Manning
It seems somehow fitting that the first pass Peyton Manning, the $48  million man, threw as a professional went for a touchdown. His father Archie  Manning, in this team effort from two of football's more interesting  quarterbacks, stresses that "My only hard rule [with his sons growing up] was  that they finish what they start." Peyton, the All-American Phi Beta Kappa  graduate of Tennessee, obviously listened to his All-American from Ole Miss  father, whose strong right arm almost made the Saints competitive over 12  seasons in New Orleans.Though both father and son get equal billing, this is really Archie's book, his  story, and the story of his family that he wants to tell. He gets the first word  and the last in this hybrid joint first-person memoir with chapter intros and  structural transitions provided bySports Illustratedveteran John  Underwood. Like most sports biographies, it's rife with inspiration, decisions  to be made, challenges to face (Peyton's older brother had to cut short his  career when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal spinal cord disease),  tragedy faced (Archie's father killed himself while Archie was in college), and  expectations exceeded. But it also has a lot of straight talk from Archie about  family and football, and he's not above throwing a few penalty flags on the  game. He's loud and clear on college recruiting abuses--as is Peyton. He worries  about youth leagues putting pressures to succeed over fun in playing, hates all  the taunting and celebrating in the NFL, and thinks there's just too darned much  money and too little team loyalty in football's veins these days. The fire still  smolders in his belly, andManningis at its most interesting when he  stokes up the flames.--Jeff Silverman--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.