Comments   Summary   Reviews

Summary: In "Manning, Archie and Payten Manning, with writer John Underwood, provide a compelling look at football from the perspectives of two generations of players. One, an experienced and battle-scarred father, and the other, a son who has exploded on to the national scene as one of the best young quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. Together they take a hard look at their careers and all of American football, dissecting the big-money madness, race relations within the NFL (and in sports in general), the rituals of bribery that mark college recruiting, and fans who can no longer identify with the insatiable cash fever in pro sports. They discuss organizational sports and why white youngsters aren't out there playing the game like they used to; the college game as compared to the pros; coaches, good and bad; and why the quarterback position is the most difficult one in all of sports. It all began in a town called Drew in the heart of the Mississippi Delta -- farm country, where you'd find crops of cotton, soybeans, and rice. As a boy, Archie didn't have much to do outside of school except play sports. Lots of sports. He played them all and he played them well. But football was his passion, and if you lived in Mississippi in the 1960s, there was only one college for you: Ole Miss. While there, Archie made All-America twice and was so impressive at quarterback, could do so many things to win games, that Bear Bryant, the great Alabama coach, said that he was