‘It’s not just about you’: What Super Bowl champs Peyton and Eli Manning told the Notre Dame football team
Eli Manning had one person top of mind when his New York Giants got the ball back trailing the New England Patriots 14-10 with 2:39 left in Super Bowl XLII.
Not himself. Not his famous father. Or his brother, who might have been the best quarterback in the game at the time — even better than the one he was facing on the other sideline in Glendale, Ariz., that day.
It was a prominent player on the Giants defense. And that’s the thought Manning used to drive a point home in a speech to the Notre Dame football team a few weeks ago.
“I wanted to win a championship for Michael Strahan,” Manning told Notre Dame. “That was my goal. He was our leader. He was at every practice. He encouraged us. He motivated us. Fifteen years in the NFL. Never won a Super Bowl. You want to go on that final two minute drive and win a championship for him.
“But you have that (feeling) for every player. I wanted to win a championship for Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. Afterwards, they told me they wanted to win one for me so I’d have one more than my brother. It comes together. You have a reason, and it’s not just about you.”
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That brother, a two-time Super Bowl champ like Eli but also a five-time league MVP (more than any player who has ever played in the NFL), is, of course, Peyton Manning. He shared a similar message with Notre Dame football players on the same day as his younger brother.
“The best teams I played on, our best players practiced the hardest every day,” the elder Manning said. “They set the example every day. They were sitting in meetings taking notes, paying attention, and our young players were like, ‘Holy cow. This is how they do it here. I’m going to take notes. I’m going to pay attention.’
“We got on the practice field and it was full speed. Taking snaps full speed. Walk throughs, everybody is intense. We’re calling audibles like it was a game. To me, that sets the tone. Talented players who are unselfish set the example in the building of what it’s going to take to be a Notre Dame football player.”
When everybody wants to win as badly as the player next to them, good things happen. The Manning brothers have four Super Bowl rings to show for that.
“That feeling is contagious,” Eli Manning said. “The whole team has it.”
