Indianapolis – When the time came, the moment when Peyton Manning would, finally, make his bones as a “winning” NFL quarterback, or once again find himself enveloped in abject failure, his father, Archie, literally couldn’t watch.
Roaming the hallways deep in the bowels of the RCA Dome, the elder Manning only occasionally allowed himself to peek out onto the field, where his son, a student of the sport weaned on NFL Films and game tapes as much as mother’s milk, was leading the Indianapolis Colts on an 80-yard march into history.
“Really, I’ve been pacing all week,” Archie said shortly after the Colts’ 38-34 AFC championship game triumph over New England. “I walked down here the whole fourth quarter, maybe saw a little on TV, but I didn’t want the cameras to find me.”
That’s what happens when your son takes a beating worse than anything ever inflicted by a heavyweight champ. Facing Mike Tyson in his prime was at worst a one-time, 12-round deal. Peyton Manning has been pummeled for years for his playoff failures, most notably at the hands of the Patriots.
The thrashing ended Sunday. In a slugfest that indeed would have sent previous Colts teams running to their mommies and daddies, Manning stood up and delivered his own signature moment, as impressive as anything crafted by Joe Montana, Steve Young – or even a certain Orange and Blue quarterback wearing No. 7.
“That was on the other day,” Peyton said of The Drive, John Elway’s legendary 98-yard march at Cleveland in the AFC championship game of the 1986 season. “You never get tired of seeing it. That’s always been special to me, it’s always given me a good feeling. I’m not saying what we did today compares to that, but it certainly feels good.”
Of course, there was another Broncos connection to be found. By now, Jake Plummer’s beard may be down to his knees, and, chillin’ in a one-room cabin somewhere in the wilds of Idaho, the future Houston Texan might have been miles from the nearest television.
But for the first – and goodness knows maybe the last – time, there’s a favorable comparison with Manning to be made, as now there are two men who have beaten New England’s Tom Brady in a playoff game.
Of course, it was beating Brady, the three-time Super Bowl MVP, 62-2 in his career when leading at halftime, including a perfect 9-0 in the postseason, that made Sunday’s win so sweet.
Not that Archie was being picky.
“It just hurts you as a parent; it hurts because it’s your child they’re talking about,” Archie said of the criticism of Peyton. “I feel like he’s accomplished a few things in his career, but it seems people aren’t interested in what he’s done. It’s always more about what he supposedly can’t do. I’m sure that now it will be something else. I love sports, I love games, but I prefer to look at things more positively.”
Not to get all emotional, but it seemed everywhere you turned Sunday night there was something to tug at your heart. While Archie Manning was bringing his pacing to an end, Tony Dungy began his own wandering through the halls of the dome, trying to decipher the twists and turns his own life has taken over the past year or so.
There was the death of his son James late in the 2005 season, then in the playoffs, his top-seeded team was upset by Pittsburgh right here on its home turf.
About an hour after the game Sunday, Dungy finally settled down, speaking quietly just outside the Colts’ locker room about making his own journey from personal and professional sorrow to the Super Bowl.
“I thought about my mom and dad and Jamie before the game, and in the week leading up to it, I’ll probably think about them again now that things are beginning to wind down,” he said. “I’ve learned so much from all of them. It really would have been great for them to be here, but I know they’re looking at it and they’re proud right now.”
Surely there will be a little smile on Dungy’s face in South Florida when he looks across the field at XLI and sees Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears. After 40 years without one, there will be two African-American coaches on the sidelines in Miami.
“I talked with Lovie last Monday and I’ll talk with him (today),” Dungy said. “I was watching their game right back here, and when they went up by three scores, I said: ‘They’re in. Now we just have to get ourselves there.’
“I’m proud to be an African- American coach, and I’m proud that the two of us are there. But what I really think is great is that, over the next two weeks, people will be able to see that you can be successful without using profanity or intimidation – that you can be a really good person and still win.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
