The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Of all the negative things you can say about Manning (choker, overrated, circus act at the line, etc.), what he did yesterday was simply deplorable.

For him to say "I'm trying to be a good teammate" right before he does THE EXACT OPPOSITE tells me that he's aware of what he's doing.  This is like Daniell Harper saying "I'm trying to be a good wife" right as she stabs Nick Harper in the knee.

I used to have respect for Peyton, even if only as the lovable loser that can't get over the hump.  But what he did yesterday was a punk move.  It was classless.

What did he do yesterday, can you explain?  Did he throw Vanderjagt under the bus?

A person's true character comes out when the chips are down. Anyone can be honky dory when everything is on cruise control. This is why i call him a frontrunner. wHEN ADVERSITY strikes he finds fault with others. AT least a-rod stood up after his 2-17 performance and put the blame of the yankess losing the series on his shoulders.


Again you can trace it back to his days at the university of tenn, when the gators got on him he folded, just like he did yesterday. And its because of his contract that wont allow the colts to add more pieces, instead the colts will continue to lose pieces year after year. I agree totally classless.

Trying to argue over Peyton is basically worthless here w/ all the haters.  But one thing I'm sure of,  HE WAS RIGHT.  (he only made the mistake of saying it on TV)

ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!

So, you have this group project due for your work, and you're the elected representative.  Your group prepares a great speech; the prospective client will be thrilled.  You each go through your parts, and then one guy in your team (We'll call him Steve) gets the yips, stammers and stumbles through his part, even mispronounces the prospective client's name.

So...your boss calls you into his office and asks:  "What happened out there?  Why did you not land this account?  Why was the prospective client unhappy?"

Would any of you holier-than-thou people be "the good teammate" and say "Sorry, boss, as the group leader, I am culpable for losing the account" or would you tell your boss "Steve screwed it up"?  I'd wager the lot of you would TELL THE TRUTH; Stevie-boy screwed the pooch, and the client was unimpressed.

Well, guess what, fellas?  Peyton Manning was getting his ass kicked out there all day because his offensive line, backs, and tight ends were NOT picking up the blitz.  He spoke the truth.  Blocking was an issue.  When he had time to throw, Manning was (as always) LETHAL.  The blocking was substandard.  The media knew this to be true, HENCE the relentless barrage of "what happened to the O-Line, Peyton?", and  "Where was the blocking, Peyton?", and "Why was Pittsburgh's blitz so effective, Peyton?".

Would you rather the same old "one game at a time, we didn't execute, they wanted it more, we gave it 110%" cliches that pass for interviews these days?  Peyton sent a signal to his coach and team...GET ME A LEFT TACKLE!!

Your example deals with a private setting -- the boss calling the employee into his office.  Sure, there is accountability, but to the right sources.

In your same scenerio, if someone from a company went on TV and blamed their bottom line on another individual in the company, it would be comparable.

...not a private meeting in the office.

Peyton was a shmuck about how the Colts lost.

Well,Jvides basicly said what I was thinking in a round about way....

I don't see Peyton did anything "Wrong" in stating,We had protection problems....

It's not like saying Our idiot kicker couldn't make a 46 yrd field goal,INDOORS with no wind to put us into Overtime.

Or My Wr dropped the damn TD pass in the endzone to win the damn game,even though it hit his hands twice befor he dropped it....

B raises a very good point. If Manning wanted to be a complete ass, as many people probably already thought he was for the comments he did make, he would have taken his return shot back at that idiot kicker who called him out once before.

Part of the job of a franchise quarterback is being a figure-head.  It's not just playing well...it's being a leader and keeping the team as one.

Even if Peyton is correct (which I'm sure he is), the correct response is something like: "We just fell short.  Pittsburgh is a great team, and played well."

...even if it's bullshit.
...even if you have to bite your tongue.

Because at the end of the day, you lost either way -- and now you risk losing the respect of your teammates.  Peyton, be a class act, unlike anyone else in your family.

This proves the apples don't fall far from the tree.  First Eli pulls his whiny stunt in the draft last year, and now this.  

This is true, my example deals with a private matter.  Who must Peyton Manning answer to, though?  His coach, yes.  His GM, yes.  The owner, check.
The Public...ah, yes.  If you answer to the public, how, pray tell, do you air your grievances?  In public, of course.  Would it have suited you better if you'd read that Peyton Manning bitched out his O-line in the locker room and an "unnamed source within the team" relayed the news to Len Pasquarelli?  It's the same thing; the message remains the same.  The offensive line was not up to snuff.  

it definitely wasn't the smartest thing to do. in case you haven't noticed peyton, those guys out there are trying to save you ass. coming out on tv like that and throwing them under the bus, aint gonna get other guys to come out and want to protect your ass any better. in fact, jabbing them when they are down, while you are collecting a fat paycheck, may want to make some of them start to do more "ole" moves on defensive linement as payback your ass. what a terrible leader...

During a postgame interview, he was asked what happened (or something to that effect), and he said... "Well... I'm trying to be a good teammate here... but we had protection problems.  We definitely had some protection problems." (paraphrased)

The scenario of the boss calling you into his office is completely and totally irrelevant.  If Tony Dungy or Bill Polian called Peyton into their office and asked him the same question, I would expect Peyton to berate his OL, and that's OK.  You see, those gentlemen are in a position to actually do something about the problem.

But saying that to the media is just classless.  What would you say if the media asked Willie McGinest what happened on Saturday, and he said "The QB didn't do his job today"?  It is not your place to comment on the performance of your teammates to the media.

Case in point:  the idiot kicker.  When Vanderjagt criticized his QB's attitude, Manning certainly didn't like that.  So why is he turning around and doing the same thing?

Peyton Manning doesn't answer to the public.  His bosses might, but he doesn't.  The public has no control over the Colts' roster, at all.


It's not the same thing.  Making that statement to the public serves exactly one purpose; it (ostensibly) protects his image, and shifts the blame away from him to the OL.  This is exactly what made it a cowardly, punk statement; rather than accept his role in the defeat, he tries to pass the blame to his OL.

Even if his statement was true (hell, especially if it was true), it is not his place to call out his teammates.  If Tony Dungy didn't feel it necessary to publicly bash the OL, Manning doesn't have any business whatsoever opening his mouth about it.

Really?  Two words for you:  "SAMMY SUCKS!!"  Do you honestly believe the Dolphins once traded Sammy Smith, a high first round pick in only, what, his second or third year, for good-for-nothing Bobby Humphrey just because Don Shula overnight and mid-season decided he was no good?  NO.  The public had turned on him.  The public HAS say over the roster.  If Peyton Manning were cascaded with boos every time he took the field, the public's reaction to him would dictate that he be traded or released.



Do you seriously believe Peyton Manning was sitting there behind the podium, with clammy hands and quivering spine, pondering how to shift blame for the loss?  Did you not hear the man say he'd like a few throws back?  Would this all not be irrelevant if the "idiot kicker" had just done his job?  Did the OL NOT give up 5 sacks?  Was any of what Manning said untrue?  ANY of it?  Was he slanderous towards that poor offensive line?  WHY is it that you ONLY want to hear what athletes have to say is when it's cookie cutter crap?  

Do you think that MIA traded him because of some crowd chant?  They traded him because he wasn't performing on the field.  Case in point: Kobe Bryant.  You can chant whatever the hell you want, bring signs bashing the hell out of a player... if the front office wants to keep him, they'll keep him, period.

The only control the public has is whether or not they spend their money going to the game... and guess what?  If you're at the game chanting how much a player sucks, then you're talking with your mouth but voting with your dollars.


BS.  If the RCA dome is still selling out every week, and Peyton Manning is still putting up Pro Bowl numbers, the front office would be insane to trade him.


Sacks aren't entirely the responsibility of the line.  A good QB knows when to get rid of the ball in tough situations.  So a QB might want to watch his mouth when he complains about "protection issues".


Again, if McGinest said "We lost today because Brady didn't earn his paycheck," would that be a lie?  No, but it's not his place to say that.  And as far as cliche postgame interviews... really, who cares?  If you saw the game, then you saw the supposed "protection problems" and you don't need to hear Manning pass the blame off to his line.  Do you really expect to hear anything of value in those interviews?

Were you a fan of T.O. running his mouth, blaming PHI's losses on everyone but himself?  I mean, he's just telling the truth, right?  Sparing us from the cliche sound bites.

Publicly criticizing the other players on your team is the hallmark of a poor teammate.  For an idiot kicker or egomaniac wide receiver, that's one thing.  But for someone that's supposed to be the leader of the team, it's completely unacceptable.

Has anyone heard the question that was directed to Peyton? I don't want paraphrasing, I would like to know the direct question. That always has something to do with the answer. Maybe he was specifically asked about the O-line play. All any of us have heard is the response.

I'm playing Devil's advocate here.

Look, Dan.

The issue is this:  You flog Manning for calling out a teammate in public like he does this all the time.  He has one incident, and you label him a bad teammate.  Now, you want to lump him in with T.O.?  Dan Marino had his "You'll never know how it feels" melt-down after a loss to the Colts late in his career.  People get frustrated and say things that they wouldn't if their emotions weren't running high.  I simply refuse to discard ALL good will Manning has built up over the years over one incident.  

As for whether I was loving T.O.'s rants:  No, I did not enjoy them, because I deemed them factually inaccurate.

Now, onto some of your other points:

I Agree completely. B-U-T:  Did Manning have a chance to get rid of the ball on the successive third and fourth down plays in the fourth quarter?  Looks to me like he took two steps back (a usual drop is three, five, or seven steps, remember) and was engulfed by Steelers.  He had no time to look for receivers, could not get out of the pocket to throw it away.  What would you, almighty connoisseur of quarterbacks, have done differently?


Has ALL of L.A. turned on Kobe?  My sister lives there and I visit often, so let me answer that one for you: NO.  ALL of Miami had turned on Sammy Smith.  ALL of it.  The team needed to get rid of him because fans wanted him out in a big way.  Yes, I believe that fans souring on him was a major reason for his being traded.  



Why?  So Quarterbacks are allowed to be publicly scapegoated after every single loss over an 8 year career (so far) and don't get to snap ONCE?  I'd like to see any one person on this post try to honestly tell me how they'd go eight years without once pulling a Manning.  Don't give me the "Favre never did, nor did this guy or that guy" crap, because Favre had his public incident with Javon Walker just this year.  I am certain that every single QB we idolize has had one moment of public frailty in his career that he'd like back.

I think that had Sammy Smith been near the league leaders in rushing (as Kobe was in scoring), MIA would not have traded him.  Performance is the issue, not popularity.


Who would have been scapegoating him?

I'm not saying Manning had to accept sole responsibility for the loss.  No one should.  But the least he can do is lose as a team instead of pointing fingers.


You're changing the issue.  The above paragraph implies that what he said was a mistake, which runs contrary to what you were saying earlier.  If he made a mistake out of anger, fine.  He deserves to get criticized for it, and then hopefully he can refrain from doing it in the future.

I could have explained better. My point is, and was, that he had every right to say what he did.  He spoke the truth.  However, the second those words escaped his lips, my first thought was "now you've done it."  I knew he'd get ripped, get labeled as classless, a bad teammate, all those lovely epithets.  So yes, you got me.  I believe what Manning said to be completely OK and a mistake at the same time, because it's OK by me, but it was a mistake because I knew it would cause War, Famine, Pestulence, and Death among sports fans.