Manning: The Dad-Rock Prometheus

[scorpio]

Terrific article on Grantland:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...ton-manning-37

Here's Peyton Manning's legacy among writers: He's so good that he turns metaphor against itself. You look at his stats and you have no choice but to deploy weapons-grade verbiage. Peyton Manning shreds the Eagles for 327 yards and four touchdowns in three quarters. Peyton Manning torches the NFL for 1,470 yards on a 75 percent completion rate in September. Peyton Manning obliterates the Ravens with seven touchdown passes. Peyton Manning crushes. Peyton Manning burns. Peyton Manning annihilates.

And yet … have you ever seen a football player less likely to crush, burn, or annihilate anything than Peyton Manning?

[Kaylore]

I did not enjoy that.

[bowtown]

I did not enjoy that.

It's broken up into arbitrary section by roman numerals... that make it legit.

[TonyR]

Dan Patrick once asked Manning about his honeymoon and he responded with a description of his wife's passing form when throwing the ball around on the beach.

He doesn't seem old, because he never seemed young in the first place.

[Kid A]

I enjoy Brian Phillip's writing, and I thought he did capture kind of what makes Peyton stand out in a league full of QBs who want to be rock stars. He's never tried to be Tom Brady cool. His talent is born out of his complete obsessive, expertise for dissecting defenses. The astronaut analogy is actually kind of perfect.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

I enjoy Brian Phillip's writing, and I thought he did capture kind of what makes Peyton stand out in a league full of QBs who want to be rock stars. He's never tried to be Tom Brady cool. His talent is born out of his complete obsessive, expertise for dissecting defenses. The astronaut analogy is actually kind of perfect.

He's the Niki Lauda to Tom brady's James Hunt.

Yes, i just saw Rush the other day.

[Archer81]

I enjoy Brian Phillip's writing, and I thought he did capture kind of what makes Peyton stand out in a league full of QBs who want to be rock stars. He's never tried to be Tom Brady cool. His talent is born out of his complete obsessive, expertise for dissecting defenses. The astronaut analogy is actually kind of perfect.

Tom Brady is not that cool man. He's a geek who hopes others do not call him out on his geekiness.

[DenverBound]

I did not enjoy that.

I agree. I get that he was trying to be sarcastically complementary, but my god, did he have to try THAT hard? That was painful to read.

[Gutless Drunk]

Tom Brady is not that cool man. He's a geek who hopes others do not call him out on his geekiness.

[DomCasual]

That was a great article!

[Shananahan]

I agree. I get that he was trying to be sarcastically complementary, but my god, did he have to try THAT hard? That was painful to read.

Maybe I missed it, but was there even one mention of Manning's competitiveness? His obsession with perfection and the amount of dedication and work he puts toward that and expects of others?

Surely the author didn't just gloss over that stuff in an attempt to fit his subject into the article.

[Kid A]

Maybe I missed it, but was there even one mention of Manning's competitiveness? His obsession with perfection and the amount of dedication and work he puts toward that and expects of others?

Surely the author didn't just gloss over that stuff in an attempt to fit his subject into the article.

I think the idea of his competitiveness is implied in all the anecdotes about his obsessive preparation, and they way he pushes teammates to do the same.

All those days spent watching game film, those hours contemplating seam routes!*

*Cf. the classic Peyton moment in Peter King's column from earlier this week when he texts Julius Thomas to say "You know, I'm really liking the way you're running these seam routes — they're a lot better."

[Kid A]

Tom Brady is not that cool man. He's a geek who hopes others do not call him out on his geekiness.

Ha, well I would argue 90% of "cool" people have plenty dorky about them that would be seen with cameras following them 24/7. I only meant that Brady is the stereotypical supermodel dating, fashion magazine cover model, stubble chinned type (at least in media portrayal) that Peyton stand out in contrast to.

I will say that one thing that the article doesn't account for in terms of Peyton's personality is his sense of humor. He has legitimately solid comedic timing and acting in his commercials and SNL appearances. Combined with his ability in interviews and pressers, he's an unusually intelligent/savvy communicator, even for an NFL quarterback.

[Sly_Eli]

great article

[Shananahan]

I think the idea of his competitiveness is implied in all the anecdotes about his obsessive preparation, and they way he pushes teammates to do the same.

Well then he chose some poor anecdotes. None of them give the impression that the guy is the very first person on the practice field and the last to leave, or that he spends countless hours going over and over the most minute details or preparation and play. He goes out of his way to paint Manning as some kind of dopey savant and it's overly deliberate and unnecessary.

The article isn't terrible, but it isn't 'great' either. It's just kinda lazy and pointless.