“Mr. Manning, could I please get an autograph?” the 25-year-old asked.
That’s probably the last question the 37-year-old Denver Broncos quarterback expected to hear as he walked through the overcrowded hallway to join his teammates. Defeated in a massive slaughter by the Seattle Seahawks’ in a 43-8 prevail at the SLVIII Superbowl this past Sunday, Manning walked the long walk to the dreaded post game interview slowly, with hands in pockets, to the place where questions that no doubt began and ended with “Why?” and “What happened?” were waiting for him and his team.
Of course the noisy hallway enroute had many spectators tripping over themselves with cameras and mics and cellphones in hand; calling out questions that were a lot more on the wavelength that the team probably expected. Questions that the inquisitor seemed to ask behind a veil of sick, sarcastic pleasure.
Yet those only made beer vendor Steve Lopez’ humble approach stand out all the more to Manning. The athlete turned towards Lopez, locked eyes with him and responded “Not now, but when I come back this way I will.”
Manning is known as the “regular guy” who always takes time for his fans. We’ve all been privy to tribute after tribute attesting to this. But the man is allowed some opportunity to be human, right? And this next question, well, let’s just say he didn’t fool commentators on the “NFL GameDay Final” who basically said they saw smoke coming out of the quarterbacks ears as he answered.
“The respect he always has for the fans, that’s why I like him,” Lopez said. “That’s why I asked, that’s his reputation. I like the way he keeps his emotions out of the public.”
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SOURCE: EUR ThisnThat
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