theBIGness
MuscleChemistry Registered Member
As the sole person who can accurately say “Whassup little bro?” to two Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterbacks, Cooper Manning is acutely interested in Sunday night’s showdown between the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In terms of a rooting interest, however, the eldest of the three Manning boys is in a bit of a bind.
Does he pull for kid brother Peyton, whose defending AFC champion Colts are coming off a season-opening setback to the division rival Houston Texans.
Does he pull for even younger brother Eli, whose 1-0 Giants are coming off a disappointing season and could be staring at a severe overhaul without a strong effort in 2010?
Does he root for a shootout? A scoreless fifth quarter – and, with apologies to Donovan McNabb(notes), the NFL’s third tie this century?
“I’m rooting for Week 3,” Manning says.
Manning, a partner in the energy investment firm Howard Weil, attended Manning Bowl I in East Rutherford, N.J. in 2006 and didn’t find it to be a pleasurable experience. The game was relatively entertaining, with Peyton (25-of-41, 276 yards, one touchdown, one interception) and the Colts getting the best of Eli (20-of-34, 247 yards, two TDs, one interception and a costly late fumble) and the Giants by a 26-21 score.
Cooper got a kick out of the hype preceding the NFL’s first meeting between sibling starting quarterbacks and had some fun on the field before the game. Then he settled into a luxury suite with parents Archie and Olivia (Peyton’s wife Ashley and Eli’s future wife Abby also attended) and started feeling like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“It didn’t take long after kickoff to determine, ‘This is not what I’m used to, and not what I want to get used to,’ ” Manning recalls.
So Cooper’s sitting out Manning Bowl II, opting to watch the proceedings from the comfort of his New Orleans home. He’ll help counsel daughter May, 7, and sons Arch, 6, and Heid, 4, as they attempt to process the battle between “Uncle Pey” and “Uncle E,” and he’ll spare himself the awkwardness of, say, celebrating a touchdown pass in front of one sister-in-law while trying not to offend the other.
Eli and Peyton after their previous meeting.
I’ve only got one sibling (she doesn’t have much of an arm but is exceptional at picking up the blitz), but I do have two sons, and the thought of watching one of them compete against the other in a high-stakes matchup on national TV seems brutal. On the other hand, I’d rather have them squaring off in football than, say, tennis, Venus and Serena style, with no teammates to buffer them from the starkness of the showdown.
“It could be worse,” Cooper says. “It’s not a boxing match. It’s a football game. I’m glad it’s early in the season, and not a pivotal Week 14 matchup. I’m glad they’re not in the same division. I’m so proud of both of them, and it’s pretty neat that they’re onstage for all to see. If I have to deal with three awkward hours every four years, so be it.”
Those three hours should be mighty intriguing for us non-Mannings, and we’ll have plenty in the way of potential excitement on the undercard, including: A decidedly unsubtle smackdown in Nashville between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, two of the NFL’s most physical teams; an interesting and incestuous coaching clash between Mike Shanahan’s Washington Redskins and Gary Kubiak’s visiting Houston Texans; and the AFC East blood feud featuring New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, who loves him some him (I say that in a good way), and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady(notes), who hates him some Jets.
In terms of a rooting interest, however, the eldest of the three Manning boys is in a bit of a bind.
Does he pull for kid brother Peyton, whose defending AFC champion Colts are coming off a season-opening setback to the division rival Houston Texans.
Does he pull for even younger brother Eli, whose 1-0 Giants are coming off a disappointing season and could be staring at a severe overhaul without a strong effort in 2010?
Does he root for a shootout? A scoreless fifth quarter – and, with apologies to Donovan McNabb(notes), the NFL’s third tie this century?
“I’m rooting for Week 3,” Manning says.
Manning, a partner in the energy investment firm Howard Weil, attended Manning Bowl I in East Rutherford, N.J. in 2006 and didn’t find it to be a pleasurable experience. The game was relatively entertaining, with Peyton (25-of-41, 276 yards, one touchdown, one interception) and the Colts getting the best of Eli (20-of-34, 247 yards, two TDs, one interception and a costly late fumble) and the Giants by a 26-21 score.
Cooper got a kick out of the hype preceding the NFL’s first meeting between sibling starting quarterbacks and had some fun on the field before the game. Then he settled into a luxury suite with parents Archie and Olivia (Peyton’s wife Ashley and Eli’s future wife Abby also attended) and started feeling like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“It didn’t take long after kickoff to determine, ‘This is not what I’m used to, and not what I want to get used to,’ ” Manning recalls.
So Cooper’s sitting out Manning Bowl II, opting to watch the proceedings from the comfort of his New Orleans home. He’ll help counsel daughter May, 7, and sons Arch, 6, and Heid, 4, as they attempt to process the battle between “Uncle Pey” and “Uncle E,” and he’ll spare himself the awkwardness of, say, celebrating a touchdown pass in front of one sister-in-law while trying not to offend the other.
Eli and Peyton after their previous meeting.
I’ve only got one sibling (she doesn’t have much of an arm but is exceptional at picking up the blitz), but I do have two sons, and the thought of watching one of them compete against the other in a high-stakes matchup on national TV seems brutal. On the other hand, I’d rather have them squaring off in football than, say, tennis, Venus and Serena style, with no teammates to buffer them from the starkness of the showdown.
“It could be worse,” Cooper says. “It’s not a boxing match. It’s a football game. I’m glad it’s early in the season, and not a pivotal Week 14 matchup. I’m glad they’re not in the same division. I’m so proud of both of them, and it’s pretty neat that they’re onstage for all to see. If I have to deal with three awkward hours every four years, so be it.”
Those three hours should be mighty intriguing for us non-Mannings, and we’ll have plenty in the way of potential excitement on the undercard, including: A decidedly unsubtle smackdown in Nashville between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, two of the NFL’s most physical teams; an interesting and incestuous coaching clash between Mike Shanahan’s Washington Redskins and Gary Kubiak’s visiting Houston Texans; and the AFC East blood feud featuring New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, who loves him some him (I say that in a good way), and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady(notes), who hates him some Jets.
