Peyton Manning’s first encounter with the Bears was as a 4-year-old.
“I was at the Pro Bowl in 1980 and my parents couldn’t find me for, like, three hours,” he said.
His dad, Archie, was one of the quarterbacks for the NFC.
“Any parent could imagine what that’s like not to know where your child is,” Manning said. “All of a sudden three hours later, Walter Payton comes up and he’s carrying me. Walter had me out on his catamaran for the past three hours like it wasn’t a big deal at all.
“It’s kind of neat to think of that story now that we’re playing the Bears this week.”
If the notorious prankster Payton were around this week, the Bears would encourage him to kidnap Peyton again for about three hours on Sunday.
As America’s Quarterback, Manning’s matchup against the Bears’ Rex Grossman is about as lopsided as the pre-Super Bowl 1963 NFL title faceoff between the Giants’ Y.A. Tittle and the Bears’ Bill Wade. Or maybe it was the 1964 NFL title clash between the Colts’ John Unitas and the Browns’ Frank Ryan.
Wade and Ryan both won, but that doesn’t matter for purposes of this week’s David and Goliath buildup.
Manning, who finally got Tom Brady and the New England Patriots off his back in the AFC title game, hasn’t really won The Big One until he can get past belittled Rex Grossman in The Biggest One of All.
Never mind that Grossman’s playoff passer rating of 75.4 is better than Manning’s 66.8. Never mind that Grossman has thrown just as many touchdown passes in two playoff games (two) as Manning has in three, while Grossman has thrown only one interception to Manning’s six. Manning’s regular-season passer rating of 101.0 led the league, while Grossman’s 73.9 was 24th. It’s the biggest disparity in season passer rating between Super Bowl quarterbacks since the Rams’ Kurt Warner (109.2) beat the Titans’ Steve McNair (78.6) after the 1999 season.
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After eight years of falling short of a Super Bowl, Manning now is expected to win it just because he’s in it. Against Grossman, it’s almost as if Manning couldn’t enhance his reputation even if he won, he can only tarnish it if he loses.
When record passer Dan Marino lost his only Super Bowl appearance, it was to Joe Montana. Marino joined Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, Sonny Jurgensen, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly and Warren Moon as Hall of Fame quarterbacks who never won The Big One.
“It’s about the team. This is not a personal mission in any way for me,” Manning said Tuesday, sounding sincere enough almost to believe.
“I don’t play the `if you win, if you lose’ game,” Manning said. “You realize the days of building for next year are long over with. You better try to do it while you have the chance. While we’re here, you sure do want to go ahead and win it.”
Grossman has recent history on his side but little else.
Quarterbacks with the lower seasonal passer rating have won six of the last nine Super Bowls. Also, the quarterback with less experience has won the last five Super Bowls and six of the last seven.
Besides being the odds-on favorite, Manning is the sentimental favorite nearly everywhere except Chicago. It’s unusual for football fans to root for the overdog, but Manning is an unusual case.
No other quarterback knows and appreciates more NFL history than Manning, who has been a part of it since birth. No other quarterback is grilled more about his eventual place in history, a subject he would rather address on the field than off.
After nine years and enough records already to earn his way into the Hall of Fame, Manning finally reached the stage his dad never could dream about with the New Orleans Saints and his brother Eli hasn’t yet approached with the New York Giants.
Typical for Manning but perhaps unprecedented for Super Bowls, Manning began his Tuesday news conference by remembering and thanking past coaches, including Tony Reginelli from his New Orleans high school, who had a heart attack the night before the Colts beat the Patriots. Manning also cited current Colts on injured reserve unable to play Sunday and former Colts teammates such as Edgerrin James, who signed with Arizona in the off-season.
It sounded more like a Hall of Fame acceptance speech.
Manning said he appreciates advice he solicited or received from previous Super Bowl quarterbacks about how to prepare this week.
“I’d rather not name them, but it wasn’t [Vince] Ferragamo or [Craig] Morton or [Len] Dawson or [Bart] Starr or [Earl] Morrall,” Manning said, naming those who played before his boat ride with Payton.
Preparation is such routine that Manning anticipates questions as well as he does defenses.
Asked about the gap between his reputation and Grossman’s, Manning answered: “I’m the wrong guy to answer that. Rex has done an outstanding job this season. Obviously, I watched from afar and, of course, these past two weeks I’ve solely studied the Chicago Bears defense. If you are a quarterback and you get your team to the Super Bowl, in my opinion, you are doing a good job.”
Manning’s commercials make him the most recognizable face in the NFL, even with a fake mustache.
“I kind of enjoy doing it because it has brought me a special relationship with a lot of the fans,” he said. “A common question I get in restaurants and airports after `Can I have your autograph?’ is `Will you sign this melon?’ Or `Cut that meat.'”
Manning and the Colts have lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion in each of the last three years–the Steelers and the Patriots twice, so his quest has become as familiar as his face.
“I always felt I would have a chance to play in this game,” he said. “All I knew to do was keep working hard. I certainly would have hoped to have been here earlier. Somebody said, `Well, did [last] Sunday’s win make up for the other losses you’ve had against the Patriots?’ It really doesn’t because those were different teams and those were opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.
“That’s what we have right now, an opportunity. You want to do your part. I don’t feel I have to do anything more than my part.”
Or anything less, which for Manning always has been understood.
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