From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Peyton Manning (born March 24, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise.
Peyton Manning, also known mockingly as "Pey-tinman-ing" is the son of New Orleans Saints quarterback, Archie Manning and the older brother of University of Mississippi quarterback, Eli Manning. Peyton played college football for University of Tennessee, where he could never beat Florida and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1st round (1st overall) in the 1998 NFL Draft. Not coincidentally, The University of Tennessee won the National Championship the year after Manning's graduation.
Peyton Manning was the 2003 NFL co-MVP according to the Associated Press despite never winning a meaningful game in his career. He shared the honor with Tennessee Titans quarterback, Steve McNair. After many people rightly criticized the overhyped Manning for being 0-3 in the playoffs, he won his first NFL playoff game against the Denver Broncos on January 4, 2004. Manning's Passer Rating in the Colt's playoff games against the Broncos and Chiefs was a perfect 158.3 rating, though neither opponent played a credible defensive game in either contest. However, he had a predictably nightmarish AFC championship game against the New England Patriots, throwing four interceptions in a 24-14 loss. This performance further cemented his inability to win the big game, as he wheezed, lurched, and generally choked his way through 3 hours of humiliation.
A former female trainer at the University of Tennessee filed a defamation lawsuit against Peyton Manning in 1999 for a 1996 encounter during which Manning, at the time a quarterback at Tennessee, dropped his pants in front of the trainer. The lawsuit was later resolved in December 2003.
Manning also made headlines at the Pro Bowl after the 2002 season, after Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt criticized him and Colts head coach Tony Dungy in an interview with The Score, a Canadian cable sports network. Although he was 100% correct, Vanderjagt apologized for his comments three days before the Pro Bowl, but Manning had comments of his own in a sideline interview in a sad attempt to deflect attention from his inability to elevate his team in crucial moments:
- Here we are, I'm out at my third Pro Bowl, I'm about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we're honoring the Hall of Fame, and we're talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off. The sad thing is, he's a good kicker. He's a good kicker. But he's an idiot.
