Peyton Manning says he’s had no feeling in his fingertips since 2011 surgeries

Peyton Manning missed the 2011 season after undergoing multiple neck surgeries. In the three years since, he has led the Broncos to a 38-10 record, including a Super Bowl appearance, and set several single-season passing records as well.

And he says he did it all with no feeling in his fingertips.

“I can’t feel anything in my fingertips,” Manning told Sports Illustrated’s Peter King last week. “It’s crazy. I’ve talked to a doctor recently who said don’t count on the feeling coming back. It was hard for me for about two years, because one doctor told me I could wake up any morning and it might come back. So you wake up every day thinking, ‘Today’s the day! Then it’s not.’”

Manning had already won a Super Bowl and earned four league MVP awards with Indianapolis before the lost 2011 season. When the Colts decided to draft Andrew Luck as their quarterback, Manning resurrected his career in Denver.

In 2013, he won his fifth MVP award while setting single-season records for touchdown passes (55), passing yards (5,477) and yards per game (342.3). The Broncos lost to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII at the end of that season.

The fact that he did all that with numb fingertips makes the achievements all the more incredible.