Revisiting The Manning/Leaf Debate

INDIANAPOLIS (June 12, 1998) -- So here it is, almost eight weeks since the Indianapolis Colts selected Tennessee's Peyton Manning with the first pick in this year's amateur draft. By doing so, the Colts marked him as the man who would quarterback the franchise into the next century. It also marked the beginning of a quarterback rivalry that is sure to last for the next decade or so.

Since that time, there's been a lot of debate over whether or not they made the right choice back on April 18. Instead of Manning, should the team have opted instead for Washington State's Ryan Leaf, the man with the million-dollar arm and a billionaire's ego? Name your poison. Braun or brains? Mind or muscle? Richie Cunningham or Dennis the Menace? It's an age-old question that tantalizes general managers every so often, and one that can't be answered easily.

As a Colts fan, I too agonized over that question in the days leading up to (and including) the draft. And while I felt confident in the team's selection of Peyton Manning that Saturday in April, there was still a small part of me that still wondered what things would be like if the Colts had surprised many of us and taken Ryan Leaf with the first pick overall.

But while time has a way of distorting events sometimes, it occasionally has a way of making things clearer. And after seeing how each quarterback has handled himself in the seven-plus weeks since Paul Tagliabue announced Peyton Manning's name first on national television, it's become more clear to me than ever that Jim Irsay, Bill Polian and company made the right choice.

In the public eye

The difference between taking Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning started to become apparent almost as soon as the draft was over. After he was selected by the Colts, Manning was whisked away to Indianapolis for a brief press conference before flying down to Knoxville, where his jersey was retired at the halftime of Tennessee's annual spring game.

"The first pick is just a draft off of potential," Manning said about being taken first. "I have to prove to the Colts that they made the right decision. I appreciate that they put their faith in me, but I'm just looking forward to going to work."

Manning said he wanted to do everything he could to prepare for this season as the team's starting quarterback, and it showed when he first left Indianapolis. In fact, while on the flight home to Tennessee, Manning was handed the Colts' playbook, which, according to several reports, he began studying while on the plane.

Leaf handled his initiation into the NFL a bit differently. After being drafted by San Diego, he was flown on Alex Spanos' private jet to Las Vegas, where he spent a good deal of his agent's money at the blackjack tables, had a couple of glasses of champagne too many, and woke up with a headache the next morning.

"Sorry, Mr. Spanos, I didn't want you guys to lose the last couple of games so I could play for you next year, but ..." Leaf said while trying not to yawn during a video conference with local reporters.

"I'm looking forward to a 15-year career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego," Leaf added. "I would have been fine going to play for Indianapolis, but I really wanted to play for the Chargers."

Those two quotes, and their immediate actions after getting drafted, gave an early indication of each quarterback's priorities. Manning was setting a reasonable goal -- getting ready to start the season as the top dog for the Colts. He also demonstrated a dedication to learning the team's offense and getting ready for the upcoming season.

Leaf, on the other hand, was actually happy that his current employer had lost their final eight games last season. He seemed to be more concerned with living it up and making bold predictions about the rest of his career than getting ready to start the season. It's understandable for a rookie to come in and make those statements, but it's still a bit arrogant nevertheless.

"The off-season is the time you prepare"

It's true that football games are won and lost on the field. But it's also true that what a player does off the field -- at minicamp or in the film room -- is a crucial factor in determining how successful a player will be. So far, Manning has won this battle over Leaf hands-down.

Aside from a quick appearance on the David Letterman show and an endorsement deal with Adidas last month, Manning has been all business. He's been busy tying up loose ends in Knoxville, saying goodbye to his close personal ties at Tennessee. "It was tough to leave Knoxville ... the people, my coaches, my teammates, the friends I had come to know," Manning.

On May 10, Manning left Tennessee and drove to New Orleans. There, he's been able to spend time with his family, but that's not the only reason he returned home. He's also been busy working out and lifting weights three days a week at his old high school. In addition, Manning has worked on his running and throwing twice a week with new Colts wide receiver Torrance Small, as well as Pro Bowl cornerback Aenas Williams and fellow draft picks Kyle Turley and J.J. McCleskey, a teammate with the Volunteers.

Getting out on the field is only half the story, though. At Tennessee, Manning earned the nickname "Caveman" from his teammates because of the amount of time he spent studying game films. That type of work ethic has already begun to show through in Indianapolis as well.

"I've always had a good off-season workout schedule," added Manning. "Really, there isn't much down time. The way I look at it, the off-season is the time you prepare yourself for the next season. It's good practice for me to study the playbook or watch film, then visualize what's going on."

Quarterback coach Bruce Arians has been quite impressed with the way Manning has dedicated himself to learning the offense. "We speak on the phone about every other day, discussing questions he brings up," said Arians. "His reputation as a student of the game is truly justified ... He's done everything he can to prepare for June within the limits of league rules."

"My head is swimming"

Ryan Leaf, on the other hand, has taken a more circuitous route to familiarizing himself with the San Diego Chargers. "You have to put in your dues before the team really respects you," is one of the things that Leaf said at his press conference in San Diego. Since that time, though, it would appear that Leaf's mind has been on just about everything except football.

Less than a week after being drafted, Leaf participated in his first minicamp with the Chargers, as Manning did with the Colts in Indianapolis. Both quarterbacks were thrown into the mix with very little knowledge of the offense. Both of them struggled in their professional debuts; in fact, the first pass that Peyton Manning threw as a Colt quarterback was intercepted and ran back for a touchdown.

And what did San Diego's quarterback of the future have to say after his first day as a pro? "My head is swimming."

"I don't know if I was nervous, but I got out there and things kind of started flying around a little bit. It kind of hit me a little that I was playing professional football, especially looking across the line and looking at Junior Seau. I'm glad he's on my team."

It may be a comforting thought for Ryan Leaf to know that he won't have to worry about getting hit by Junior Seau, but it shouldn't bode too well with Charger fans. Last time I checked, quarterbacks like Leaf get paid several million dollars a year to beat the Junior Seaus of the world, not stand back behind the line of scrimmage and gaze at them in wonder.

A few days later, Leaf appeared as a guest on the David Letterman show. Once again, you could see a marked difference in the way the two quarterbacks handled themselves.

When Manning appeared on the show a few days before, he presented himself as a professional -- nervous, mind you, but still a professional nonetheless. Yet there was Leaf on the same stage, a combination of Herman Munster meets Beavis and Butthead, an immature young man who must have used the word "suck" half a dozen times in the course of a five minute interview -- "A house on the beach won't suck," "San Diego doesn't suck," etc.

With his stint on the Letterman show over, Leaf promptly went back to San Diego, where he leased a house in La Jolla and hired a personal trainer. After that, it was a quick trip up to Seattle, where he threw the first ball out at a Mariners game. He followed that up by spending a few weeks scuba diving with Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer and some buddies in the Caribbean.

So except for a three-day stint in Florida for NFL rookies and a quarterback challenge in May, it would appear that Ryan Leaf's done very little, if any, real work toward learning the system and becoming a better quarterback in San Diego. I don't know about you, but the more I compare Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning in terms of what they've done since April, the happier I am with the choice the Colts made.

Let the experts speak

So what are we to make out of all this? Perhaps the easiest way to see the difference between how Manning and Leaf are preparing themselves for the upcoming season comes straight from some of the most respected football writers in the country.

Let's take Peter King, for instance. King interviewed Peyton Manning earlier this week and reported that Manning already had 75% of the Colts' playbook down pat. This, despite the fact that there are still almost three months before the season starts. There are some players in the NFL who don't even have 75% of the alphabet memorized, let alone a 300-page book of offensive plays.

And as for Leaf? Well, according to a recent report in The Sporting News, a number of Chargers officials are rather upset with the team's new quarterback. The reason? It seems that Leaf hasn't bothered to contact them in a month -- not to ask for more tapes of game situations, not to talk with a quarterback coach about formations or coverages -- nothing.

No contact in a month? I know divorced couples who speak to each other more often.

So Peyton Manning doesn't have all the physical tools that Ryan Leaf does. So what? Joe Montana and Phil Simms never won any contests by throwing a football the fastest on the radar gun. Joe Theisman didn't possess a quarterback's mind in a linebacker's body. Yet all three of them have something those golden-armed quarterbacks like Dan Marino and Jeff George don't -- a Super Bowl ring.

In the end, it's not about which quarterback is able to throw the ball 70 yards in the air. It's not about which one has the stronger arm, or the larger shoulders -- or the biggest ego. It's about which quarterback a team can depend on to make the plays necessary to win the big game. It's about getting the plays down in June and July so you won't have to think them in November and December. It's those little differences now that distinguish a team that makes the playoffs versus one that continually loses the close games.

Maybe one day Ryan Leaf will have his head on straight and start caring about professional football. Maybe he'll become interested in reading the playbook and watching game tapes like he's supposed to. And who knows? With a little luck (and a lot of maturation), some day he might live up to all the hype that's surrounded him. But at this moment, when you compare what Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning have done to get ready for this season, the choice is obvious.

Just like a strong wind, Manning blows this Leaf away.