NEW YORK (AP) – Archie Manning leaned back in his chair and muttered: “I hate football.”
At just about any other moment, he feels anything but that. Manning and his wife often marvel at the good fortune achieved by their quarterback-playing sons.
On this particular Sunday evening, though, their father was just one more football fan bemoaning how cruel this sport can be – not to mention the absurdity of the league’s rules on what constitutes a catch. Twice he had celebrated what appeared to be yet another stirring comeback by Eli against the undefeated Patriots, only to stare dumbfounded at the words “incomplete pass.”
“Unbelievable,” Archie kept saying. “Unbelievable.”
The elder Manning spent Sunday along with three other NFL dads at the Manhattan television studio where DirecTV shoots its Fantasy Zone channel coverage. For the late afternoon games, there were Peyton’s Broncos hosting the Chiefs on one set of screens and Eli’s Giants facing New England on a panel to the left.