Kiszla: Vikings' Adrian Peterson sure he will win NFL's MVP award

Kiszla: Vikings' Adrian Peterson sure he
will win NFL's MVP award
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

HONOLULU — Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has bad news for Broncos
quarterback Peyton Manning. Although the results of the MVP voting won't be
revealed until Super Bowl eve, Peterson predicts with 100 percent certainty that he
will swipe the award from Manning's grasp and take the trophy back to Minnesota.

"I'm going to win it. I will get it," Peterson told me Saturday, as he stood in the
stadium where he and Manning will square off in the Pro Bowl.

At an all-star game on the verge of extinction, Manning and Peterson have breathed
life into the Pro Bowl. A year ago, both players were recovering from serious
injuries and heard whispers they would never be the same again.

At a sporting event desperately in need of rivalry, the best show all week has been
Peterson vs. Manning. It started Tuesday night, when the stars from the AFC and
NFC gathered at a secluded resort on Oahu, then listened to an impassioned plea
from Manning to raise the Pro Bowl's level of play before commissioner Roger
Goodell erased this game from the league's annual schedule.

His primary mission accomplished, Manning lightened the mood with a welcoming
zinger to nearly every big ego in the ballroom. And maybe Manning's best shot was
taken at the Minnesota star who led the league with 2,097 yards rushing. According
to several people present for the roast, Manning cracked: "Everyone should play
like Adrian Peterson. The guy does everything full speed. The Pro Bowl. Promoting
himself for MVP."

Everybody laughed. Nobody laughed harder than Peterson. "I thought it was funny,
man," Peterson said. "Manning is always pulling somebody's chain. This time, he
got me. That's just the way he is. And I have a ton of respect for him."

What pops the humor in any joke is the kernel of truth. While Manning is a team-
first guy, make no mistake. This MVP would mean at least as much, or more, than
any of the previous four times he has won the award. The Indianapolis Colts cut
Manning, and that hurts a veteran quarterback every bit as much as it stings a 15-
year-old linebacker trimmed from the varsity roster by a high school coach.

After missing more than a year of football activity, as he recovered from a series of
neck surgeries, Manning threw for 37 touchdowns and won 13 games in his first
season with the Broncos. Amazing. But, if you're asking me, what Peterson did was
even more phenomenal. Recovering from a knee injury that can rob a back of his
explosiveness, Peterson carried the Vikings to the playoffs almost by himself.

"I'm still amazed," Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk said. "What A.P. did
was incredible. Unless you've played football and had knee issues, there's no word
to quantify what he did. I kept waiting and waiting for fatigue to come into his
game. But, as the season went on, he actually started getting stronger. And that
doesn't happen in the NFL."

There's no disputing the two most dominating personalities at the Pro Bowl. This is
Peyton's Party. And A.P. keeps the party hopping. Manning has been so thoroughly
running every aspect of AFC team practices that John Fox and his Denver coaching
staff could have spent the week on a cruise.

Can't tell you if Peterson has been tipped off to the results or he's merely better
than Nate Silver at analyzing voting trends, but I think he's dead-on with his
prediction for the league's most prestigious award.

Peterson for MVP.

Manning will have to settle for comeback player of the year.

And, with any luck, neither player will be at the Pro Bowl again in 2014.

Why? Because I want to find out if Peterson is gutsy enough to guarantee he will
beat Manning in the Super Bowl.

Klis: Draft Manti Te'o? You don't need to
do it, Broncos
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

Draft the Te'o, John Elway. With the Broncos' first-round pick, No. 28 overall, Elway
should draft Notre Dame's Manti Te'o. He will be available.

I know what you're thinking. Should the Broncos take a middle linebacker with their
first draft pick when there are so many quality defensive tackles available?

But imagine the possibilities.

I would never have to interview Te'o. I could just make up quotes and attribute
them to him — "There is no way D.J. Williams is beating me out!" Or: "My gal pal
has the flu!" — and put his statements on the Internet. He'd go along with it.
What's he going to do, claim hoax?

Hah!

Seriously, though, Te'o would address two of the Broncos' needs. One is a need for
a three-down linebacker. The other is a need to place defibrillators on the prevailing
somber mood surrounding the Broncos after their 38-35, double-overtime playoff
loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Nearly 18 months removed from the height of Tebowmania and nearly 13 months
after the signing of Peyton Manning, the Broncos may be in a relative flat-line state
by the NFL draft, which starts April 25.

Te'o would move the needle, again, at Dove Valley.

OK, I'll stop now. When it comes to Te'o, I'm not being truthful. Call it reflex.

The Broncos do need a three-down linebacker for the 2013 season. But just say no
to Te'o, John Elway. Seriously, this time.

Here are some positions the Broncos need to address in 2013, and who might be
available in the draft and free agency:

Defensive tackle: Veteran starters Kevin Vickerson and Justin Bannan out-
performed their one-year, discounted contracts in 2012. But come the start of the
league year March 12, they will be un- restricted free agents and both will
command raises. This draft is deep with defensive tackles.

Draft: Bennie Logan, LSU; Kawann Short, Purdue; Sheldon Richardson, Missouri.

Free agents: Richard Seymour, Sedrick Ellis.

Running back: The decision here is with Willis McGahee. He is 31 and coming off a
knee injury and due to make $2.5 million.

Draft: Eddie Lacy, Alabama; Montee Ball, Wisconsin.

Free agents: Shonn Greene, Rashard Mendenhall, Peyton Hillis.

Offensive line: Manning should breeze through his physical by March 12, at which
point the Broncos will trigger two years and $40 million worth of salary guarantees.
To protect that investment, the Broncos must slap a $9.66 million franchise tag on
left tackle Ryan Clady or work out a long-term deal with him.

Right guard Chris Kuper and center J.D. Walton are returning from injuries and Dan
Koppen is eligible for free agency.

The Broncos have discussed moving right tackle Orlando Franklin inside to guard.

Draft: Chance Warmack, Barrett Jones, D.J. Fluker, Alabama; Kyle Long (Howie's
kid), Oregon.

Free agents: Andy Levitre, Phil Loadholt, Jake Scott.

Wide receiver: Brandon Stokley will be an unrestricted free agent and turn 37.
The Broncos should bring him back, but they need a No. 3 receiver who can replace
Demaryius Thomas or Eric Decker in a pinch.

Draft: Terrance Williams, Baylor; Tavon Austin, West Virginia; DeAndre Hopkins;
Clemson.

Free agents: Devery Henderson, Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, Brian Hartline.

Inside linebacker: Keith Brooking will turn 37 and will be a free agent. D.J.
Williams finished last season as a backup and he's due to make $6 million in the
final year of his contract.

Draft: Manti Te'o, Notre Dame; Alec Ogletree, Georgia; Kevin Minter, LSU.

Free agents: Rey Maualuga, Brian Urlacher, Dannell Ellerbe.

Cornerback: Champ Bailey still will be a premier corner at 35 even if the Torrey
Smith lesson is to never again play press coverage, with no safety help, when
there's no pass rush. Chris Harris is best as a nickel back, so the Broncos will have
to pick up a starting right corner.

Draft: Xavier Rhodes, Florida State; Logan Ryan, Rutgers; Johnthan Banks,
Mississippi State.

Free agents: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Cary Williams, Brett Grimes.

Kickin' it with Kiz: Darrelle Revis, Champ
Bailey teammates on Broncos? Hold your
horses
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

Cornerstone proposal. New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is on the trading
block. Could the Broncos package a second-round draft choice with another pick to
get him? Look at what Champ Bailey has meant to Denver. Revis and Bailey could
be bookends at corner, while Chris Harris could be the nickel back. Or maybe move
Bailey to free safety, leaving Harris opposite Revis. We would have our shutdown
corner for the future. Your thoughts?

Mike, general manager in training

Kiz: OK, I'll be first to admit that a year ago I never believed the Broncos could get
Peyton Manning to play quarterback. But Revis in a trade for a bag of peanuts? Now
that's nuts. To show the Jets you're serious, you might have to open the bidding
with at least a late first-round pick. And can John Elway elect you to tell Bailey he's
moving to safety, so Revis can take his job? I'll bring a mop to clean up the mess in
the room after you're done. But I salute your big dreams. Heck, I was thinking it
would be cool if the Broncos could find a way to land Alabama running back Eddie
Lacy in the draft.

Fearsome foresight. I hope you don't moonlight as a motivational speaker. Fear
of failure the best fuel for the Broncos? Seriously? Any leader will tell you fear of
failure is the surest path to defeat, and the banishment of fear is the first step in
success. We achieve what we focus on. By focusing on your fears instead of goals,
you ensure fears will come true. If fear is what motivates Manning, it might go a
long way toward explaining why he constantly fails on the bigger stages.

John, Lakewood

Kiz: Moonlight as a motivational speaker? Nah. But I was thinking of going to night
school, so I could learn how to make balloon animals at birthday parties. Here's my
fear about the Broncos: Manning does take the playoffs too seriously and tightens
up. But part of the reason Denver failed in the playoffs was because too many
young players got a little too cocky during the 11-game winning streak. A little fear
can be an effective antidote for blind arrogance.

Blame game. Broncos coach John Fox shrugged off the playoff loss to Baltimore
too nonchalantly. All the changes in the offseason won't matter if we don't get a
coach who has fire in his belly. Fox is more like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Sorry, I don't have any faith in Fox. The Broncos didn't lose that game to the
Ravens. Fox did.

Kimberly, Brighton

Kiz: Standing in the hallway with Fox two days after the Broncos were eliminated
from the playoffs, the coach must have said "I'm sorry" at least half a dozen times.
I don't recall Mike Shanahan profusely apologizing after the 1996 Broncos were
upset by Jacksonville. This is not to suggest Fox has the football mind to match
Shanahan. But Fox does have a kinder heart. Of course, I suspect most
Broncomaniacs prefer coaches who earn Super Bowl rings rather than Boy Scout
merit badges.

Make mine Minnesota. My wife and I had Avs season tickets in the lower bowl of
the Pepsi Center from 2004-09. We dropped down to the 15-game pack after I had
trouble giving away tickets for games we couldn't use. When Chris Stewart and
Kevin Shattenkirk were traded away, the Avs became dead to me. Marketing people
tried to sign me up again. I told them when the Avs had a real general manger and
an owner with a clue about hockey, call back. I follow the NHL on satellite radio and
national telecasts. I follow a different team in the Western Conference closely each
year. This year, it's the Minnesota Wild.

Harlan, Avalanche survivor

Kiz: Despite giving away oodles of tickets to their home opener, the Avs' average
attendance after two dates in the Pepsi Center ranks near the bottom of the NHL.
This is what can happen when the league and a franchise take a good hockey
market for granted.

Lord knows. And today's parting shot proves some NFL fans truly regard football
as a religious experience:

God had his revenge. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was the messenger for the
Broncos cutting Tim Tebow and for John Elway stiffing Baltimore in 1983.

Smurf, karma Kool-Aid lover

Harbaugh brothers John, Jim turn Super
Bowl XLVII into the Bro Bowl
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

Long before the coaching Harbaughs became the big story line in New Orleans this
week, brothers could have been Super Bowl opponents.

Only, not even in their childhood daydreams spun from their impoverished home in
the Georgia boonies could Sterling and Shannon Sharpe oppose each other in the
Big Game.

"We always wanted to play in the Super Bowl, but we never wanted to play against
each other," Shannon Sharpe said last week on a CBS network conference call. "I
didn't want my joy to end up in his disappointment. That's how it normally works.
Would I have stood on top of my brother's head to win that ring? No question about
it. But once the game was over, I could not have enjoyed it. I could not enjoy that
my happiness came at the expense of my brother. It would have torn me up."

Herein lies the serrated twist to the otherwise comforting, wholesome Harbaugh
family story that will be prominently featured throughout Super Bowl XLVII. Jim
Harbaugh is the maniacally intense head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. His
older brother, John Harbaugh, is the outwardly friendly head coach of the Baltimore
Ravens.

The Harbaugh brothers reached the ultimate championship game through victory.
The joy of victory after victory. Jim's 49ers have won 13 games this season,
including two in the playoffs. John's Ravens also have won 13 games, with a 38-35,
double-overtime playoff victory in Denver among their 3-0 postseason record.

One of the Harbaugh brothers will win one more and become an NFL champion. The
other Harbaugh will suffer defeat.

In a conference call Thursday between the national media and the Harbaughs'
parents, Jack and Jackie, and their sister, Joani, Mom submitted that both of her
sons will be winners next Sunday at the Superdome, regardless of the final score.

Oh, Mom!

Jack addressed the more sober reality because, first, that's what dads do, and
second, it's what coaches know. Jack Harbaugh was the family's first football coach,

and a good one. In fact, a great one in 2002 when he led Western Kentucky to the
NCAA Division I-AA championship.

Jack harkened back to a Thanksgiving game during the NFL's 2011 season when
John's Ravens defeated Jim's 49ers 16-6 in Baltimore.

"I peeked into the Raven locker room and they were ecstatic, the guys jumping up
and down, and the smile on John's face and the thrill of victory," Jack Harbaugh
said. "I thought to myself, 'We really aren't needed here. This looks like it is pretty
well taking care of itself.'

"I walked across the hall there in Baltimore and went into the 49ers' locker room. It
was quiet and somber, and finally I saw Jim, all by himself, no one around him. He
still had his coaching thing on, and his hands on his head, and we realized that that
is where we were needed."

From outside the Harbaugh family circle, the perception is the Thanksgiving game
in 2011 was a rare time that John got the better of his little brother. John was a
backup defensive back at Miami (Ohio) who grinded through the NFL coaching
ranks as a longtime assistant before getting the Ravens' head coaching job in 2008.

Jim was a three-year starting quarterback at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor, where the Harbaugh brothers grew up with their own set of dreams. Jim was
the Big Ten Conference player of the year and a Heisman Trophy finalist, then
played 15 seasons in the NFL.

In the next phase of Jim's life, he has been a wildly successful head coach, first at
the University of San Diego, then at Stanford, then with the 49ers.

"That Jim had a more blessed career (than John), I would have to respectfully
disagree with that in a sense because Jim has worked incredibly hard at every
turn," Joani said. "Whether it's fighting to be in the NFL — his seven years with the
Bears and three spectacular years with the Colts — a lot of hard work came into
that every day. When he was with the Oakland Raiders, he put in more hours. We'd
hear about his deprived sleep and sleeping on the couch there."

Unlike the millions of brothers spread out among America's backyards, the Sharpe
brothers were largely prophesying, not dreaming, about someday playing in the
NFL. Sterling became a five-time all-pro wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers
and Shannon developed into a Hall of Fame tight end for the Broncos.

They played against each other twice during the NFL regular season, each winning
once. And each losing once.

"But that wasn't the Super Bowl," Shannon Sharpe said. "They document Super
Bowls."

Archie and Ray Griffin of the Cincinnati Bengals (1981) and Glenn and Lyle
Blackwood of the Miami Dolphins (1982, 1984) played in the same Super Bowl, but
on the same team. Teams that lost.

The Harbaughs are the first set of brothers to compete against each other in the
Super Bowl. One is promised to win. One is guaranteed to not win.

"That feel of victory and agony of defeat ..." Jack Harbaugh said. "We know we are
going to experience that next week."

Hurray for the Harbaughs

The case for Darrelle Revis
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

The New York Jets are making star cornerback Darrelle Revis available for trade.
We will look at why the Broncos should be involved in trade discussions for Revis
(time is running short) and why they should not (torn ACL, money).

This blog makes the case as to why the Broncos get in. They should pursue Revis
because they need a starting cornerback opposite Champ Bailey. Chris Harris is
best served as a nickel back. It’s unlikely Tracy Porter will return and Tony Carter is
best used as a No. 3 corner.

With quarterback Peyton Manning playing next season at 37 years old, Bailey
playing at 35, and John Fox coaching at 58 with two years left on his contract, the
Broncos have a two-year window to win the Super Bowl. Because they don’t draft
until the No. 28 overall pick in April, the Broncos would have to deal both their first-
and second-round selections to get Revis.

But just as Atlanta forsook its future for Julio Jones, and Mike Shanahan dealt away
his future for Robert Griffin III, the Broncos must understand their future is now if
they want their man.

Revis would play at a relatively affordable $6 million in 2013 ($3 million in salary;
$3 million in various bonuses) so the Broncos could fit him beneath their expected
$121 million salary cap. Yes, he would likely command something around $12
million per season in future contract years, but at 28 next season, Revis could
bridge the gap between the Bailey and Manning era, and Revis and Brock Osweiler
era.

The case against Darrelle Revis
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
January 27, 2013

The only way the Broncos could realistically acquire Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis
is if the Jets would agree to take Champ Bailey in return.

Financially, it wouldn’t work otherwise for the Broncos. Bailey will make $10.5
million next season and will be 35 years old. Revis will make $6 million in 2013 and
can become a free agent after that. There are reports he will be asking for $16
million per year in his new deal.

Let’s split the difference and say Revis can be had for $11 million per.

The Broncos are going to pay $10.5 million to one cornerback who will be 35 and
$11 million to another corner coming off a torn ACL? That would be 17.8 percent of
the team’s estimated $121 payroll on two corners whose best years are behind
them. This would a recipe for tearing down a franchise, not building one up into a
Super Bowl contender.

Pro Bowlers getting serious
The Associated Press
January 27, 2013

HONOLULU — The NFC team ended its first Pro Bowl practice by breaking the
huddle and shouting, ‘‘Win.’’ One night earlier, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning
asked his fellow all-stars to play the game hard.

And players on both sides pledged this week to play more determined in a game
with their reputation on the line in a game that's becoming as meaningless as
preseason exhibitions.

Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey says players should take the honor of a Pro Bowl
seriously because they never know when they will get the opportunity to return.

‘‘This is a tradition that needs to keep going,’’ Bailey said. ‘‘That’s the only way
we’re going to keep it going, is if we come over here and take it seriously.’’

The future of the game to be held Sunday in Hawaii is uncertain. The contest was
almost not scheduled at all this year after players faced criticism from
commissioner Roger Goodell and fans for clearly not trying last year.

That’s made the 2013 Pro Bowl something of an audition. A league executive said
the NFL wants to decide on the future of the Pro Bowl by April, when the next
regular-season schedule comes out.

Manning responded later Tuesday night by urging players to play at full speed,
according to a report by NFL.com. NFL officials said Wednesday a transcript of
Manning’s speech wasn’t available, and Manning was not made available for
comment after his team’s practice.

Earlier Thursday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated at a preview event for
the 2014 Super Bowl that the Pro Bowl is in danger of going away.

‘‘This is something we’ve got to deal with,’’ Goodell said. ‘‘And if we can’t improve
on the quality of the game, it’s something we’re not going to do in the future.’’

The AFC and NFC squads showed slightly different styles during a low key practice
at a high school on Oahu’s west side, with players barely breaking a sweat while
wearing T-shirts and shorts.

Manning and Luck have taken the field at the same time for passing drills to AFC
receivers like Houston’s Andre Johnson, Indianapolis’ Reggie Wayne and
Cincinnati’s A.J. Green.

The NFC practice has included 7-on-7 scrimmage plays, special teams practice with
punts and field goals and plenty of passes for Drew Brees, Eli Mannning and Wilson.

While some players, including Brees, spent time signing autographs for fans waiting
just outside a campus gate, others didn’t linger around after practice as a bus
promptly returned them to the team hotel.

Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz joked that he might take a surfing lesson before
saying he thinks the game will be well-played.

When asked what the Green Bay coaches on the NFC side might think of him hitting
the waves, Cruz said: ‘‘That’ll be our secret.’’

Players' effort to determine Pro Bowl's
future
Reuters
January 26, 2013

(Reuters) - Being picked for the National Football League's (NFL) all-star game is an
honor reserved for top players. It is a tradition, now in its 63rd year, that began
more than a decade before the first Super Bowl was played.

But for the elite band of players chosen to represent either the American Football
Conference or National Football Conference in Sunday's Pro Bowl in Hawaii, it can
also be a mixed blessing.

For the many players who never get to experience the thrill of winning a Super
Bowl, the annual Pro Bowl can be a career highlight. But it can also end their career
if things go wrong and they suffer a serious injury.

Critics have slammed the game as a glorified exhibition, with some players opting
to skip it and teams racking up huge offensive numbers against half-hearted
defenses.

In 2011, the NFC won 55-41, tying the record for the highest score by a winning
team. It was a record that did not last long.

Last year, the AFC won 59-41 as the teams combined to rack up 100 points for only
the second time in the game's history. In 2004, the AFC scored 52 points but
incredibly lost by five.

The NFL has not been amused by the massive scorelines and apparent lack of effort
by some players and Commissioner Roger Goodell has threatened to cut it from the
calendar unless the players began to take it more seriously.

The players have been warned and know they are competing for more than just
their conference.

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, making his 12th appearance in the
fixture, addressed his AFC team mates in the lead-up to the game and told them
they should play hard.

"The past two years, the play in this game has been unacceptable," Manning said.
"If it was a walk through, your coach would say it was a bad walk through. And
that's why (the league) could try to cancel this game."

His team mates embraced the rallying cry and vowed to put on a real show.

"It's simple," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey told NFL.com. "Just play hard. Like
you do on a Sunday. If you do that, the rest will take care of itself."

The game still gets impressive television viewing figures but it remains to be seen
whether this year's fixture will be played hard enough to satisfy the NFL.

The NFL has said recently it hopes to make a decision on the Pro Bowl's future by
the time it releases next season's schedule in April.

More than a dozen players have turned down invitations to play this year, citing
injuries. The two sides have also lost a combined 15 players who are involved in the
February 3 Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens.

Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, one of 30 players making their
first appearance in the Pro Bowl, said he had every intention of treating like any
other game.

"I guess some folks weren't happy with the play last year," he said. "But I think
guys will take it upon themselves to keep this game going for many years to come
and play hard."

A Saint in His City: Archie Manning in
New Orleans
By Sam Borden
The New York Times
January 26, 2013

NEW ORLEANS - In 1971, when Archie Manning arrived in New Orleans to
quarterback the Saints, he quickly became a spokesman for a local Chevrolet dealer
and was given a shiny red Corvette. With little hesitation, he began whizzing
around town in his new sports car. He was 22. He was an athlete. He was giddy.

He was also, as it turned out, not particularly adept at judging distances. The
problem with the Corvette was that its hood was elongated, stretching "like 10 feet
out in front of the windshield," he said.

One day, while approaching a stop sign, he slammed into the car in front of him.
The man in the other car threw open his door, clearly not happy.

But then, abruptly, the man stopped. He stood, peering into the Corvette. And then
he smiled. "Hey, Arch!" he called out, and then screamed, "Go Saints!" Then the
man got back in his car and drove away.

Sitting on his couch this month while recalling the story, Manning laughed. "Yep,"
he said. "That was pretty much the beginning."

The beginning of Manning's stardom, yes, but even more the beginning of a love,
an affection, a relationship between a family and a city. There is, to be sure,
widespread disappointment that neither Peyton nor Eli Manning will be playing in
the Super Bowl next Sunday, but that does not mean there will not be a Manning
quarterback drawing cheers and signing autographs and shaking hands all week.

Archie, perhaps the most famous New Orleans quarterback of all, is here. He
always has been.

"He's the first citizen of this city, that's the only way I can say it," James Carville,
the political consultant and New Orleans resident, said in an interview. "He's the
one."

The city's abiding love for Archie Manning is not complicated. New Orleanians
embrace him because he passed here and ran here, but also because he stayed
here. He was the quarterback for the Saints from 1971 to 1982, a sharp-jawed,
redheaded constant in a period of perpetual coaching changes, unstable executive
structure and, most memorably, an incredible run of really, really bad football.

As the losses piled up, seemingly everyone left the organization at one point or
another, except Archie. He stayed for the 2-12 team in 1975 and the 3-11 team in
1977. He saw 2-11-1 in 1972 and 1-15 in 1980. Then he saw three boys grow up.
Then he saw Hurricane Katrina. Then he saw the recovery.

"He had every reason to leave," Carville said. "He could have. But he didn't."

The Journey From Mississippi

Technically, the Mannings are transplants. Archie was born in the Delta, in Drew,
Miss., and his wife, Olivia, is from Philadelphia, Miss., about 140 miles southeast of
Drew. New Orleans is also not the only city to claim the Mannings as local royalty.
In Oxford, Miss., where Archie and Eli both starred at quarterback for Mississippi,
the speed limit on campus is 18 miles an hour - in honor of Archie's jersey number
- and the speed limit on Manning Way, the road around the football stadium, is 10
m.p.h. - in honor of Eli's.

Given those connections, it is hardly surprising that Archie and Olivia initially
planned to return to Mississippi. "That was always our intention," Archie said. "It
was just going to be temporary here."

Mississippi was in their blood. The Mannings met at Ole Miss, and married during
their senior year. They moved to Louisiana after Archie was selected second over all
in the 1971 N.F.L. draft.

When Olivia came to New Orleans to look at houses, she did not cast a wide net.
She looked in Metairie, and only Metairie, because that was the one area that she
or Archie had heard anything about. "It's where the Saints trained," Archie said.
"So that's where we lived."

Their first apartment - "they called it a penthouse because we had a patio," Archie
said - was memorable because it was not far from Drago's, a restaurant where
charbroiled oysters are said to have been invented. Listening from the kitchen while
Archie lovingly recalled the oysters, Olivia called out, "You're really going down
memory lane now, aren't you?" A moment later though, she added, "They were
really very good."

It did not take long for the Mannings to become attached to New Orleans. During
his rookie minicamp, Archie went with several other players to the old Municipal
Auditorium to see the local middleweight boxer Tony Licata. The players went out
afterward, and the next morning, Saints Coach J. D. Roberts sat them down before
practice. "Now listen," Manning recalled Roberts saying gravely. "You know you're
not going to be making a habit of going down there, right?"

Generally, Archie did not. But it was difficult to ignore the allure of New Orleans,
particularly because the players were generally treated well. After the Saints upset
Los Angeles in Archie's first game, a large group retired to the French Quarter for a

long dinner at the Rib Room. He says he is not quite sure where they went next,
but there is a good chance the famed bar Pat O'Brien's was involved.

"It wasn't like people ever go to bed early around here," Archie said laughing, and it
did not take long for him and Olivia to fall in love with the overflowing options for
art and music and the sort of food that makes the back of your tongue tingle. Near
the top of their list was the barbecue shrimp at Pascal's Manale restaurant, and the
Mannings would gladly wait the 90 minutes it often took to get in there.

"Except on Sunday night," Archie said. "On Sunday night, after games, we got right
in. On Wednesday, we waited like everyone else."

The only thing wrong was the football. This was not altogether unfamiliar territory -
Manning is one of the most celebrated college players even though Ole Miss was
only 15-7 over his last two seasons - yet the Saints' play sank to particularly
pungent depths.

The Saints lost - a lot - and Archie never played on a team with a winning record.
He also was hit - a lot - being sacked 340 times during his Saints career. It got so
bad that fans often referred to the team as the Aints and wore bags on their heads
at games. The Manning family nadir came when Olivia looked around during one
particularly loud cavalcade of boos and realized that her oldest son, Cooper, then
about 7 and sitting next to her, was joining the chorus.

"Yeah, I did it," Cooper said. "I booed. Everyone else was doing it and you know,
it's a copycat league."

He laughed and said, "I mean, 1-15 is 1-15!" Despite Archie's being pummeled on a
near-weekly basis, he and Olivia were becoming more attached to their new home.
When Peyton was born in 1976, joining Cooper, who had arrived two years earlier,
the Mannings discussed moving to a larger house. For a moment, they considered
another place in the suburbs. Then, Olivia said to Archie, "There's a million suburbs
- there's only one Uptown," and the family ended up buying a charming camelback
cottage on Seventh Street in the neighborhood.

There, Peyton and Cooper shared a room upstairs that had originally been the
master bedroom where they wrestled, played knee-high football and even created
their own version of indoor tennis that featured "some of the longest points ever,"
Cooper recalled, because the ball was soft and squishy like a balloon.

The family became embedded in New Orleans. The children played in Audubon
Park. Archie loved running on St. Charles Avenue. On special occasions, the family
might go to Ruth's Chris for dinner; on most Saturdays, they went for the messy
po'boy sandwiches and Barq's root beers at the famed Domilise's.

Even when Archie was traded to Houston in 1982, he essentially commuted, flying
to New Orleans - "On Southwest, it was only $29!" he said - whenever he could.
Sometimes, Olivia put Cooper or Peyton on a flight to go see their father play, and

Archie had Oliver Luck, the father of the current Colts quarterback Andrew Luck but
then just a rookie quarterback with the Oilers, take care of them. Often, after
quarterback meetings were finished, Oliver took Peyton to McDonald's. Then after
the game, Archie would put his sons on a plane back home.

It was not ideal, but the family did not want to leave New Orleans. In 1984, after
Archie had been traded to the Minnesota Vikings in the middle of the previous
season, the family rented a house in Minnetonka. One morning in November, they
woke to find several feet of snow covering the backyard.

Olivia seemed unimpressed. She kept staring at a tiny pond that was in the back.
"Where are all the ducks?" she said. "It's cold, so I guess they flew south," Archie
answered with a shrug.

Olivia nodded. "They went south?" she said. "Well, so am I."

That off-season, the Mannings returned to New Orleans for good.

By the time Archie retired, Eli, who was born in 1981, was 4 and the family had
moved into what would become known around New Orleans as "the Manning
house." Sitting in the middle of the Garden District, it is a historic home and
remains a frequent stop on tours of the area. It has high ceilings, pretty flowers in
the yard, a swimming pool and a view from the backyard of another stately New
Orleans house that was once home to the musician Trent Reznor and is currently
occupied by the actor John Goodman.

When the three Manning boys were young, though, their home was mostly a place
for sports. Most memorably for the boys, there was a game they called 'Mazing
Catches - "No 'a,' " Cooper said - which involved Archie standing on the porch and
firing passes that were just out in front of the boys as they ran across the lawn. "If
it was a little wet and you could dive and slide, that was the big play," Eli said. "We
were probably a little spoiled having a professional quarterback throwing to us."

Even though Archie was no longer playing, his popularity did not wane. He had
moved into broadcasting, working as a game analyst on the Saints' radio network
and serving as a spokesman for several companies. Eli said he did not remember a
time when his father did not have people coming up to him asking for autographs.

"As a kid, it was just something that happened," Eli said. "That was just what my
dad did. It was normal, like - O.K., so, should I go up and ask my friends' dads for
their autographs, too?"

When it came to sports, Archie's general philosophy was to avoid being
overbearing, and so he rarely coached his sons' teams and, if he did, it was usually
as an assistant. There was one time, though, when he was a head coach because
there were not enough other fathers who volunteered.

"It was basketball, and Peyton was little," Archie said, shaking his head. "There was
a draft; there were tryouts for all the kids and then the coaches put the teams
together. But I couldn't go to the tryout, so at the draft, I just drafted all my
friends' kids because I thought that would be nice for everyone to play together."

Archie sighed.

"Well, we were terrible," he said. "We were very bad. And Peyton got really mad at
me. 'Why did you draft these guys? What's wrong with you?' He was really
competitive. And so that's when I quit being a head coach."

A Proud Host

Archie smiled as he reminisced about his sons growing up in New Orleans. The boys
embraced the city, too, he said: Eli, the baby of the family, was known to
sometimes go antiquing with his mother and as they got older, all three began
stopping in at Domilise's for po'boys on their own. Sometimes, Eli would even work
a little for Miss Dot, the woman who ran the place. Even now, decades later, Peyton
was mortified when Cooper texted him this season to inform him that there were no
photographs on the wall of Peyton in a Denver Broncos uniform. "They're in the
mail right now," he texted back almost immediately.

"I think we all saw how much the city meant to our parents," Eli said. "And there is
no doubt that it translated to us. New Orleans is a part of us."

The family has spread over the years. Peyton went to Tennessee for college, then
lived in Indianapolis and now Denver. Eli lives in New Jersey and keeps a place in
Oxford for downtime during the off-season. After Hurricane Katrina, however, they
immediately returned to New Orleans, teaming with the Red Cross to bring food
and clothes and supplies to those affected by the storm.

Their family house, where Archie and Olivia still live, escaped with only minor
damage, though Cooper, who works as an energy trader, did have to deal with
more significant repairs to his family's home.

In the years since the storm, Archie said, he and Olivia never considered leaving.
"How could we?" he said, and he has reveled in seeing his grandchildren play on
the same lawn where his sons did. Each summer, he and the boys run the Manning
Passing Academy for aspiring quarterbacks and he has watched with pride as his
adopted city has risen again. This week, as the city is overrun with football, Archie
says he expects to be busy making appearances and signing autographs, and
checking in on the way things are going at Manning's, the restaurant he owns
downtown.

Carville even joked that if N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell is looking for
someone to protect him from all the angry Saints fans still furious over the
discipline he imposed after the bounty scandal, all Goodell needs to do is walk
around town with Archie.

"That's one way to stay safe," Carville said, laughing. "Personal bodyguard,
guaranteed."

Archie, of course, would be happy to do it. "We need to be good hosts," he said
earnestly, before rattling off the previous nine Super Bowls that have been played
in New Orleans. He concluded, "The city is perfect for games like this."

Then he leaned back on the couch and began listing what he loves about New
Orleans. The World War II museum. The energy. The food. The people. On and on
he went.

"It's home," he said finally, and he smiled. No, a Manning quarterback is not
playing in the Super Bowl next Sunday, but that does not mean one is not here.
The most famous Manning quarterback in New Orleans has always been the one
who never left.

Pro Bowl: It doesn't need to go away
By Bill Williamson
ESPN.com
January 26, 2013

There is no doubt: The Pro Bowl -- the annual all-star game of the NFL -- is not a
shining light of the game.

But it can be fixed. It does not need to go away. It is salvageable.

The Pro Bowl, which will be played Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET, has lost steam for
various reasons in recent years. There is a chance that the league will end the
traditional game between the AFC’s and NFC's best.

A big part of the reason why the game has lost its luster is a couple of changes NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell has made.

For years, the game was always played in Hawaii the weekend after the Super
Bowl. It would send the NFL into the offseason. Now, it is played the Sunday before
the Super Bowl and Hawaii is no longer the exclusive site of the game.

I think the league has to come to an agreement with Hawaii to be the permanent
host. I’ve coved a few Pro Bowls there and they are always a raving success. Yes,
it’s a long way away from the mainland, and yes, Aloha Stadium is an epic dump.

But so what? It’s an once-a-year affair. Many fans travel to the game and local fans
love it. Players also enjoy the Hawaii experience. Hawaii treats players and their
families like royalty all week.

I also think the league needs to put the game at the end of the season again. I
know the game has gotten some good television ratings in this current format and
that is vital to the league. But the product will be better if players from the Super
Bowl get a chance to play.

It was always a cool tradition when the players from the winning team showed up
every Wednesday to a ton of island fanfare. Without the Super Bowl players
available, it dilutes the talent base even more. Every year, players bail out because
of injuries, whether they are big or small. Why build in another way to lose talent?

Of course, one of the biggest issues why the Pro Bowl has lost interest is the quality
of play. The action isn't exactly fierce. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has
complained about the effort level of some players in the game.

This week, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning gave a speech to the Pro Bowl
players to play hard during the game to ensure that they all get the opportunity to
go to future Pro Bowls.

Regardless of any pleas to perform, this will never be a regular-season quality
game. But it doesn’t have to be. Fans want to get one last look at their favorite
players for the season and they want to see points scored.

It is attainable.

At the end of the day, I’m not passionate about the Pro Bowl. If it goes away, I’ll
thank the Pro Bowl for the memories and move forward.

But I do think it can be salvaged with some easy fixes. The NFL is the greatest
product in all of sports and it is the most popular and most financially successful of
American sports.

If baseball and basketball can have all-star events that are put on well and that are
anticipated parts of the schedule, why can’t the NFL do the same?

AFC West key coaching hires
By Bill Williamson
ESPN.com
January 26, 2013

The 2013 coaching staffs for each AFC West team are nearly complete. All of the
high-profile hires have been made.

Let’s look at one assistant-coaching hire that stands out for each team in the
division:

Denver -- Adam Gase, offensive coordinator: The Broncos made just a few
changes; the Gase promotion stands out. He was the team’s quarterbacks coach,
moving up after predecessor Mike McCoy became the Chargers' head coach. Gase is
comfortable with Denver’s system and its personnel, particularly quarterback
Peyton Manning. Denver is excited about the communication between the two men
as it moves forward.

Kansas City -- Dave Toub, special-teams coach: Toub is considered one of the
best at this position in the league. He came from Chicago, where he had great
success. The improvement in this area in Kansas City should be noticeable.

Oakland -- Tony Sparano, assistant head coach/offensive line: I like this
hire. Sparano gives coach Dennis Allen some much-needed experience to turn to.
He was the head coach in Miami and was recently fired as the Jets' offensive
coordinator. He was a successful offensive-line coach during his stint in Dallas and
should deliver a boost for the Raiders' offense.

San Diego -- Ken Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator: I think this was the best
assistant-coaching hire in the division and it has to be a contender for the best
assistant hire in the NFL this offseason. Getting Whisenhunt, the longtime head
coach in Arizona, was a big score for new Chargers head coach McCoy. Whisenhunt
was a top contender for the head-coaching job -- and for McCoy and Whisenhunt to
come as a package deal is a rare thing in the NFL. Quarterback Philip Rivers will
benefit greatly from these two. It’s a great addition.