I Raised You To Be a Winner, So, Dammit Boy, Win

Fantasy drafts have been completed, Madden football is flying off the shelves and the brats and burgers are being thrown onto the grill in parking lots nationwide. Football is in the air.

In the third annual Thursday kick-off game for the country’s best professional sports league, the NFL demonstrated its savvy by pitting a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game… Pats v. Colts.

The game did not disappoint. A back-and-forth affair with the defending Super Bowl champs continuing their parity-busting 16 game win streak. But, most entertaining to ED was the conclusion, with all-world (and all-unlikable) Peyton “of the Louisiana Mannings” Manning driving the high-octane Colts down the field for a potential game-tying field goal.

On a third and relatively short, with time winding down in the fourth quarter, from the Pats 18-yard line, Manning trotted toward the line, and as is the case 99.9999 percent of the time, he saw something he DID NOT LIKE. Time for an audible. Manning barked instruction to the left for his lineman and receivers. Then a similar round of instructions to those lined up on the right. Finally, Manning turned to his backfield mate, Edgerrin James, and instructed James to move from Manning’s right to his left, supposedly to pick up a blitz that Manning had the vision and foresight to sense.

Finally, Manning gets the hike and drops back to pass. James moves forward on the left to pick up the supposed blitz that Manning had predicted. To the dismay of ALL, the blitz did not come from the left, but instead from the right, where Willie McGinest, he of pro bowl fame and noted Colts-crushing plays in the past, raced from the edge. Manning, for some reason unbeknownst to man, decided to escape the rush by moving further back from the line of scrimmage.

Predicatably, McGinest throws Manning down for a 13 yard loss, moving the Colts from a potential 35-yard game-tying field goal attempt to a 48-yard attempt. Colts miss, Pats win. Manning looks like a doosh bag for audibling himself into a sack and then taking his team out of field goal range. Life is good and the world is happy.

Headline Quote Movie of Origin: Varsity Blues
Character: Sam Moxon, father of Mox
Setting: In a heart-warming exchange, Sam Moxon, former Texas high school football player, gives a pep talk to his second string QB son whose headed to an Ivy League school on academic scholarship. Father Moxon teaches his son a valuable life lesson with the words, “I Raised You To Be a Winner, So, Dammit Boy, Win.”
The quote is relevant to this story how?: The Manning family is as synonymous with football as is Texas with high school football. Archie Manning no doubt taught his sons, similar to Sam Moxon, that it’s a team game and that personal glory and riches are just an added bonus to those who fully immerse themselves in the pursuit of winning and the love of the game. The unselfishness exhibited by young Eli during the draft and by old Peyton when graciously accepting the Colts millions this offseason are indicative of the Manning family crede and focus on the pursuit of the ultimate goal, a Super Bowl ring.

Contact El Duderino at jaipf@hotmail.com.