20041220   

Peyton Manning

Michael considered fate at 13:29   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

The worst part about being the NFL fan that I am is that most of my favourite teams are all in the same division and if not, they're at least in the same conference. New England, Miami.. I even have a soft spot for those bastard Jets. Then there is the old standby of Pittsburgh who, quite frankly, I always like to see do well. But right now I'm pulling for the Indianapolis Colts because, I dunno, they're due.

What seems like a long time ago (but was really just two years before I was born) in 1976 Peyton Manning was born to Archie Manning, a New Orleans Saint quarterback (Archie's other son is New York Giants' quarterback Eli Manning). After playing college ball at Univ. of Tennessee he was the first pick in the '98 draft and off he went to the Colts.

That next season when I saw him play I said he had the potential to become one of the greatest to play the game. I said this kids gonna have a long and celebrated career. I'm not tooting my own horn here, cause I know I like to say spectacular stuff sometimes just for shits and giggles, but the way this kid would bounce around on the balls of his feet, never standing still in the pocket, I thought for sure he had something.

Now, Peyton Manning is the highest paid NFL player ever earning about $14 million a season. Considering an absolutely stellar season, that's about 24 games, if you count pre-season and going all the way to the superbowl for a whopping $590,000 per game.. Presuming the Colts control the ball (have offensive posession) an exaggerated average of 60% of their games that's $16,400 per minute of game time or about $5,500 a snap. None of this, of course, is taking into account his $34.5 million signing bonus for his seven year contract or his $19 million in potential incentives.

Makes those Ford commercials that say "come on down to take advantage of our year-end $2,000 incentive program" seem kinda puny now, doesn't it?

He may be the highest paid NFL character out there but he's also doing his best to earn it. He's played in every NFL game of his career and missed only one snap due to injury. He's broken Dan Marino's (my other favourite) record by throwing five touchdowns in four different games in 12 months and he has also set an NFL record by throwing at least four touchdown passes in five straight games.

Perhaps most exciting of all, though, is his potential to break another of Marino's records: most touchdown passes in a single season. As of today he has a whopping 47, already a mighty achievment, and he's got two more games to complete two.. seemingly numbers that he should have no problem with.

All of this makes next weeks game between the Colts (11-3) and the Chargers (11-3) seem pretty interesting. Pretty interesting indeed.