Like father, like son
Manning eager to carry on father's legacy
Posted: Mon April 20, 1998 at 10:48 AM ET
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Manning prepares to meet the challenge of being the No.1 draft pick
(CNN/SI)
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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (CNN/SI) -- The images are as startling as they are familiar -- the father and his son ... passing along the genes of genius and so much more.
"If I can handle things the way he handled himself," former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning says about his father Archie, "the way he handled things off the field, with class, with autographs, the media, then that's a great accomplishment."
The father and his son -- men of the South. The father, Archie, started at Ole Miss in the late '60s. The son, Peyton, etching his place in college football lore just up the highway at Tennessee 30 years later. The artery between them is joined at the heart.
"I don't go around bragging about my children, but he will compete," Archie Manning said of Peyton. "There may be days when he throws five interceptions, gets sacked eight or nine times, but he'll keep competing. I've learned that much about him over the years."
Archie Manning, a member of college football's legendary past, passing the mantle of greatness to his middle son Peyton ... but the story becomes more eerie as the years go by. Now, in this rite of passage known as the NFL Draft, it comes again. As teams tried to decide who would be picked first, Peyton Manning or Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf, suddenly it is 1971 and there is the father Archie and Stanford's Jim Plunkett. A mental coin flip sent Plunkett first to New England, Manning second to New Orleans. Peyton, who was born five years later, has heard the tale before.
"I think that if you're a quarterback, I think you want that kind of pressure," said Peyton. "You want to be in that situation where they're counting on you to win some games. All I know how to do there is go in and work hard and study hard, as I possibly can. It is a lot of pressure, but it's something I'm looking forward to trying and handle.
"I'm not perfect. There's no question about that, but nobody needs to tell me that I need to improve. You know I'm gonna always try to improve. I think you can always get better every single day, and that's my goal -- to get just a little bit better every day. I'm my own biggest critic. I plan to produce in the NFL, and that's my plan right now."
The best advice that Archie can give right now is to be patient
CNN/SI
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The telephone and the shoulder have always been there for Peyton to use, to listen and lean on. But it had to be his decision, for the father had vowed never to push. Now comes the NFL, where the father never once in 14 years played on a winning team.
"The only advice I've given him thus far is kind of start getting something in your mind, of patience, because I'm not sure Peyton is very patient," said the former Saints quarterback. "He's probably been spoiled some by his success. I'm not gonna try to give him a lot. I think you gotta just stick your nose in there and get it bloodied a little bit, which he will."
Archie's best advice thus far to Peyton:
"He's always told me to have fun, and that's what I plan to do. I've had a fun four years in college, and I plan to have fun in the NFL as well."
Peyton has never directly tried to emulate his father in anything other than class, and he will take that particular ambition to the NFL with him.
"There are a lot of days when he got beat up on the field and they lost badly, but he signed every autograph, he did every single interview and that's what it's all about," said Peyton. "He never brought his sorrows home either. When he came home to Cooper and I and Mom and Eli, when he was younger, you'd thought that they'd just won the Super Bowl."
Something the father never managed in his 14 seasons ... an achievement the Indianapolis Colts hope the son can add to the Manning legacy soon.
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