Archie Manning, then the New Orleans Saints’ star quarterback, did not push football on his boys any more than he did fishing or other sports.
But son Peyton wanted to do what daddy did, and his favorite toy when he was a kid was a football.
The most famous player the Indianapolis Colts ever had was announced as a member of the newest Pro Football Hall of Fame class last Saturday night. He took the most natural and straight-ahead route growing up to this ultimate honor, pretty much studying game film from childhood.
The Mannings are a franchise of quarterbacks, like McDonald’s is known for making hamburgers. First came Archie, then Peyton, followed by Eli, who starred for the New York Giants and might well join big bro in the Hall one day.
The other brother, Cooper, somehow took a wrong turn and became a receiver before his career was cut short by injury.
When it was announced Manning was selected, it flitted across my mind that no one among all athletes in Indianapolis history was a less surprising and more automatic choice to be enshrined in a pro sports Hall of Fame.
The every-week buzz was deafening when Manning was behind center, his presence, his performance always giving the Colts a chance to win. Tom Brady just won his seventh Super Bowl with his second team Sunday. But it was not so long ago Manning was in the discussion for who is the GOAT, or Greatest Of All Time.
Manning got a second championship ring but had to go to Denver to do it. Even if Manning played until the relatively NFL ancient age of 39, Brady has far and away outlasted him. Brady is outlasting Methuselah.
Yet Manning displays a neon light assemblage of statistics next to his name with 71,940 passing yards gained, 539 career touchdown passes and a record 55 touchdowns thrown in one season. Oh, there are five regular-season most valuable player awards on his résumé.
Brady has played older, played longer and has thrown for 79,204 yards in the regular seasons with 581 TD passes. And he has won the MVP award in five Super Bowls.
As productive has been Drew Brees, seemingly about to retire after throwing for 80,358 yards and 571 touchdowns with one Super Bowl crown.
It is remarkable how the trio simultaneously defied age and compiled astonishing numbers year after year.
The Colts have an odd heritage since they also were the Baltimore Colts, a team with its own greats and legacy and a quarterback star viewed at another time as the GOAT. Johnny Unitas represents a different era. But he never belonged to Indianapolis and didn’t want to, either. He was rooted in Baltimore and felt the city was robbed of its historically rightful claim on the club.
Manning was always respectful of Unitas’ magic. The late Unitas surely appreciated Manning’s skills, though he didn’t care a whit about Indianapolis.
One Manning trait was putting in the time. He devoted his free hours to film study in dark rooms. That was after studying Southeastern Conference game tapes when he was young, first his father’s games and then when he played at Tennessee.
Manning was blessed with the tools, such as a strong arm, and the size at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, but he also had the head for the game. The greatness ascribed to Manning and Brady includes the ability to lead, but they also were committed to always improving, always learning.
After games, Manning showered and dressed and delivered his analysis to the sports media. He got his own podium, like the president, not sitting half-naked by his locker. There was more dignity in that.
If ever there was an illustration of how important Manning was to his team, it was demonstrated in 2011. I was around the Colts that season, which Manning missed in its entirety because of a neck injury. The Colts took some of the worst thumpings in team history because they had no quarterback Plan B other than grabbing a passing (they hoped) stranger off Meridian Street.
The Colts were a horrible 2-14 and drafted Andrew Luck with their draft prize. That sort of worked until Luck decided he was out of luck and didn’t want to play anymore.
No one really knew if Manning would be healthy enough to play gain, and that led to his departure to Denver for the last chapter of his career.
The Colts built a statue honoring Manning and retired his No. 18 jersey. Manning and wife Ashley donated enough money that the St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis is now called Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent.
Those admitted for care do not have to study football game film before doctors treat them.