 |
 |
 |
|
SAN DIEGO -- Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard saw Ryan Leaf talking to reporters Monday afternoon and couldn't resist stirring it up. Ryan Leaf says too much is being made of his preseason matchup with Peyton Manning. "It's the biggest week in the NFL -- Leaf vs. Manning!" Beathard blared. So let the hype begin. Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts play host to Leaf's Chargers on Saturday night, the first of two matchups in 44 days between the rookie quarterbacks taken with the first two picks in the NFL draft. "I think it's the media's big ploy -- here's your big push to get the No. 1 and No. 2 picks playing against each other," Leaf said. "But they're not going to be playing against each other. It's the Chargers against the Colts. He's not playing safety or linebacker against me, so it really has no relevance to what's going on out there." "He and I aren't competing against one another," added Manning after leading the Colts to a 30-27 victory Monday night in Cincinnati. "People are going to make comparisons, and you can't pretend it's not there. But I'm not trying to outdo him, and he's not trying to outdo me. "All we're trying to do is help our teams get back on the winning track. That's where he and I have a lot in common." Actually, the teams, not the media, make up their own exhibition schedules. This game was scheduled a few years back, long before the Colts and Chargers turned out to be so bad they earned such high draft picks. The Colts had the NFL's worst record last year at 3-13, and the Chargers were 4-12. Even so, Beathard had to made a blockbuster deal with Arizona just to move from third to second in the draft and be assured of getting whichever franchise QB the Colts didn't take. And by finishing last in their divisions, the Colts and Chargers earned a regular-season matchup -- Oct. 4, also at Indianapolis. Leaf and Manning might not like the comparisons, but they're going to get them, even from the NFL's public relations machine. In the NFL's preseason release, there's a section with this headline: "Passing The Torch: QB Class of '98." It's noted that the Oct. 4 game will be just the second "battle" in NFL history of rookie QBs drafted 1-2 in the same year. The other was on Sept. 19, 1993, when second pick Rick Mirer's Seattle Seahawks beat top pick Drew Bledsoe's New England Patriots 17-14. Manning and Leaf get to do it twice. One game doesn't count, the other will. Beathard said he expected this game to get a lot of attention, and figures both organizations will try to downplay it. "It's just the way the schedule goes," he said. "At this stage of their careers it's probably meaningless to try to compare the two on the outcome of this game or out of their performance in this game. I think the important thing for each one is to show progress leading up to the regular season." Leaf said he's looking forward to the game for two reasons -- he gets to play into the second half, and he might be booed by fans who remember how he spoke so openly before the draft of his desire to be picked by the Chargers. "I'm looking forward to having to go to a place now where the fans aren't going crazy every time you fall down or if you complete a pass," said Leaf, who's given Chargers fans something to look forward to by leading San Diego to exhibition victories over San Francisco and St. Louis. "I'll probably like the boos a little bit. They get you fired up a little more." Leaf said he spoke with Manning right before training camp opened. "Every time we're around each other we sit and talk about our families, get to know what's going on in our lives, which is a great release because we're both in such similar situations. It's nice to have somebody like that to be able to talk to." Manning feels the same way. "Ryan and I have a lot in common," Manning said. "We're playing a lot as rookies and have a lot of pressure put on us. He and I are in the same boat. We talked about it way back. All we can do is the best we can and try to learn on the job this year." |