Peyton Manning’s father, Archie, was the first of the Manning family to play in the NFL. A star for the New Orleans Saints for over a decade, Archie made two Pro Bowl appearances. With such an accomplished mentor at home, it’s safe to say that Eli and Peyton had the perfect teacher. However, there was one thing Archie couldn’t teach Peyton as a quarterback — a specialized pass that elder Manning had mastered.
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Archie’s NFL career spanned over 14 seasons, mostly with the New Orleans Saints. However, it wasn’t until he joined the Houston Oilers that he discovered a unique way to throw a pass.
It actually happened during a broken play. As the veteran QB scrambled for his life, he threw an underhanded pass out of desperation, hitting a receiver perfectly in stride. Had he been able to run it in for a touchdown, it would’ve gone down as one of the greatest highlights in NFL history.
Fast forward a decade, and when Archie was training Peyton to be a quarterback, he showed him the smooth mechanics of his underhanded pass. However, Peyton could never quite master it.
“My dad taught me everything about being a quarterback. But one thing always escaped me,” Peyton later revealed (via Omaha Productions). “I never could get it. I never could get the underhanded pass.”
Subsequently, old footage of Archie and Peyton playing catch in the backyard was shown. When the elder QB attempted his underhanded pass, it was a perfect spiral, landing right on the chest. Peyton’s attempt, on the other hand, left much to be desired.
“He can’t do it,” Archie joked in the clip.
Perhaps, for Archie, the motion came naturally. In fact, the first time he pulled off the pass, it was an effort to avoid re-injuring his groin.
“We had to end the round to Dave Casper, and all of a sudden, he’s in trouble. And he tries to throw [the ball] back to me [as a lateral]… I didn’t want it.. Now I’m running to my right,” Archie recalled that famous play.
“I had a pulled groin, and my body just told me: If I throw it like this, it’s going to hurt my groin. So, it just was underhanded. And Mike Renfroe just ran right through, and if he could’ve just broken one more tackle, he would’ve scored a touchdown,” he added.
Archie’s mind raced with the possibilities of how we’d remember the play. Would it have been the greatest touchdown pass in NFL history? Maybe. But we’ll never know.
Who would’ve thought that Archie had a passing skill that his son doesn’t? When you compare their careers side by side, Peyton blew his father out of the water. One’s a Hall of Famer and one isn’t. But it’s funny to think that Archie will always have a leg up on his son when it comes to pulling off unique passes. You have to wonder if he still gives his son a hard time about it.
