In Manning, Archie and Payten Manning, with writer John Underwood, provide a compelling look at football from the perspectives of two generations of players.One, an experienced and battle-scarred father, and the other, a son who has exploded on to the national scene as one of the best young quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.
Together they take a hard look at their careers and all of American football, dissecting the big-money madness, race relations within the NFL (and in sports in general), the rituals of bribery that mark college recruiting, and fans who can no longer identify with the insatiable cash fever in pro sports. They discuss organizational sports and why white youngsters aren't out there playing the game like they used to; the college game as compared to the pros; coaches, good and bad; and why the quarterback position is the most difficult one in all of sports.
It all began in a town called Drew in the heart of the Mississippi Delta -- farm country, where you'd find crops of cotton, soybeans, and rice. As a boy, Archie didn't have much to do outside of school except play sports. Lots of sports. He played them all and he played them well. But football was his passion, and if you lived in Mississippi in the 1960s, there was only one college for you: Ole Miss.
While there, Archie made All-America twice and was so impressive at quarterback, could do so many things to win games, that Bear Bryant, the great Alabama coach, said that he was "the most athletic quarterback I've ever seen." He became, John Grisham wrote, "a legend larger than life." Archie's exploits led him to be selected second in the NFL player draft, where he embarked on a fourteen-year career in the NFL, winning All-Pro and MVP honors. But he labored with the Saints, taking a fearful beating and never winning a championship. The Saints became known as the "Ain'ts."
Meanwhile, he married and had three boys. All three would grow up to be carbon copies of their father: none under 6'4" or 200 pounds. First was Cooper, loose and lightheartened, only wide receiver of the bunch whose football aspirations were cut short by a spinal disorder while a freshman at Ole Miss. Second was Peyton, more serious, studious, and driven, though quite capable of pranks. Third was Eli, who followed in Peyton's footsteps and became an All-State quarterback for three years. Today he is a quarterback at his father's alma mater, Ole Miss.
For Peyton, playing college ball was the fulfillment of a dream and he chose Tennessee. As a teenager he memorized audiotapes of Archie's games at Ole Miss, repeated the play-by-play under his breath as he practiced ("Manning from Drew rolls right...He throws down field to Franks of Biloxi...Touchdown!") and imagined himself performing the same heroics as his father. "I would love to played in the '60s," Peyton says. But he himself did okay in the '90s. Peyton's teams won 39 of 44 games, and he became Tennessee's all-time leading passer, set 33 records, and wound up third in NCAA history in career passing yards and fourth in touchdown passes. He won any number of awards, was named NCAA Player of the Year, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Peyton was selected first in the NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts, a struggling franchise. He was the only quarterback to take every snap in 1998, but his team had a dismal 3-13 and made the playoffs. Peyton was voted to be the AFC starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl.
Manning is a truly personal and inspiring story of a family, a tradition, and a legacy, providing a stirring -- and at times controversial -- look at football during the past fifty years.
It seems somehow fitting that the first pass Peyton Manning, the $48 million man, threw as a professional went for a touchdown. His father Archie Manning, in this team effort from two of football's more interesting quarterbacks, stresses that "My only hard rule [with his sons growing up] was that they finish what they start." Peyton, the All-American Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Tennessee, obviously listened to his All-American from Ole Miss father, whose strong right arm almost made the Saints competitive over 12 seasons in New Orleans.
Though both father and son get equal billing, this is really Archie's book, his story, and the story of his family that he wants to tell. He gets the first word and the last in this hybrid joint first-person memoir with chapter intros and structural transitions provided by Sports Illustrated veteran John Underwood. Like most sports biographies, it's rife with inspiration, decisions to be made, challenges to face (Peyton's older brother had to cut short his career when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal spinal cord disease), tragedy faced (Archie's father killed himself while Archie was in college), and expectations exceeded. But it also has a lot of straight talk from Archie about family and football, and he's not above throwing a few penalty flags on the game. He's loud and clear on college recruiting abuses--as is Peyton. He worries about youth leagues putting pressures to succeed over fun in playing, hates all the taunting and celebrating in the NFL, and thinks there's just too darned much money and too little team loyalty in football's veins these days. The fire still smolders in his belly, and Manning is at its most interesting when he stokes up the flames. --Jeff Silverman
