THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290521
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning would be running for his life on the field, while some drunk wearing a bag over his head would be running his mouth about Manning in the Superdome stands.
Tennessee freshman quarterback Peyton Manning remembers.
``Some of those games were not much fun to watch,'' he said.
Friday night, Archie Manning, the former NFL first-round draft pick and two-time Pro Bowler, will be in the stands watching his son Peyton quarterback Tennessee against Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl .
You like perfect symmetry? Check this out: Archie's first bowl game during his All-American career at Mississippi was the 1968 Liberty Bowl, against Virginia Tech.
One Tech defensive back was Frank Beamer, now the Hokies' head coach.
``I remember Archie as a guy who really got around
the field well - 'course, I was chasing him,'' Beamer said.
Peyton is just following him, as he has his entire life.
Peyton Manning attended his father's games, studied films and asked questions. Get in the car with dad, talk football. Watch a game on TV, discuss reading defenses. Sit down to eat, chew on strategy.
``He liked the X's and O's and the mental part of it,'' Archie said from his New Orleans home Tuesday as he packed for the Gator Bowl, in which he won Most Valuable Player honors in 1971. ``He wanted to learn. He always liked that.''
Luckily for the Volunteers, Peyton is a fast learner. He wasn't in line to be Tennessee's starting quarterback this season, but the bloodlines helped propel him to the top of the list when injuries hit.
Jerry Colquitt waited five years to be Tennessee's starting quarterback and finally got the chance when Heath Shuler turned pro early. Colquitt held the job seven plays before his left knee crumpled.
Todd Helton came in. But after three starts, he, too, was carted off with a knee injury.
The Vols were down to true freshmen Manning and Branndon Stewart, both high school All-Americans. Manning - who came out of high school rated among the nation's top three quarterbacks by every scouting service - won and kept the starting job. But Stewart played at least a series or two in every game.
To hear Vols coach Phillip Fulmer talk, you'd think the duo had been fused into one quarterback. He never discussed one without mentioning the other.
``It's been a real treat to watch Peyton grow - both quarterbacks, with all they've been able to accomplish at this stage of their careers,'' Fulmer said this week. ``A lot of guys would have been intimidated and not been able to handle the pressure and all the offensive packages.''
Manning won six of his seven starts, completed 61.8 percent of his passes and threw for 1,141 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and was the league's fourth-rated passer.
Thanks, dad.
``It's the inspiration in my life,'' Peyton said of his father's influence. ``He never pressured me or pushed me to go into football, but you grow up in a quarterback's house and it's always around.''
Archie, 45, was around plenty this season to watch the middle of his three sons. He attended 10 of 11 games, often jetting off to a different time zone the next day to work as a color analyst on the Saints' radio broadcasts.
Archie delighted in watching Peyton perform on the field, handle the pressure of playing before 96,000 home fans, deal with a quarterback situation in which fans chose sides, and present himself to the media with class and candor.
``But I'd have been proud of him if he threw three interceptions every game,'' Archie said. ``I'm proud that what he got thrown into, he handled - on the field and off the field. And I just got his grades, and he got a 3.5. I'm proud of that, too.''
It wasn't all the fairy tale of everybody's All-American.
The Vols lost, 17-13, to Alabama, and in the final minute, Manning missed an open receiver on fourth-and-3 at the Crimson Tide 7.
In the next home game, against Memphis, Manning struggled through his worst game. Stewart played his first-half series, and when Manning ran onto the field the next series, a smattering of boos rose up in Neyland Stadium.
Peyton had heard that as a boy while watching his dad play, but he thought it was endemic only to the professional level.
``He needed to experience those things,'' Archie said. ``Obviously, I want him to succeed every game and win. But deep down, I also want him to have the adversity, because he has to learn to deal with it.
``He had a good taste of all of it.''
Like father, like son. ILLUSTRATION: Color file photo
Freshman Peyton Manning
by CNB