Beech Tree News Network

My daughter, Natalie, believes I’m a bad influence on my granddaughter, Sabria.  I don’t see it.  I think it’s normal for a three-year-old to know that Peyton Manning is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, that his number is 18, and that he says “Omaha” to signal to his team that the play is in motion.  How is that damaging?  The Broncos are going to the Super Bowl, and the Super Bowl is, after all, part of the American psyche.
    I can’t wait til next weekend!  I’ve already put back my chips and dip in my secret stash place, and I splurged and got a frozen Digiorno pizza instead of my regular Jacks.  I’ve got the program set to record in case of a life-threatening emergency, and if I’m pulled away from this super bowl, it had better be a life-threatening emergency.  This year, MY quarterback will be playing.
    I’ve been a Peyton Manning fan since back in the day, and I’ve had to battle a bunch of naysayers in order to stay a fan—notably, my friend, Caleb, who doesn’t like him because he played for Tennessee; and a few other friends, who are against him,  because his last name is Manning.
    I am not in the camp of fans who dislike an athlete because they feel he has had more advantages along the way.  I appreciate an under-dog story as much as the next guy, but I believe every individual deserves to be judged on his own merit, and Peyton Manning has merit.
    For those of you who don’t know, Peyton, along with brothers, Eli (quarterback NY Giants), and Cooper (eldest brother whose football career was cut short because of spinal stenosis) are the sons of Archie Manning (quarterback, Ole Miss, NOLA Saints).  In short, he comes from football royalty, and, yes, he had the best of everything growing up.  He was also a fierce competitor and had an inextinguishable work ethic, and that produced substance, not hype.  A strength coach for the Colts, where Peyton played for 14 seasons, said, “When Peyton Manning dies, this is what they ought to write on his gravestone: IT ALL MATTERED TO ME.”  (Sports Illustrated, Dec. 2013).
    I’ve watched Peyton in Super Bowls before, notably 2006, when he was named MVP, but this year will be different.  After expecting to play for the Indianapolis Colts his entire career, he was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2012, because he had been side-lined the previous year with a neck injury.  The Colts went 2-14 that year without him.  One sports writer suggested that the side-lined quarterback should be voted MVP that year.
    To be fair to the Colts, they had no way of knowing if the surgeries Peyton was undergoing would be enough to bring him back to his former glory.  I think this season with the Broncos answered that question.  He broke both the passing-yards record and the touch down-passes record this year.
    Peyton Manning is MY quarterback.  I don’t know if the Broncos will win on February 2nd—the Seahawks have a bone-crushing defense—but even if they don’t, he will continue to be MY quarterback; and if I have anything to do with it, he will be Sabria’s quarterback also.
    In 2009, I bought the children’s book, “Family Huddle.”  It is the story of the Manning brothers as kids.  I plan on reading it to Sabria on Super Bowl Eve. (Don’t tell Natalie.)