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The Colt's newest quarterback, Southern boy Peyton Manning, faces one of the toughest tasks in pro sports - leading the Horseshoes to victory. INDIANAPOLIS -- The old quarterback was relaxing in his seat, minding his own business, when he sensed that familiar feeling sneaking up on him again. His stomach started to churn. His palms started to sweat. He crossed his legs, recrossed them, hoping it all would pass. He had been just fine on the trip up from New Orleans. He had been just fine back in the hotel, too. But then he arrived at the stadium, then he heard the hum of the crowd, and he felt exactly the same way he did 27 years ago. Back then, it made sense, of course. Back then, he was making his own NFL debut. Starting for the New Orleans Saints. Against Deacon Jones and the Los Angeles Rams. Heck, you would have been nervous, too. But this? This was ridiculous. He was here to see his son. He didn't have to do anything more perilous than signal for a fresh Coke. But here came the feeling anyway, from somewhere out of the past, the stomach, the palms, the whole familiar package. He looked flushed, even weak. Someone asked him if there was anything he would like. "Yeah," he thought. "I'd like one of those defensive linemen to come up here and hit me. Maybe then I'd be all right." Peyton Manning had his professional coming out party against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. It was a big affair, a statewide celebration. The city threw a pregame parade. The fans packed the RCA Dome. It was the team's first opening-game sellout in nine years. But if you think the Colts fans were wrapped up in it, you should have seen Archie Manning, the old quarterback, the man with the butterflies where his stomach should have been. He has watched Peyton play a lot of football over the years. In the Orange Bowl. In the Citrus Bowl. He figured he had seen it all. "I didn't expect to feel the way I felt," he said. "But then I got to the stadium ... " Then Archie saw his son running around in a No. 18 jersey, his old number at Ole Miss. Then he remembered what this day had meant to him. Then he thought about everything that could go right, and everything that could go wrong, and then he couldn't think clearly at all. "I suddenly felt really, really nervous," he said. "It was harder than I ever thought." The national anthem passed in a blur. The Dolphins' first series, too. And then Peyton trotted out onto the field, and gathered the team around him, and there was nothing left to do but watch. Peyton hit his first pass, a little swing pass out of the backfield to Marshall Faulk. Archie felt a great rush of relief. Peyton hit his next pass, another swing pass to Faulk. Archie hoped he could keep this up all day. Peyton threw an ugly interception to Terrell Buckley. Archie slumped in his seat, looked as if his stomach was acting up again. "You want him to do so well," he said later. "You want it to be perfect for him." The day wasn't perfect, of course. For rookies, it never is. Peyton Manning threw for 302 yards and a touchdown on the game's final play. He threw three interceptions, too. But with 1 minute, 32 seconds left in the game, the Colts got the ball back on their 4-yard line. Up in the stands, Archie turned to his younger son, Eli. "You know what?" he said. "I still think we're going to win." Two plays later, Peyton threw his third interception. Buckley ran it back 21 yards for a score and a 24-9 Miami lead. The television cameras caught Archie at exactly that moment. He had his head in his hands. A thin line for a smile. There appeared to be mist in his eyes. The old quarterback leaned against a concrete wall, directly across from the visitors locker room, figuring this was the right place to be after the Colts and his son lost 24-15 to Miami. He would have preferred to wait somewhere else. He didn't like the attention. But he wanted his son to see him, wanted his son to know he was there. So he planted himself against that wall, and he handled all the questions, and he tried to sound as objective as a father can sound. Someone asked Archie what he thought of his son's play. He said Peyton had done well. Someone asked how Archie had fared against the Rams in his NFL debut. He said he had gotten lucky and won. Someone asked if Archie was worried about his son. At that, he just shook his head and smiled. "Listen," he said. "Peyton is tough. You hang around here, you'll find that out, too." Then he leaned back against the wall. And he waited for his son. And you had to figure that if the kid were anything like his old man, this would all turn out just fine. |