Note: This is a dumb thing, don’t read it.
Meet Peyton Manning and Nick Saban, the future of football
Peyton Manning and Nick Saban met in Alabama recently. The meeting between two of the hottest names in football could one day shake the sport to its very -- oh god this is a slow news day.
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Meet Peyton Manning and Nick Saban, two up-and-coming names in the game of football. If you haven't heard of them yet, you may soon. They met two weeks ago in Alabama, a pair of agile, impressionable minds hoping that they can, one day, take the sport by storm -- one a flashy quarterback, the other a head coach with serious spunk.
“It’s a great example for a lot of young people, whether they’re playing high school, college, Pop Warner or whatever, and it’s something that I have tremendous respect for,” Saban said of Manning. “I really enjoyed visiting with him.”
The two have faced off against one another before. In 2006, Saban was the head coach of an upstart 5-10 Miami Dolphins team while Manning was getting his feet wet with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts upended the Dolphins that Sunday, 27-22. While the two teams traded heavy blows -- Joseph Addai ran for 64 yards, and who could forget Cato June -- Manning quietly threw two touchdown passes, flashing the potential that now has scouts buzzing.
Unfortunately for Saban, the game would be his last in Miami. After the loss, he moved to the quieter confines of college football and became the head coach of the University of Alabama. He has since won three national championships, and some believe he may even be ready for the big time.
Saban, however, believes he still has a lot to learn. Luckily, he has Manning.
“That was kind of a mutual, hopefully beneficial -- I know it was a benefit to us,” Saban said. “I hope it was a benefit to them as well.”
What the future holds for both men is still unclear. The league can be a cruel landscape, roamed by the Pete Carrolls and Gus Malzahns of the world -- stone-faced, miserly men who place winning above all things. Manning received a hard lesson from Carroll in the last game of the 2013-14 season when his Denver Broncos fell to Carroll's Seattle Seahawks in a blowout, 43-8. Never mind that few gave the Broncos a chance to win, Carroll poured on the points against his overmatched foe, yet seemed to absorb little enjoyment from the effort.
Someday, Saban and Manning may be able to change that by injecting a little “fun” into the proceedings. Who knows, their recent meeting may one day prove fateful. The game of football would be all the better for it.
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