Like Fellow Rookie QB Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning Has Struggled

INDIANAPOLIS -- The first matchup between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf arrives here Sunday with both rookie quarterbacks doing exactly what everyone expected them to be doing: struggling.

Manning, drafted No. 1 by the Indianapolis Colts, has committed 12 turnovers in his team's 0-4 start, while Leaf, drafted No. 2 by the Chargers, has committed 11 for his 2-2 team.

But that's about where the similarities end. Indeed, there is more to the story of the two rookies than just how they are playing -- just as there is more to being an NFL quarterback than on-field performance.

Pre-draft reports often portrayed the two quarterbacks as opposite personalities -- "Mr. Corporate or Mr. Carefree" was one headline -- and nothing has changed now that they're playing for real.

While Leaf has spent part of the past two weeks openly questioning whether he should be playing and enduring some much-publicized problems with the media, Manning has been, well, Manning. The picture of steady. If Leaf's emotions often resemble a roller coaster, Manning's are flat-lined.

Let Leaf's self-confidence waver. Let his teammates take him out to dinner after a four-interception game to give him a pep talk of sorts. Let his coach worry about his confidence. Manning, asked after practice yesterday if his confidence had taken a hit, barely let the reporter finish the question before answering, "No, it hasn't."

"I really don't need much damage control," he said. "I don't need guys pepping me up. I never had a problem with that. When a veteran comes by and says keep working, keep your head up, sure you appreciate that, but my confidence is just fine.

"Obviously I'm disappointed and every time we go out there and struggle it makes me more determined. Nobody likes throwing interceptions, nobody likes losing, but it's never going to make me gun shy, I promise you that."

That's one reason Colts president Bill Polian and coach Jim Mora, the men who made the decision to select Manning rather than Leaf -- and sign him to a six-year deal that could be worth as much as $47.775 million -- never hesitated making him the starting quarterback from the minute they picked him.

"I feel real good about the fact we're letting him play," Mora said. "I think he can handle the tough times. I think he can handle the adversity. I think he can handle the setbacks and come back and be a better player because of it. The best way to learn is by going out there and doing it. I don't think we'll destroy him; I don't think we'll put him in the tank. I think he's a guy that can handle this stuff."

Those thoughts certainly did not come from any previous experience Manning might have had. Losing games and throwing interceptions were not part of his profile. He was a combined 73-11 as a starter in high school (34-5) and at Tennessee (39-6), and he set an NCAA record for lowest career interception percentage (2.39), with just 33 in 1,381 attempts. At his current pace of 11 in four games, he would throw 44 this season alone.

"Sometimes you watch on film and you say, 'That doesn't look like me out there,' " Manning said.

But Mora and Polian say their quarterback is progressing even better than they expected. The Colts' biggest problem has been their defense, not their quarterback, who leads the AFC in both yards passing (992) and interceptions.

"This is going to sound funny for a guy that's thrown 11 interceptions," Mora said, "but I'm really pleased with his progress. I swear I am. I knew he'd struggle. I don't like the fact that he's thrown 11 interceptions, (but) they weren't all his fault. He's made excellent progress. He's getting better all the time. I think maybe to the fans' eyes, they may not see that, but I see him getting better every week."

Said Polian: "He's made quantum improvements, geometric improvements, every week. He's bearing up well under the frustration of not winning. He's handled the pressure of being a rookie quarterback in the league that everyone's looking at, writing about, talking about, very well. But that's not a surprise."

Neither Mora nor Polian wanted to discuss it directly, but one of the supposed advantages Manning had over Leaf was his maturity. Both men are 22 (Manning is two months older), but Manning played four years and started 45 games at Tennessee, compared with Leaf's three years (he redshirted as a freshman) and 24 starts for Washington State. Manning also had the advantage of being exposed to the NFL as a youngster; his father, Archie, was an NFL quarterback drafted No. 2 in 1971.

"I don't want to denigrate Ryan Leaf one iota, because he's going to be a great quarterback and I think he's a wonderful young guy," Polian said. "But Peyton had the extra year in college, he had all the pressure of the Heisman race, he had the disappointment -- and I think the stupidity on the part of the electorate -- of not getting the Heisman Trophy.

"The more experience you have in any walk of life, the better off you are. The other thing he has is that he's lived with the history of the game -- and his dad tells me he's a student of the game -- and he understands the historical perspective (of a rookie quarterback struggling), which has to help.

"I believe that both players are going to be outstanding quarterbacks; I believe they were both worthy of being picked No. 1. We felt after doing all the work that Peyton was the right guy for this particular situation."

Nothing that happens here Sunday, of course, will change that. Both teams are happy with who they have, and both quarterbacks say there's nothing special about their first meeting.

"When you're 0-4, there's not a whole lot else you can think about except trying to do whatever it takes to get a win, no matter who you're playing," Manning said. "Obviously the comparisons between Ryan and me are there, but I just can't get caught up in that.

"It's kind of a gut-check time for me and our team. It's easy to see where a guy could kind of throw in the towel and lose his confidence and kind of go in the tank, as they say, but that's not going to happen here . . . I've been very fortunate in my football career to win a lot of games and I plan to do that here with the Colts. It's just going to take a little time."