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Peyton Manning Says He Wants To Play '10 More Pro Bowls'

By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)

BOSTON (CBS) -- When 39-year-old Peyton Manning was asked about how much he has left in the tank, the Denver Broncos quarterback revealed to reporters Thursday that he intends to play at least 10 more Pro Bowls.

Citing the annual all-star game in Honolulu, Hawaii as "the ultimate goal of every player", 14-time Pro-Bowler Manning said he intends to play well beyond his mission for No. 15. Teammate Demariyus Thomas lauded Manning for his incredible drive to win individual awards well into his 40s.

"He's the ultimate competitor," Thomas said of Manning. "If you need to pick one quarterback to win you one contact-free exhibition game in ideal weather surrounded by All-Pro talent, there's no question: you're taking Peyton."

Reporters posed the question to Manning after news that Patriots quarterback and longtime rival and peer Tom Brady intends to ride New England's superior coaching staff and tailor-made system to have at least 10 more Super Bowl titles handed to him. Manning insisted he intends to carry teams to more Pro Bowls on his own, and is always willing to do what's best for his individual records.

"Team awards are nice and all," Manning said. "But ultimately we play this game to win Pro Bowls. And to get there, it's going to take everyone helping me pad my stats together."

Manning expressed concern about his ability to make another Pro Bowl with Team Irvin after declining to participate in last year's contest, citing a lack of weapons beyond receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Randall Cobb, running back Demarco Murray, and tight ends Jimmy Graham and Jason Witten.

2011 NFL Pro Bowl
Peyton Manning carries the ball during the 2011 NFL Pro Bowl. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, who is tied with Manning in Super Bowl victories with 1, decried GM Michael Irvin's low-budget approach to surrounding Manning with enough talent to go all the way to Hawaii.

"Team Irvin is exposing its dirty little secret: that it is only in it for the championships," Dilfer said. "Irvin should be saying, 'We have Peyton Manning, let's go attack a Pro Bowl. Let's get him one last MVP'.

"When Emmanuel Sanders is your No. 4 receiver, you know you have a problem...To surround the greatest regular season MVP of all time with such an alarming lack of weapons when he has one, maybe two more chances to win the biggest exhibition game of the season, is just sad and disappointing."

With Manning's NFL MVP drought dragging into year two, Broncos GM and Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway lamented Team Irvin's lack of drive to help Manning win one last Pro Bowl MVP.

"Team Irvin can't make the same mistakes the Broncos made with me at the end of my career," said Elway, who could only muster two Super Bowl wins in his last two seasons. "If you're Peyton, you want to go out on top. And that starts with getting him back to Honolulu."

Despite his lack of weapons, Manning intends to make up for Team Irvin's lack of talent for another decade. It would be unprecedented for a 39-year-old quarterback to play glorified scrimmages into his late-40s, let alone win - but Manning is determined to buck that trend.

"They also said I wouldn't lose the Super Bowl again, too, how did that turn out?" Manning said to reporters.

"You guys can write whatever you want, I'm just going to go out there and do my job and do whatever it takes to help this individual player add to his trophy case."

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

Full disclosure: This article is satire and the quotes are not real.

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