Did you see it? What he did on the field tonight? Not during the game. After the game.
When Andrew Luck and the Colts lined up in the “Victory Formation” to kneel down and wind the final seconds off the clock, NBC’s cameras showed Manning on the Denver sidelines. Here he was, watching the guy who was given his job, his franchise, his city. Here he was, defeated in his return to Indy. Here he was, crushed.
His eyes said it all, burning across the field, staring at where it went wrong, staring holes in his cleats. Manning is an expressive guy — his slew of TV appearances attests to that – but rarely do you catch a glimpse of him the way he looked in those final, lonely seconds. He wanted this game. Wanted it badly.
But he didn’t get it. The kid got it. The kid earned it. And Manning had to take it.
Boy, did he take it. With all of those emotions, all of that feeling inside him, he marched away from the sideline. His helmet still fastened to that XL head, he walked right into the TV cameras, right into the postgame hubbub at midfield. Those first few steps, he was almost dazed, a prize fighter who’d just taken a vicious uppercut. One of his coaches patted his back, then some guy in a suit, and then he lumbered a few paces.
That’s when he shook it off. One of the Colts coaches hugged him, followed by a Colts player, followed by Andrew Luck. They shared a short word — all you’d expect — and then the handshakes really started. Coaches, players, athletic trainers, ballboys — one by one, Manning took their hands with much more than lip service. He looked each person in the face, took the time to say something, give a pat on the back, honor the moment. He stopped to talk — not once, but a number of times. Every couple steps he took, he saw someone else, and he stopped in his tracks. Out came the mitts again. A smile for one of the security guys. A quick chat with this guy, and that guy.
He didn’t need to do any of it. The man’s character and feelings for the Colts organization, for the city of Indianapolis, have been more well-documented than the Constitution. Nobody would’ve begrudged him anything if he had shaken Luck’s hand alone and headed straight for the locker room. Luck’s was the only handshake expected of him, yet it was clearly far from the only one that mattered to him. Despite all of the loss’s sting, he stayed on that field far longer than was necessary. In doing so, he showed the true class and leadership that make him far more than a great football player. He showed what makes a true winner.
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