| Chromeburn |
01-30-2019 10:15 PM |
Leonard, Luck and Manning Bits
The NFL put out a top ten plays by Leonard
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-2018-e...ys-2018-season
I saw this thread over at Colts.com and the guy had a couple good stories about Luck and Manning.
https://forums.colts.com/topic/61196...ng-story-good/
Quote:
Manning Story
So, I thought I had heard/read all the good/great Peyton stories up until today, when I heard one for the first time on Sirius XM radio on their NFL Channel.
The host was Bob Papa and his guests were Charlies Weis and Gil Brandt. And they were telling their all-time favorite stories from the Combine.
And Weis offered up this...
That before he was the OC for New England, he was the OC for the NY Jets. Three years, 97-99. And in '98, one of the players they interviewed at the combine was one Peyton Manning. And so Peyton comes to their suite and proceeds to tell Weiss and all the other coaches and execs in their room all about the players AND coaches on the Jets. Weis said Peyton knew every player on their team (I assume he meant every OFFENSIVE player and every Offensive coach He said Peyton was able to talk extensively about every player and coach, not just name names. Strengths, weaknesses, the works.
Weis said he and their staff were dazzled. That no one had ever done this before and Weis said he hasn't heard about anyone else doing it since. He added they all thought Manning had to be prepared to do this for all the other teams he was going to meet with as well. Impressive.
The interesting thing to me is this... that I've heard Polian talk about the process of selecting Manning and I've never heard him say Peyton did the same thing with the Colts players and coaches. And I've never heard Bobby Beathard, who was the GM with San Diego say that Peyton did that for his franchise either.
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Quote:
Luck Story
So, as you may remember, even once Luck was drafted, he couldn't spend very much time in Indy for the first six weeks or so. Andrew was still in school taking classes, and he very much wanted to attend graduation with his friends and teammates. So, he'd be in school M-Thu and then fly to Indy where he'd spend Fri-Sun at rookie mini camps every other week or so.
And the coaches had been spoon feeding Luck the playbook. A little bit at a time not wanting to overwhelmn the rookie. A little here, a little there. And Luck was doing great. So, after one 3-day practice, Luck is presented with a LARGE chunk of the playbook. About 2/3rds... all of it situational football. 2 minute offense, 4 minute offense, Red Zone, Goal Line... you name it.
A significant chunk. Luck takes it. A staffer drives him to the Indy airport. After he leaves, the coaches look at each other and smile... one says...
"We won't hear from him for weeks!"
Luck had impressed all of them with his intelligence, but now they basically threw the kitchen sink at him. Weeks, they thought.
He's driven to the airport, takes the roughly 4-hour flight to San Francisco and then is driven to the Stanford campus roughly 35-45 minutes away. Upon arrival he sends the coaching staff a 4-word text.........
"Got it. What's next?"
How long could that have been? 7-8 hours? Maybe? Less? And he felt good enough to alert the coaches he knew all about the 2/3rds of the playbook he'd been given. That's the moment when the coaches knew Luck was not like anyone else they'd ever been around. That's what a photographic memory will do for you. He looks at a page and just has it.
This story was shared by a Colts coach. I'm sorry I don't remember who. Pags? Arians? Someone else? I only wish I remembered.
This is why when fans here have worried over the Colts hiring a new coordinator and what it might do to Andrew, I've always shared not to worry. That with Luck, learning the new playbook is the LEAST of their worries. Remember, because he was rehabbing for more than half of 2018, Luck didn't even really get to practice very much until August. And even then, it was somewhat limited. But once the season started, Luck certainly looked like a QB who knew his new playbook.
"Got it. What's next?" is always going to be my favorite Andrew Luck story. Because it perfectly demonstrates how for Luck and yes, Peyton Manning, the best part of their game is what you CAN'T actually see. It's how their minds work. Not like anyone else.
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