Where o where in Payton Manning’s repertoire ....calibrating risk in the pocket.... head feints arm pumps avoiding crushing sacks in the Wellington blitzes against the Napoleonic aggressions of the 31 year old Generalissimo named no not the Otto Graham nor Sammy Baugh or for that matter Sid Luckman himself....The Super Bowl, Miami February 7,2010 . .
Is he the thinker humanitarian overachiever and underdog all in the athleticism of a Saint like persona named Drew Brees.......
24 hours after the all conquering passion of proving himself over larger reputations and legacies.......
Who would have known the six foot 31 year old could have emerged from his New Orleans cocoon as the combative Austin Texas wunderkid who had defeated Andy Roodick three times when they were tennis jocks at Westlake High, Austin, Texas.
His San Diego offensive coordinator and teammates saw thru his Steve Nash look a like mask....his Duke Wayne “True Grit”,his saintly persona representing a city that absorbed the Kadina disaster: the dikes breaking, the water crushing the natives and their properties.. straight out of the mind boggling Louisiana Purchase.
As a force of nature ,isn’t he the one managing the play calling dynamics..the fourth down two yards for a first own...the off side kick in the second quarter that took the enemy by surprise....the Manning fourth quarter interception that was the coup de grace.
Payton eyes, his grabbing his cap as he went to the bench for a long valentine reflection about the foot skills and finesse of his enemy.
Not a smile nor a tic, his eyes searching his notes “From Payton with love and squalor” as the coup de grace hit his battle weary brain, his helmet like Achilles’s abandoned...., the straps hanging loose on the bench...
The undefeated high school gridiron wunderkid taking it to him?.The Manning DNA the genetic pedigree of father Archie, brother Eli.
The intangibles studying film for two weeks couldn’t reveal.Brees’s persona, transcending Manning’s vision and Achilles like unconscious. ....... ...
New Orleans French quarter Bourbon Street, February 8, 2009.
