Peyton Manning is on tour, sort of like Red Grange in 1925. The Colts’ quarterback opened the season in New England against Super Bowl quarterback Tom Brady. Then he went to Tennessee, where he played against his 2003 co-MVP, Titans quarterback Steve McNair.
This week it’s Brett Favre and the Packers. Next week it’s new young gun Byron Leftwich and Jacksonville. The week after that it’s Rich Gannon and Oakland in a faceoff between the league’s 2002 and 2003 MVPs.
The Packers are the opponent for the Colts’ home opener, and there’s something about Favre vs. Manning that stirs the imagination more than the rest. They have become two of the league’s most marketable commodities despite playing in two of the smallest markets. Over the last five years, they are tied as the winningest quarterbacks with 52 victories each.
Manning and Favre have met only once before, in 2000. Barring a Super Bowl matchup, the Colts and Packers aren’t scheduled to play again until 2008, the year Favre turns 39 and probably will be mowing his lawn in Mississippi.
The league’s new scheduling format was designed to allow natural rivalries and great players to square off more often. Every four years still doesn’t seem like enough for Manning and Favre, but it’s better than the old formula when their teams played only once between 1988 and 1997.
Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas met twice a year when the Packers and Baltimore Colts were in the old Western Conference before the NFL merged with the AFL.
Miami’s Dan Marino and Denver’s John Elway, though drafted together in 1983 in the same conference, played once in ’85 and then twice within 19 days in ’98, Elway’s last season. That was it. Three times.
Favre and Manning are the league’s two most durable quarterbacks. Manning will be starting his 99th game in a row, second only to Favre’s incomparable record 192. If Manning kept playing until the Colts’ next game against the Packers in 2008, he would be on pace to tie Favre’s present 192 in the final game of the next season, 2009, when he would be 33.
“I would love to eventually break it, but it’s hard to gain any ground on him,” Manning said.
When they first met in chilly Green Bay in November of 2000, the Packers got off to a 19-0 start thanks to Favre’s two touchdown passes before Manning warmed up and threw three touchdown passes in the final quarter of a 26-24 Green Bay victory.
The Packers no longer rely on Favre to carry their team. At least that’s the plan. They would rather have him hand off to Ahman Green. The Colts like Manning to hand off to Edgerrin James, too, but there’s a difference. The Colts still live and die off Manning’s play-action passes; the Packers would rather use Favre’s arm to supplement Green’s running.
Manning threw 29 touchdown passes last season; Favre led the league with 32. Favre was MVP in his fourth season as Green Bay’s starter. Manning was MVP in his sixth year. Favre won a Super Bowl in his fifth season; Manning is still working on one.
Favre has a streak of 27 games in which he has thrown a touchdown pass. Manning had a 27-game streak in 1998-99. Only Unitas (47), Marino (30) and Dave Krieg (28) had longer ones. Favre is the gunslinger, Manning the sheriff. Favre is impetuous, Manning calculating. Turning 35 on Oct. 10, Favre still has the better arm, maybe the best arm in NFL history. Manning has enough arm.
Favre calls audibles infrequently; Manning practically directs a no-huddle offense from the line of scrimmage.
Favre grew up close to New Orleans and rooted for Manning’s dad, Archie, and the Saints. “Several guys in our locker room probably think I played with his dad,” Favre said.
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Archie once leaned on Favre to console Peyton after a tough Tennessee loss to Florida. Peyton has rooted for Favre.
“I’ve always admired the way he competed and the way he played the game,” Peyton said. “I think that’s the way you play quarterback. You play as hard as you possibly can, and you leave it all out there on the field. He definitely does that. I’d like to think that I do that, prepare extremely hard for every game, and that’s why when you win it feels great and when you lose it’s so disappointing.
“I’ve never felt guilty about not giving it my all and leaving it all out there. I think Brett has been the ultimate model for that, for his competitiveness and his determination.”
Both understand that winning is their primary job.
“I consider what I do in terms of the team aspect the most important thing,” Favre said. “If I play well, I think we have a good chance to win. If I don’t . . . sort of like Philly last year. I thought in the playoffs I played exceptionally well, but what am I remembered by? The last pass. I know it’s not fair, but that’s the way it is, so I consider it a huge challenge to get this team back [to a Super Bowl], especially since I’ve been there before . . . with an older team with veteran guys.”
Manning has a bigger challenge of getting there the first time. If Sunday’s matchup is a Super Bowl preview, the only people happier than Manning and Favre would be TV ad salespersons.