I don’t want to pile on to the Colts’ loss in the Super Bowl, but when other people have avoided post-loss handshakes it’s made headlines so I think this deserves some comment. It seems Colts quarterback Peyton Manning wasn’t interested in sticking around to shake the hands of the New Orleans Saints after he blew his team’s chance at winning their second title in four years; He was too focused on rushing to the locker room to sulk. He didn’t even stay to see the last tick of the clock, making his way to the tunnel before the clock struck zero.
When other players and coaches, like Randy Moss and Bill Belichick, have made hasty exits after losses it’s been big news. Some of the same publications who chastise other people for doing it were making excuses for Manning; And you have to search the nooks and crannies of the Web to find out that Manning refused to shake the hands of the players who beat him. Pretty classless of the reigning NFL MVP.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 1:54 AM
The worm turns.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 1:56 AM
I thought it was strange that Jim didn’t mention Manning’s speedy departure in his Super Bowl recap, especially after he took Belichick to task for the same behavior after Super Bowl XLII…
(Cyd, I’m begging you! Please resume writing your NFL recaps for Outsports next season. Jim’s Colts-centric recaps tested my gag reflex more times than I care to remember last year.)
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:00 AM
Todd, I appreciate your sentiment, but I find Jim’s recaps insightful. They may be Colt-centric, but he knows what he’s talking about.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:26 AM
Drew Brees:
“I was able to talk to him after the game, just text messaging,” Brees said. “Obviously, I have a lot of respect for him and I know that he was definitely congratulatory toward our team.”
Brees doesn’t think anyone should interpret Manning going straight to the locker room as a slight.
“Peyton’s a class guy,” Brees said. “He definitely reached out.”
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:35 AM
Very classy of Brees to take the high road. I have a lot of respect for him.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:53 AM
Brees is very classy, and hot too! here’s a video of him in the shower for a commercial, i’d lather him up any day!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTbF_K6CpBE
and if i recall correctly, Belichick at least had class enough to give a quick handshake to Tom Coughlin before bolting to the locker room after his Super Bowl loss, meanwhile Peyton sends a text like a big pouty teenage douchebag!
but hey he’s a media darling so he gets a pass……
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 3:44 AM
I am so happy for Scott Fujita! Rock out with your cock out, babe! I don’t care for Brees – he is a bit too religious in his chatter for me.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 7:31 AM
much to do about nothing .Here is link that says it better than I could .
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Peyton-Manning-storms-off-Super-Bowl-field-Is-h?urn=nfl,218314
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 7:43 AM
I’m a Saints fan, and I don’t expect the losing team to sit around and watch the winning team celebrate. His comments were classy, and it’s not like he snubbed any particular person.
(They mentioned Bellichik, that’s just common decency to shake the opposing coach’s hand on the way out, but it’s not the same protocol for players. He’s had Brees’s phone number since Brees was in college, so even if that’s some kind of custom I’m not familiar with, it wasn’t necessary to follow it.)
I know people’s knee-jerk reaction is to compare it to youth and rec leagues, but in those situations, the first thing you do is shake hands, there is no network trying to push the trophy presentation to take place. In those leagues, you celebrate after shaking hands. But to wait around during all that just to shake hands with people as you find them (I’ve never seen each team making a formal line either) seems a little silly.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 7:55 AM
I agree with that Yahoo! story. I don’t think the winners need the pat on the back, but if anything, you take the cue from them. If they want to find the losers to speak with them (Mark Sanchez finding Marvin Lewis, for instance), then that can be good sportsmanship. But not to do so isn’t bad sportsmanship. To follow the example, that Lewis would have walked off without talking to Sanchez wouldn’t have been bad. The only thing that would have been bad would have been if he ignored him after being approached.
And I don’t believe there is any obligation of a losing team (aside from the coaches who mutually walk toward the middle of the field) to congratulate the winners. The first inclination is to move on and get out of the way. They have each other, their families, owners, GMs, etc. It’s too much of a whirl of activity, especially with a big championship like this. I don’t think anyone was offended, I really don’t.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 8:32 AM
If Drew Brees is cool with his actions then I don’t see why I, or any of us, should complain. I don’t think Brees was being magnanimous in his non-religious tweeted comments, nor that Manning was necessarily being bitter in his peremptory behavior.
And Jim’s column was one of the best I’ve read on Outsports. Something about having “your team” lose brings out the best in some writers. I think the mock declaration of principles of the sportswriter in “The Dreyfus Affair: A gay Love Story” reflects this.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Anyone see this crotch shot of Brees, by the way?
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:48 AM
http://media.nola.com/superbowl_impact/photo/drew-brees-late-showjpg-9e812760006c6b02_medium.jpg
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:55 AM
I think it is poor sportsmanship and he should be fined for his actions. Come on…we teach our children from an early age how to be good sportsmen and are proud when they display that characteristic. I believe it to be one of those lessons learned by playing sports that carries over into other areas of our lives. To me, his actions were immature. His coaches should have been reprimanding him. His fans expected more from him. And even his Mother is probably wondering where she went wrong.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:19 PM
I’m torn, but will err on the side of Manning.
I hated it when I would compete and the guy I just beat wouldn’t even shake my hand. But that was a one-on-one situation, clearly different than this. But it always seemed a bit “sore loser” to me.
However, Manning is right about the mass chaos. You’ve got celebrations, interviews, award presentations, etc. It moves from ball game to festival pretty quickly.
What saved his class, IMO, was the phone call. He stopped sulking, picked up the phone, and called Drew to congratulate him personally. I’m sure that the ensuing conversation was a LOT more meaningful than a quick handshake/hug on the field in the midst of all the chaos. Had he not taken that step, I might have been disappointed.
He took the step, everyone is happy including the “snubbed” Drew Brees, so I will cut Manning some slack.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Did Manning call the other guys who beat him? How about the guys he actually played against the entire game? Sorry, you can’t call some players poor sports for doing it and others classy for doing the same thing.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Cyd, I have to wonder if you’re posting like this because you don’t like Manning or because you really think this was such a horrid breach of Superbowl etiquette?
Clearly Drew Brees, who should be upset, is taking this all in stride and understands what Manning felt after the game. Clearly Drew Brees is happy with Manning’s actions post-game with a phone call or text messages. I agree with most of the guys who posted before me; it’s not a big deal.
Manning is human. Losing sucks. He made up for it. Life goes on. Like I said, if he hadn’t contacted Brees, I’d agree with you and be disappointed. Life goes on, the world keeps turning, and the Saints are still the Superbowl champs.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:08 PM
he never called Brees, he TEXTED him! In any case, it says more about the double-standard of the media……
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:14 PM
DB, the yahoo article specifically says:
“For the record, Peyton did call Brees later in the night. Said the Saints quarterback: “Peyton’s a class guy.” If the man who was supposedly snubbed thinks so, that’s enough for me.”
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:30 PM
Jim Buzinski wrote specifically in comment 4:
“I was able to talk to him after the game, just text messaging,” Brees said.
so one of them is wrong. wanna clear this up Jim?
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:44 PM
“I thought it was strange that Jim didn’t mention Manning’s speedy departure in his Super Bowl recap, especially after he took Belichick to task for the same behavior after Super Bowl XLII…”
Hey Todd: Reason I didn’t mention is that I didn’t notice it. And neither did Cyd or any of the other 4 people I watched the game with. And when I did my notes and consulted my usual sources, it was not mentioned. I mentioned BB 2 years ago because he left the field while there was still time on the clock, which was so unusual it had to be discussed.
This is much ado about nothing but it does give the Manning haters something to feel gleeful about, which I get. Manning reached out and congratulated Brees. The fact that he didn’t do it in the chaotic seconds when there is bedlam on the field means nothing save to those looking to take a shot.
FYI: Brees and the Mannings are close; Peyton’s brother Cooper watched the wild card games at Brees’ house and helped him find his NO house. There is no animosity between them, only admiration.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 3:03 PM
DR, I posted it because when Randy Moss left the field before a game was over, it was HEADLINES; And when Bill Belichick didn’t shake someone’s hand, it was HEADLINES. But, like I said, when St. Peyton does THE SAME EXACT THING, the SAME EXACT PEOPLE who called the others out for it say it’s “much ado about nothing.” It’s comical.
When anyone does it, it’s really bad sportsmanship and should be discussed and shown for the bad sportsmanship it is. These men show young people how to behave. Even if you did just blow the Super Bowl for you team, you should be a sport about it; You expect the same when you’re on the winning side.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 3:10 PM
Watch this 4 minutes from ESPN and tell me Manning has no class, especially the comments from Troy Brown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjU60mHM9QA
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Thanks for the link, Jim. Clearly this is a lot of bitching over nothing. The guy has a lot of class, and he made a bad call which he corrected in a few hours. I think the lynching needs to stop.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 4:14 PM
Guess MANning is a bigger man than his critics.
Those handwritten notes at the end of your career must be like a nice shot of Southern Comfort.
I can imagine the emotions roiling inside the guy after seeing him choke up a little just talking about those letters. Were it not for his status and personality some of the players might think it ‘gay’.
Being beaten by dad’s old team, from his own hometown it hurts.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 5:25 PM
I wonder if Manning wrote a letter to the female sports trainer he reportedly “teabagged” while he was in college back in 1996? Or to his own offensive line after throwing them under the bus in 2004? Or to Jeff Saturday after screaming at him like a spoiled brat on the sidelines in 2005? Manning haters don’t need his latest post-game antics as fodder for taking shots; he’s provided more than enough ammunition throughout his career.
Jim, if it had been Tom Brady who walked off the field without shaking Eli Manning’s hand after Super Bowl XLII, I’m pretty sure that you and all the Hatriots at ESPN would be calling for his head on a platter right now. The point is moot because, despite all the bedlam of the post-game celebration, Brady somehow managed to seek Eli out and congratulate him, something Peyton couldn’t be bothered to do until later with a text message and a phone call. You can gloss it over all you like, but it’s still bad form.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 6:17 PM
That’s what is so classy about the way entire NHL teams shake hands at the end of what is often a 6 or 7 game war when a series ends.
Yes sometimes lingering too long with on ice media interviews results in missing some hands as happened with Sydney Crosby last year after Game 7 in Detroit – but the concept of the losing team waiting for the winning team to celebrate and then lining up to shake hands with every single person on the team – THAT’s class.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 8:03 PM
“Or to Jeff Saturday after screaming at him like a spoiled brat on the sidelines in 2005?”
Todd, you crack me up. That clip of he and Saturday is a classic that they all laugh about, and the two are best friends. They liked the clip so much it was put into the official NFL Films video when the Colts won the Super Bowl. But of course Manning haters like you try to twist everything to prove something that is just not there. Keep trying, it’s gets better with each comment. Maybe you can discover a time in the fifth grade that he didn’t share his lunch.
As for ESPN being “Hatriots,” that’s another good one. No network slurped the Pats more during their 18-1 season than ESPN, which is based in New England.
Here is that clip of the horrible, awful Peyton Manning yelling at his poor center Jeff Saturday. It is so bad that they allowed NFL Films to interview both of them about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQtX6dm2KG8
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 8:40 PM
I would never touch a purdue grad anyhow…being an Indiana U grad
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:08 PM
Jim, I’m glad I made you laugh during your mourning period. Clearly, you’re still in the denial stage of grieving. Don’t worry – it’ll pass…
We’re obviously never going to agree when it comes to Peyton Manning. You think his shit smells like roses; I think it smells like shit. No problem. Everybody needs a hero, and Manning is yours (hell, I used to idolize Shaun Cassidy, but that’s a story for another time). Right now I would like to apologize for saying your NFL recaps tested my gag reflex. It was a cheap shot and totally uncalled for. Being a writer myself, I appreciate the attention and care you lavish on your columns, even though they often tick me off.
Now, if you really want to laugh, check out the following clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1piy8Zxddw
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:56 PM
I dislike Peyton Manning, not just because I’m a huge Pats fan, but because I don’t like his ego. That said, I think it would have been the right thing to do to shake Drew’s hand or give the man-hug, but if I just blew threw an interception that ensured a loss, I’d feel like getting out of there and hiding in the locker.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Drew Brees is a class act and respected by all his teammates. Peyton is a great quarterback, but I hear he isn’t a great teammate. He wants to coach everyone since he is perfect. It is time for Peyton to step up and again blame Reggie Wayne, a first-class receiver for the interception.
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 2:20 AM
I will not go into a dissertation about eroding societal norms…however, you would not have seen that kind of snubbing or self absorbtion during the first Manning era (Archie) and his father had to take plenty on the chin. Traditions are traditions, they are part of what keeps our society “civilized”. Some rules are written down and some are just universally accepted. What Peyton did immediately after the game was unacceptable and behind closed doors, I think his Pa would agree.
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 2:26 AM
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/342110-peyton-manning-why-poor-sportsmanship-could-prove-costly-to-his-legacy
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 9:29 AM
LeBron James and Peyton Manning, birds of a feather. Or just for the birds.
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 11:28 AM
” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1piy8Zxddw ”
Whao! Did you get a load of Stokeley’s ass when he walks in front of Manning near the end of that clip?
My eyes nearly popped out of my head.
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Wow, I hadn’t seen some of these. Manning’s a bigger jerk than even I realized.
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 1:58 PM
What I find funny is that a lot of people are quick to defend Peyton Manning yet when Sidney Crosby didn’t shake hands with Nicklas Lidstrom after the Stanley Cup Final – there was an uproar. People said he was a spoiled brat and acted like a kid…
Where are those people now with Peyton Manning?
on Feb 10th, 2010 at 5:17 PM
Peyton should be ashamed of his behavior during Super Bowl. He acted like a spoiled brat. I realize that the former “Aints” got their name from his dad …that’s right good ole Archie…..and regardless of how humiliating and embarrassing losing year after year has been …..yet in the past few years the Saints have turned themselves around into a respectful NFL team that people like Peyton cannot accept. Even though Peyton is a native New Orleanian, he claims to disassociate himself with New Orleans and the Saints as if they are not of his stature and I believe the final outcome of the Super Bowl was the realization that Peyton was knocked off his high horse. I also believe that Peyton’s commerical backers should really take a look at his Super Bowl behavior and pull the plug on him too because that is not appropriate behavior for a former MVP and that of a role model.
on Feb 11th, 2010 at 8:59 PM
I am a life long Saints but I like Peyton Manning. And while I’m sure it’s hectic on the field every other loosing quarterback found a way to get over to the winner and offer a few words and a hand shake. I was very disappointed to see this side of Peyton. Every child who has ever lost a championship game feels that loss and every one of them must walk over to the winner and offer their hand, like it or not…..we should expect no less from a grown man; and if the tables had been turned, I’m sure Drew Brees would have found a way to get to Peyton Manning.