Peyton Manning Beats Little Brother Eli in Football

Conservative commentator and baseball addict George Will has said that American football glories in the two worst things about the country – violence and committee meetings. He might have added hype to the list. When Indianapolis Colts took on the New York Giants last night, it was the first time two brothers quarterbacked opposing teams. Mercifully, neither played for Atlanta, or the media would have called it a “Brother against Brother: The Second Civil War.”

Mathematically, having two brothers play in the NFL at all is unlikely. It is less probable that both would play the same position, and even less frequent for them both to play quarterback. However, the laws of probability demand that eventually it must happen. Cold calculation, of course, doesn’t put bottoms on bleacher seats, let alone sell cars and beer, so the media had to turn this into some kind of Freudian conflict.

In a tribute to the parenting skills of their mother and father, the two quarterbacks didn’t seem to want to play the media game. Peyton said after the contest, “It kind of hit me in the pre-pregame when I was out there talking to someone and I see this guy walk by and it was my brother. I found myself watching him during warmups. I was peeking at him during the national anthem. It was kind of neat to be on the same field as him, knowing that's my little brother out there.” He said “neat,” and he meant it. Meanwhile, after the game Eli said, “I told him I loved him.” No trash talking from the Manning boys.

Decent football games, like most sports, come in two varieties, those that are close and those that are played at a high level of expertise. The two are not necessarily the same. Games full of errors can be close and exciting, but are really lousy football. Meanwhile, when the game is played well, it can be dull for the uninitiated to watch.

The “Manning Bowl” was a blessed combination of both. It was close at 26-21 at the end. Moreover, the consensus among the media is that both teams played well. The New York Giants did seem to be rather penalty prone, but that wasn’t the fault of either Manning. Eli did give up an interception and a fumble, and both resulted in points for the Colts. However, it was relatively error-free other wise. Now, with any luck, the season can now settle down to the grunting and shoving the fans love so much until January, when the Super Bowl hype machine starts up again.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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