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The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family

Review

The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family

There is not much more that can be said about Peyton Manning’s accomplishments: all-time leading passer, most touchdowns, most wins, most comeback wins, and most game-winning drives. Eli, in his own right, is a two-time Super Bowl champion just like his brother. Their father, Archie, was an Ole Miss legend turned pro in the ’70s. Their mother, Olivia, has always been there for support, as is their eldest brother Cooper, who plays a bigger role than most know. For the Mannings, football is a family affair.

When a spinal condition ended Cooper’s future in football before he could play his first game at his father’s imposing athletic alma mater Ole Miss, the big brother passed on to Peyton a handwritten letter saying, “I would like to live my dream of playing football through you.” The rest is history. THE MANNINGS speaks of the struggles they went through as a close-knit family, and how they persevered beyond the highest expectations. Taking the time to get to know this modest family off the field is a core part of understanding the durable foundation that placed them on the track to eventual greatness. Author Lars Anderson gathers family stories and memories that one would think might have been faded past memory, and properly assembles them in all the right places.

"Author Lars Anderson gathers family stories and memories that one would think might have been faded past memory, and properly assembles them in all the right places."

Though a traditional family, the dynamics of the Mannings are worth examining. People want to know the relationship among the brothers, and how Archie groomed the boys for success to create the most successful football family ever. Though Anderson spends much of the time talking about everything Archie, and perhaps the audience might want to hear more about his children, he does give a further view into the mechanisms of the family than is available elsewhere. Cooper holds a position in the family surpassing what most imagine. Not to mention, the moments between Archie and Olivia are tender.

There is enough about the famous brothers to satisfy any true fan. A full-page photograph in the center of the book shows a young Peyton demurely leaning on the doorway of his home, gazing down at the hundreds of recruitment letters organized into boxes that he received from all over the country. Across the centerfold he sits in the kitchen where family discussions were standard, receiving guidance from his mother while gulping down a glass of milk, and above that is a picture of a gleeful Eli getting a childhood lesson from Archie by mimicking his two-handed football grip. Anderson describes Peyton, known for his preoccupying study habits, spending half an hour video reviewing a single play on repeat --- when the play was only three seconds long. He defines Eli as stepping out of the shadows of dynamos before him to become the first in the family to earn two Super Bowl rings. Talk of big games and pieces of mental and physical football preparation inform readers along the way.

The book is less convincing in the short segments tackling social commentary, but the author does well focusing most of his attention on family and football. Where he does, might I add, he is darn good at it. The Manning family means a lot to the place from which they came, and now with generations of success, their dynasty has come to represent the story of football.

Reviewed by John Bentlyewski on August 26, 2016

The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family
by Lars Anderson

  • Publication Date: August 23, 2016
  • Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Sports
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books
  • ISBN-10: 1101883820
  • ISBN-13: 9781101883822