Little-known fact unearthed in a lonely microfilm room recently:
In the Sept. 16, 5072 B.C., edition of the Genesis Post (www.genesispost.com/sports), under the back-scroll headline “CAIN DO!” sports columnist Serbyus VIII wrote thusly about the epic Brother Bowl conducted the day before:
“Abel was able, but Cain was Super.”
Later, in an exclusive interview as he tried to hustle out a side entrance at Eden Stadium, Cain asked Post reporter Cannizzarekial IX: “Am I my brother’s keeper?!?!”
From such humble beginnings was Manning Bowl III born. By all accounts, Peyton and Eli get along famously. They make mean faux-hip-hop commercials together. They make goofy ESPN commercials together (with Peyton kicking Eli behind their parents’ back about as close as they’re ever going to get to older brother inviting younger brother “out to the field,” unless it’s to try and match 85-yard scoring drives).
But today, for the third time — and quite possibly the final time, unless the Mannings have one last wonderful chapter to provide us before their time is through — they will match wits and right arms, they will throw their considerable quarterbacking IQs onto the field at MetLife Stadium, and they will remind us why their shared time has been among the most compelling storylines the NFL has ever seen.
“Obviously,” Eli said earlier this week, “I know who the opposing quarterback is.”
“I’ll take a moment,” Peyton said, “to appreciate the unique situation.”
It is unique, and not just because they play the same sport and the same position, but because of how well they play the same sports and the same position. We want sibling rivalries to be more than they are most of the time, but the fact is what we usually get is Hank and Tommie Aaron, Sylvester and Frank Stallone, Eric and Julia Roberts.
Even the ones that promise much, and deliver much, are often less than expected. Back in September 2001, on the day both her daughters would qualify for the U.S. Open finals, Oracene Williams paced the back concourses of Arthur Ashe Stadium, a bundle of nerves and pride and excitement.
“I wish there was a way they could both win when they play each other,” she said. Which even she probably knew was impossible, literally and figuratively, even as she was saying it, even as she has watched Venus win seven majors (remarkable) while Serena has won 17 (otherworldly).
The Mannnigs? Maybe there was a time when the assumed narrative was that Peyton was the clear No. 1 with Eli sitting clearly (and, for the most part, contently) in the shadows, not unlike the JFK-RFK political relationship. But the fact Eli has won (and had a major hand in) two Super Bowl titles to Peyton’s one means that while one may still be the name that lingers on the tip of the conversational tongue, the other has become, at worst, 1-A (think J.R. and Bobby Ewing).
And this might be the best part:
Unlike the Harbaugh brothers, who clearly grew weary of the brotherly banter in the run-up to last year’s Super Bowl, the Mannings clearly relish their place in the history of football and fraternity.
“It’s still neat because it doesn’t happen very often, seeing your big brother on the sideline or before the game,” Eli, the little brother, said. “Those moments are the things you remember and we’ll remember for a long time. Hopefully when I think back on these games that we played against my brother, I can think back and remember at least one win.”
Peyton: “Eli is my brother. We’re very close. We pull for each other and then obviously on this particular Sunday we want both of our teams to win. It’s not really like any other because he is your brother.”
So, really, this should be a most perfect afternoon: football weather, the Giants’ home opener, maybe the best team in football visiting, and the best tandem of quarterbacking brothers in history colliding with one another for what likely will be the last time ever unless a Super Bowl pairing is in their immediate futures.
Maybe it would’ve been even more perfect if this game could’ve been played in Lynn, Mass., at the Manning Bowl — seriously, that was the real name before it was renovated nine years ago — that used to house the NFL’s old Boston Yanks, where the Conigliaro brothers played their high school games …
But this’ll do just fine.