Kauffman: The Other Orangemen

BY SHAWN KAUFFMAN

Posted on 2/28/2010

It was on a play that fosters so much success in college football. It was on a play that required little use of a quarterback’s throwing arm. It was only the fifth play on the Texas Longhorns’ first drive in the BCS Championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners when the all-time winningest player in NCAA history Colt McCoy got bonked hard from the side, removing all feeling from his throwing arm.

As we know, he would never return and his team would go on to lose 37-21. That would be the last play in his last game of his football career up to that point that the NCAA Quarterback of the Year would ever play.

But he didn’t cry.

“It would be so easy to question why,” he said.

But he doesn’t.

A man of faith, Colt McCoy is one who believes and doesn’t question why things happen when they do. Instead, he chooses to remain positive.

“It’s one of those things that you’ll think about forever. … Disappointing is probably the real word,” McCoy said. “But at the same time, I’ve been raised the right way and you’ve got to find a positive in every situation. I think about that and I think about how I still have a lot of football left to play. I’m confident that my best football is ahead of me and that’s what keeps me going.”

Disappointing. There’s that word that just a couple of weeks ago was tossed around by Peyton Manning an astounding eighteen times during his postgame interview, after being defeated by the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

Contrary to McCoy’s situation, Manning’s throwing arm hadn’t failed him. Rather, his eyes had.

The Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback never was able to win a championship at the University of Tennessee. McCoy never was able to at Texas either, even though they both can throw touchdowns as easily as we can throw crumpled pieces of paper in the trashcan, win (almost) every game possible, have excellent leadership qualities both on and off the field, and even both suited up in orange in college. It makes you wonder if we’re seeing another Manning on the verge of rising.

For the game’s sake, I like to think so.

Let’s just hope Colt doesn’t receive postseason woes.

:: The future

Colt McCoy is a fine young man who took his team 12-0 this year and led his team to the title game, a fine man who has received countless awards and holds several Longhorns school records – it should be no wonder he remains positive. Despite nearly having a career-ending injury, McCoy has successfully bounced back, faster then previously hoped for.

At 6′2″, 210 pounds, Colt will be one of the top quarterbacks selected in the draft in April. Experts project him going in the late first round, early second round at worst. His shoulder injury could have league owners cautious.

Not wanting to risk overworking his arm too soon,  McCoy’s doctor has advised him not to throw at the NFL Combine this week. He will have to wait to WOW prospects on March 31 at the University of Texas Pro Day.

“My arm feels really good,” he said. “I’m able to do everything they ask me to do. It’s really healing quickly.”

Doing everything they ask him to do won’t be enough if he’s going to be anything like Peyton Manning. He’ll need to study, work-out, and then study some more. Even if it makes his shoulder hurt.

Kauffman: No hatin’ on Peyton

While there may still be some partying going on down in New Orleans, time (and Tiger Woods) has quietly slipped the Saints triumphant Super Bowl XLIV victory into the headline archives and out of our minds. 

We will all remember “that play” where Hank Baskett coughed up the onside kick and the game as we know it was never the same again. Garcon dropped a touchdown pass. Cough. Reggie Wayne dropped a game-changing touchdown pass. Cough. When Manning was picked off on his favorite slant route to Wayne, it was over. We all knew it. Destiny would overrule everyone and everything as it always does.

Despite all these mistakes the Colts suffered from, you cannot take anything away from the Saints. At the end of the day, Sean Payton outcoached Caldwell, Brees outplayed Manning, and New Orleans out-cheered Indianapolis – WHO DAT? 

With Payton’s gutsy play-calling, he dared and he took chances. Luckily for him, it worked. Many even insist that the Saints played to win while the Colts played not to lose. If that’s true, then that made just enough of the difference. 

The onside kick scuffle that involved everybody from both teams that lasted for nearly ten minutes – I think I even saw Colts GM Bill Polian in there one time – was the single greatest game-changing play I’ve ever witnessed in Super Bowl history. For that, my hat goes off to Payton.

Now on to the other Peyton. Peyton Manning played a tremendous game as he always does – probably one of the single greatest-played games by a quarterback in Super Bowl history with 333 passing yards on 31 completions.

Manning knows how to win. The four-time league MVP has led the Colts to seven straight 12-plus win seasons. And if you want to get “technical”, he even has a ring. 

Like Dan Marino who never won the big game, Manning is still being compared to Dan “Not the Man”. They both have spectacular stats yet both seem to have trouble winning when it matters most. Manning is .50 in postseason play at 9-9, but make no mistake about it – he went to the Super Bowl and won.

I’m a strong believer in that Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. And it’s not because of his stats either, or the way he continues to get better and better, or the way he just won league MVP for the second year running. It’s not the way he’s a ten-time Pro Bowler, a hilarious actor in his many commercials, or the way he’s a class act from head to toe.

Manning’s hardcore dedication to the game and ABS (Always Be Studying) mantra has given Manning the ability to walk up to the line of scrimmage without ever having the need to huddle up. He has learned to call his own plays, and then change the play about four times before receiving the hike from center Jeff Saturday. His poise, his determination, and his knowledge of the game and of opposing defenses’ are astounding. And it’s scary.

The Colts could have very easily won Super Bowl XLIV. Baskett could have very easily fallen right on that ball and the Colts would have completed a quick march down the field for another end zone and ownership of complete momentum. Garcon and Wayne could have very easily caught those passes and had 14 more points on the board. And how often is it that Reggie Wayne isn’t as much of a focal point in a game as he was in this one?

If it weren’t for all these mistakes or – Happenings of the Almighty’s Ultimate Plan - the Colts may be winners of yet another Super Bowl right now. If not for destiny’s calling, Peyton Manning might be currently regarded as the best player of all-time right now. His stats and knowledge of the game would only be sweet additions to the argument. With his numbers, his TWO rings would settle the dispute in a hurry.

Is it really fair to say Manning can’t win the big ones? From the mouths of some critics, it seems as though Manning’s value just fled down the drain and his previous ring a fluke.

If only a couple plays had been different, the legacy of Peyton Manning could be a completely different story.

But, it just wasn’t meant to be. Not this time. Not yet.

Manning now has next season to yet again prove to everybody why he’s the best. He’ll probably play well enough to receive the MVP award again whether he receives it or not, and he’ll be fighting the good fight in postseason play and leading his team into Arlington.

What a guy.