King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Pity Archie and Olivia Manning. Their sons star in a historic -- and entertaining -- game and they look like they're walking the last mile.

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Sept. 11, 2006 | Far be it from me to tell former All-Pro quarterback Archie Manning and his wife, Olivia, how to live their lives, but let me just say this to them. Here's how to live your lives: When you're having a once-in-a-lifetime experience, try to enjoy it, because it might not happen again for a few months.

It could happen again this year, the Manning boys starting at quarterback in the same NFL game as they did Sunday night in New Jersey. It would have to be in the Super Bowl, which is possible, if it doesn't exactly look likely after Eli's New York Giants melted down into an oozing puddle of mistakes in a 26-21 loss to Peyton's Indianapolis Colts.

Never before have brothers started the same NFL game at quarterback -- this column is the only place where you can get this kind of inside information -- and the game actually lived up to its considerable hype.

Both Mannings played well enough to win -- or lose -- a game, though Eli, younger by five years at 25, made two key errors as he tried to rally the Giants late, a fumbled snap and an interception.

But we really can't hang the loss on little brother. The Giants dropped two interceptions early as the Colts built a 13-0 lead and they took some bad penalties, the worst of them a procedure foul with the Giants down only 26-21 with 17 seconds left and the clock running. That forced a 10-second clock runoff and left Eli time for one more play, an incomplete pass down the left sideline.

There was also a missed 40-yard field goal by Jay Feely as the Colts were building their first-half lead and a horrible offensive interference call against Tim Carter on a first-down completion with a little over four minutes to go, the Giants trying to rally for a go-ahead score. Eli's next throw, on third-and-11 from his own 9, was picked off by Nick Harper.

NBC's cameras periodically observed Archie and Olivia slouched in their luxury-box seats looking as though they were watching their sons' murder trial, not a football game.

The shot sometimes included the eldest Manning brother, Cooper, whose promising career as a receiver was cut short before his freshman season at Ole Miss by a spinal condition. "A very successful person in his own right," NBC's Al Michaels pointed out so viewers wouldn't feel bad for him. Cooper's an executive in the energy business in New Orleans.

Next page: You can't be so worried about your kid getting hurt that you forget to enjoy life