Finally, Eli has chance to surpass Peyton
The Colts' Peyton Manning and the Giants' Eli Manning head off the field after congratulating each other following a Colts' 38-14 loss. (Sept. 19, 2010) Credit: AP
INDIANAPOLIS
This was the morning after Peyton Manning had won Super Bowl XLI, and the Colts' sleep-deprived quarterback was in the midst of accepting the Most Valuable Player hardware from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when he spotted younger brother Eli in the back of the room.
Peyton remarked to the assembled media how he was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Eli soon would be ready to win his own Super Bowl, perhaps as soon as the following season. Considering Eli's spotty performance in his first three seasons as the Giants' quarterback, that comment was met with a healthy dose of skepticism. Even Eli wasn't buying it.
"I think he was just trying to be nice at the time," he said Monday.
Eli's feelings of envy -- and perhaps inadequacy -- only escalated in the coming months.
"Just seeing Peyton after that game, seeing him down in the locker room, seeing that smile on his face, being with him for those next couple of months after he won a Super Bowl, it definitely made you jealous," he said.
It also made him more determined and steeled his resolve in a way he soon would come to appreciate.
"When you see someone win it, the relief, the smile that's painted on his face for months, it makes you want to win one more," he said. "It truly gives you a burning desire to get one."
Eli did get that Super Bowl ring the year after Peyton earned his, scoring one of the greatest upsets in NFL history when the Giants defeated the previously unbeaten Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. Now he has earned the chance to surpass his big brother -- in Peyton's adopted hometown of Indianapolis.
While Peyton attempts to recover from a third surgical procedure on his neck amid doubts about his future with the Colts, Eli has taken center stage here with a chance to enhance his own legacy. For the rest of this week, it's Eli's town, and Peyton is expected to step aside and allow his brother to bask in the spotlight.
Eli said the two don't plan to meet this week, although they will speak by telephone.
"I don't have any plans to see Peyton and I know I won't be going to his house any time this week," Eli said. "The last Super Bowl I played in, Peyton was in Arizona by Wednesday or Thursday, and we didn't meet then. I'll talk to him throughout the week, but besides that, I'm going to keep my normal routine."
But Peyton was very much on Eli's mind Monday after the Giants arrived in Indianapolis for a week of preparation for Sunday's game. He thanked him for all his support over the years. And he even brought us back into their childhood in New Orleans, when Peyton occasionally would beat up on his younger brother.
"He'd pin me down and take his knuckles and knock on my chest and make me name the 12 schools in the SEC," Eli said. "I was 6 or 7 at the time, and I didn't know them, so I quickly learned them. It was a great learning technique, but I don't suggest anyone duplicate that or try that out."
There was more.
"Once I figured those [SEC schools] out, we moved on to all 28 NFL teams, so I had to get my studying done for that," he said. "The one I never got was naming 10 brands of cigarettes. When he really wanted to torture me and I knew I had no shot of getting it, that's when I started screaming for my mom or dad to save me."
Welcome to the Manning household, where Saints quarterback Archie Manning brought up sons Cooper, Peyton and Eli. Tremendous stuff from Eli, who rarely offers that kind of window into his childhood but who invoked those memories while paying tribute to the wonderful contributions Peyton has made to his growth as a quarterback.
"Peyton has been a great big brother to me and has been very helpful in my progression as a quarterback, whether through college or the NFL, supporting me, giving me any tips he could think of," Eli said. "He even bought me a computer that would store all our software to watch film at home. He's been the guy I've looked up to."
Now he has a chance to surpass his big brother with a second Super Bowl title, all the while not knowing if Peyton will ever get back on the field again. Mixed emotions for the Manning brothers, for sure.
"If you play this game long enough, you realize how precious these opportunities are," Eli said. "You can't let those slip away, because you don't know if you're going to get another opportunity."
