Brandon McManus’ start in the NFL has been a roller coaster. During a 24-hour span in August 2014, the place-kicker went from one Manning to the other, playing alongside Eli as a New York Giant, then with Peyton as a Bronco after being traded to Denver.
In his first two years in the league, McManus has been traded once, waived twice, signed to a practice squad, called up to an active roster, then kept on as a starter.
This year, after a fittingly whirlwind summer, McManus beat out Connor Barth for the Broncos’ starting kicker job and quickly went to work setting an NFL record in Week 1. He recently talked about his NFL experiences and action-packed summer.
Q: You recently wrote a first-person piece on your NFL experiences for . How did that come about?
A: I went out to the Super Bowl in Arizona and our marketing team started talking to them. The initial story was going to be me going from Eli to Peyton in 24 hours, but it changed based on my travels (in the league).
Q: How has it been going to from Manning to Manning?
A: I’ve been here longer and know more about Peyton than Eli, like with his mannerisms. It’s just a testament to them and their dad for what he instilled in them, with the work ethic they have and the competitiveness and how they want to be the best at everything they do.
Q: You worked with the U.S. Women’s Open in July. How was that?
A: A lot of people say this league is the National Football League, but NFL also stands for “not for long.” The average career in the NFL is 3.2 years, so I just want to keep my options open for the end of my career. I want my career to be longer than that average, but I reached out to different platforms and the United States Golf Association was all about it. It worked out well because I’m from outside of Philadelphia and the tournament was in Lancaster, Pa. It was a great opportunity. I learned a lot about event planning.
Q: Why golf?
A: It didn’t need to be golf. It was more of just event planning. When I was in New York, I went to the NFL office and shadowed four league vice presidents to see what I might be interested in. My goal, eventually, is to plan the Super Bowl, so I’d like to stay in football. I’m always thinking about what could be next.
Q: That practice in August, when you and Barth hit a 65-yarder — what was that like?
A: I don’t think I’ll ever have a chance to do that in a game, but we were running a two-minute drill. I looked over to (special- teams coach) Joe DeCamillis and said, “I can make this.” He smirked at me and he told (head coach Gary) Kubiak. They were more curious to see if I would get it there. I knew I had the leg for it, and that Connor has the leg for a 65-yarder. It was cool to have that experience. People say it was just in practice and stuff, but it was a real game rep.
Q: What’s the farthest you’ve kicked a ball in practice?
A: Seventy-five yards. Five more yards. Not much more than that earlier practice. It’s a long way. You hope to just get in on target. I know I can get it all the way to the back there.
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickijhabvala
Brandon McManus
Age: 24
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 201 pounds
Experience: Second year, undrafted free agent
College: Temple
Career: 15 games, nine-of-13 field-goal attmepts (.692), 41-of-41 point-after attempts, 91 kickoffs for 5,981 yds.
Niciki Jhabvala, The Denver Post
