FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Mystery solved. Turns out, there’s a reason Peyton Manning gets sacked less than any other starter in the league.
A lot of reasons, actually.
“Watches. Suits, custom suits. Stereo systems. Sony Blu-ray players before they even got on the market,” Colts left guard Ryan Lilja said yesterday. “He takes care of his guys.”
So in turn, “his guys” — the Indianapolis offensive line — take care of the four-time NFL MVP.
It is one of the unwritten rules of football, pretty much from high school all the way to the pros, that the quarterback tries to find some way to keep his blockers happy. Methods can range from simply carrying their practice gear every now and again, to picking up the tab on chicken wing night, to the time-honored NFL traditions (remember Dan Marino’s ads for Isotoner gloves?) of more lavish gifts.
Clearly, bribes work.
Manning was sacked 10 times during the regular season, by far the fewest among starters who played all 16 games. Next fewest? New England’s Tom Brady, 16 times.
“There’s a mutual respect there with him and us,” Lilja said. “We know how good he is and how good he can be and how good he will be, so you want to keep the guy clean and let him do his thing. You don’t want to be the guy who lets him get hit or sacked, because of who he is and what he’s done and how he treats us. We want to see him break as many league records as he can.”
The Colts say Manning will soon have a new contract that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid player, which made Lilja’s ears perk up upon receipt of that news.
Manning’s loaded already.
But if he gets richer, could the gifts get even better?
“It’s a little presumptuous to expect him to give you gifts every year,” Lilja said. “But we do.”