Matt Christopher - On the Field with...Peyton and Eli Manning

Copyright 2008 by Matt Christopher Royalties, Inc.

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Text written by Stephanie True Peters

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN 978-0-316-04439-4

What Is a Dynasty?

Dictionaries describe a dynasty as an influential family that obtains and keeps power for more than one generation. Sometimes that power is political, such as that handed down from kings and queens to their children, or when the son or daughter of a government leader follows in his or her parents footsteps. Sometimes the dynasty begins with a successful entrepreneur who passes the business on to his or her children. A dynasty can also be a family of popular actors and actresses, or musicians, or artists.

When people use the term dynasty in the sports world, usually they mean a team has had several championship years in a row. For example, the Chicago Bulls ruled the National Basketball Association from 1991 to 1998, posting six titles. The New York Yankees have had two dynastic eras, one from 1936 to 1943 and one from 1947 to 1962, racking up a grand total of 16 World Series victories. The Green Bay Packers were untouchable from 1961 to 1967, as were the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1974 to 1979.

The sporting world has family dynasties, too, although they are not as common. After all, just because a father or a mother is a great athlete doesnt mean their children or nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, or other relatives will be.

Then again, growing up with a sports star gives others in the family certain advantages. Children get an up close and personal look at how a sport is played, for one thing. They learn the finer points of the sport from a very early age and see what an athlete must do to reach the top of his or her game. Armed with this knowledge, the next generation is poised to step in when the previous one is ready to retire.

Such was the case with Major League Baseballs Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. This father-and-son duo not only excelled in the same sport, they played on the same team and in 1990, in several of the same games, including one in which they hit back-to-back homers! (Ken Jr.s younger brother, Craig, was also a ballplayer, although his career began and ended in the minors.)

NASCAR also has a family dynasty, the Earnhardts. The late Dale Earnhardt Sr. was one of the most popular and skillful drivers of the 1980s and 90s. His sons, Dale Jr. and Kerry, followed him into racing and have each had successful careers; his older daughter, Kelley, is Dale Jr.s manager and business agent.

The list goes on: slugger Barry Bonds of Major League Baseball is the son of former MLB great Bobby Bonds. Muhammad Alis daughter, Laila, is now a professional boxer, like her father. Jimmy Walker, father of NBA superstar Jalen Rose, played for three NBA teams in the 1960s and 1970s. Former National Football League tight end Don Hasselbeck is the father of two current NFL quarterbacks: Tim, of the Arizona Cardinals, and Matt, of the Seattle Seahawks.

Amazingly, the Hasselbeck trio is not the only father-son-son dynasty in the NFL currently. The other is that of the Mannings: Archie, Peyton, and Eli. This is the story of their dynastys path to greatness.

19491967

Archie

Archie Manning, father of NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli, has lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, since 1971. But he doesnt consider himself as from that city.

When anyone asks me where Im from, he once told a reporter, I say Drew.

Drew is Drew, Mississippi, a tiny, impoverished town in the northwest corner of the state, an area known as the Delta. Elisha Archibald Manning III was born there on May 19, 1949. His father, Buddy, worked for a farm machinery dealership. His mother, Sis, was a secretary for three town lawyers and pretty much ran the town, according to Archie. Along with his older sister, Pam, they lived in a small wooden house that was actually three separate buildings that had been combined to form one dwelling.

Archies childhood was fairly typical for the 1950s and 60s. He went to school, he did chores, he attended church and church school, and he got chocolate milk shakes at the local drugstore whenever he could. He also played sports baseball, football, track, and basketball.

Baseball was Archies favorite sport at first. He loved it so much, in fact, that one summer he constructed a baseball diamond between his backyard and his neighbors so that he and his friends could play every day. It had some lumps and bumps, Archie said of the field, but all the measurements were correct and as far as I was concerned, it was beautiful.

Archie loved football, too. During one pickup game, the other kids made him their quarterback. After that, he never played another position if he could help it.

In the fifth grade, he joined the local peewee league. Archie remembers the terror of being a 70-pound pip-squeak facing opponents 50 pounds heavier and a few years older than him. But even the thought of being flattened by one of those boys never stopped him from playing.

At that point I could run and throw the ball pretty well, and I hung in, he said.

Archie continued to play sports throughout his junior high and high school years. Football became his favorite, despite the fact that he seemed to get injured fairly often!

One injury came when he was a freshman. The coach told him that hed be quarterbacking an upcoming game. Archie was thrilled. But his hopes were dashed when, the very next day, he broke his right arm during practice.

That break sidelined him for the rest of the season. Fortunately, he was back in action when his sophomore year rolled around. He made the roster as the backup quarterback. By the seasons last game, he had moved into the starting position.

He started his junior year, too for three games, anyway. Then, in the midst of the third, he was crushed beneath an opponent and broke his left arm. Another break, another season of sitting on the sidelines!

Despite the injuries, Archie had played enough and been good enough to get noticed by a few important people that year. He didnt know that, however, until the eve of his senior year in high school. It was then that his coach told him that some college recruiters would be watching him closely in his final season. If they liked what they saw, they might offer him a scholarship.

Archie had never really considered going to college, let alone going on a football scholarship. Still, the more I thought about it, he said, the more excited I got.

That excitement transferred to the field. Drew High Schools football team had never been one of the areas winning teams. But in 1966, with an injury-free Archie Manning at the helm, they won five out of their ten games, the most theyd won in years.

Soon after football ended, scholarship offers from a few colleges appeared. One was from the University of Mississippi. Archie had been a longtime fan of Ole Miss, and knew that the coach, Johnny Vaught, had a reputation for developing great quarterbacks. He saw no reason not to accept their offer.

It would turn out to be a match made in heaven.

19671971

Manning and Ole Miss