Much of success in professional football is and always has been about the quarterback position.

The most recent and an all-time most notable example is that of Peyton Manning, already stamping the Denver Broncos organization merely through osmosis, with greater influences to come steadily, and constantly, an ever flowing example of the water rising to elevate all boats.

Manning is the only man to have been named the National Football League Most Valuable Player four times. He has passed for 54,828 yards and 399 touchdowns, third most in NFL history in both departments.

No quarterback has earned more Pro Bowl selections than Manning (11), produced more 4,000-yard seasons (11), posted more 300-yard games (63) or had more seasons with 25 or more passing touchdowns (13).

This is a staggering array of statistics that he brings to the Broncos, but always, there is a connection to the past at the quarterback position.

In the category of winning, Peyton Manning’s 141 victories as a starter rank fourth all time, with a winning percentage (.678) that is the very best among any of the five quarterbacks who have won 125 games.

Clearly, he is a winner almost without parallel.

But once upon a time, Broncos Ring of Fame wide receiver Haven Moses, speaking of another Denver QB, said, “He taught us how to win.”

Moses was speaking of Charley Johnson, and this is just a little jaunt down memory lane to remind us all that the foundations for current successes were built in the past.