shut out. After the Broncos' dream season, the one Manning came back from neck surgery to engineer, collapsed in spectacular fashion.

It was then that Manning, walking down a hallway back toward the locker room, still surrounded by cops, still followed by a guy dragging his bag, still trying to just find some peace and quiet and to the mourning process that comes from losing the big game in a big way.

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It was then that Peyton Manning heard the very respectful voice of Steve Lopez, a beer vendor from the Bronx.

"Mr. Manning, could I please get an autograph?" the 25-year-old asked.

Manning's head turned and looked Lopez in the eye. These were the opposite ends of the NFL food chain – megastar multimillionaire and a guy hawking Bud Lights in the stands. The wave of the crowd was pushing Manning forward, but he locked in on Lopez.

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