In the Name of the Father: Family, Football, and the Manning Dynasty

by Mark Ribowsky

Overview

The story of America’s most sacred and carefully constructed football dynasty is revealed in this unflinching family portrait.

For generations, American athletes have enjoyed the ever-escalating celebrity lavished upon them when they combine on-the-field talent with off-the field charisma, but never before have we seen as transformative a sports dynasty as the Mannings: a bloodline of strong arms, Southern values, and savvy business instincts—each man compelling in his own right, made whole by family. But how, in just fifty years, did this private trio achieve football immortality? A gripping and definitive account, In the Name of the Father traces Archie, Peyton, and Eli’s roots from red-clay Mississippi to the bright lights of the Super Bowl to reveal the truth of their grit and dedication, their inherent ability, and the drama they endured behind closed doors.

As New York Times Notable biographer Mark Ribowsky meticulously chronicles, the road to football stardom was not paved smoothly for patriarch Archie. The most celebrated and beloved athlete to emerge from tiny Drew, Mississippi, Archie lost his father to suicide during his heyday at Ole Miss. Then, despite his playing through the pain, a string of surgeries prematurely ended a storied NFL career, most memorably spent with the New Orleans Saints. Similar savior-like expectations were passed to Archie’s eldest, Cooper, the most gifted of his brood, but the shocking discovery of a spinal condition prevented Cooper from ever playing a single snap of college ball. Luckily, Archie had been raising all three of his sons to love the gridiron, throwing deep balls to them off the front porch, and there were two more heir apparents in the wings.

Raised watching dusty old game films in the family den, Peyton was swiftly hailed as a generational talent, his record-breaking tenure at Tennessee paving a clear path to the NFL. Winning Super Bowls with both the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, he was able to overcome a debilitating neck injury—after barely being able to hold a football—to eclipse Archie in football success. It was Peyton who would first pair his football cachet with capitalism, selecting commercials and appearances to show off his humor and expand the now-ubiquitous Manning brand into mainstream popular culture.

And finally there was quiet Eli, with an arm and a career to match his big brother’s but a reserved and enigmatic affect all his own. The good-boy who followed his father to Ole Miss, Eli entered the NFL even more carefully managed then his brother was, forcing a trade when the lackluster San Diego Chargers selected him with the first pick in the draft. Even with two dramatic Super Bowl wins with the New York Giants, Eli’s lows have been catastrophic, and he has never been quite the media darling his brother is. But even as their football careers wind down, the power of the Manning name only grows.

Drawing on new interviews and research, Ribowsky reveals a family of transcendent talent and intense loyalty dedicated to maintaining an all-American façade that has, on occasion, shown cracks. From the family’s past steeped in problematic parts of Southern identity, to locker-room scandal turned lawsuit, to flashes of fraternal jealousy, Ribowsky leaves no stone unturned. Rich in gridiron dramatics and familial intrigue, In the Name of the Father is a quintessentially American saga of a multifaceted lineage that has forever changed the game.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631493096
Publisher:	Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	08/07/2018
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	547,263
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Mark Ribowsky is a New York Times acclaimed, best-selling author of fifteen books, including biographies of Tom Landry, Al Davis, Hank Williams, and most recently, In the Name of the Father: Family, Football, and the Manning Dynasty. He lives in Florida.lorida.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Family Matters ix

Prologue: Manning Inc. xv

Chapter 1 "They Ain't Stoppin' in Drew" 1

Chapter 2 Mr. Drew 15

Chapter 3 "Ain't Yielding to Nobody" 21

Chapter 4 "I Think Buddy's Dead" 33

Chapter 5 "He has Made People Forget James Meredith" 41

Chapter 6 Mudbuggers 53

Chapter 7 "Strangled by the Trauma" 63

Chapter 8 Good Lord, I Feel Like I'm Dying 75

Chapter 9 "A Doggone Good Trip" 87

Chapter 10 "We're Not Average. We're Coop and PEYT." 95

Chapter 11 Everything's Coming Up Orange 109

Chapter 12 Just Right 123

Chapter 13 "I'll Win for You" 139

Chapter 14 "A Golden Staircase from Heaven" 155

Chapter 15 "An Ambivalent Relationship with his Image" 171

Chapter 16 Eli's Coming 181

Chapter 17 Mr. Inhuman 193

Chapter 18 Peyton, Finally 211

Chapter 19 Anything You Can Do 235

Chapter 20 "The Power of Peyton" 247

Chapter 21 One Down, One Up 259

Chapter 22 Miracle, Redux 271

Chapter 23 Goodbye, Hello 279

Chapter 24 "He Throws Ducks" 295

Chapter 25 "Gonna Drink a Whole Lotta Beer" 311

Chapter 26 Last Manning Standing 333

Notes 341

Index 369

Editorial Reviews

05/14/2018
Ribowsky (The Last Cowboy) exuberantly explores the ongoing story of the Manning dynasty: former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the sons who followed in his footsteps. Archie was born in 1949 Mississippi, played for Ole Miss, and spent his pro career with the New Orleans Saints. Cooper Manning, Archie and Olivia Manning’s first-born son, appeared NFL-bound until he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis at age 18. Sons Peyton and Eli, meanwhile, followed similar career paths as their father, and Ribowsky recounts practically every major game they’ve played since high school. Peyton attended the University of Tennessee and had an outstanding career with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos; he retired in 2015 at age 39 with an armful of NFL records (including most passing yards and most touchdown passes). Eli, meanwhile, attended his father’s alma mater and quarterbacked the New York Giants for 14 seasons, winning the Super Bowl twice. Ribowsky thoroughly covers the on- and off-field drama in this sprawling biography, in which he traces the Manning lineage in the U.S. back to 1745; he discusses personal setbacks along the way, including allegations against Peyton of sexual harassment and performance-enhancing drug use. Football fans will be drawn to this inside look at the Mannings, one of the most talented sports families in American history. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-04-11
An in-depth look at American football royalty.The Manning quarterbacking family has figured prominently in the nation's football landscape for nearly 50 years. In his latest book, veteran biographer Ribowsky (Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams, 2016, etc.) chronicles the careers of father Archie and sons Peyton and Eli. The author draws interesting comparisons between the obsessive, publicity-hungry Peyton and the quiet, phlegmatic Eli. Whereas the former has superior statistics and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, the latter has just as many Super Bowl wins (two) and a reputation as a better performer in the clutch. Ribowsky also illustrates how Archie, whose father committed suicide, made a point to be more invested in the lives of his children. Unfortunately, in telling this family history through the conduit of the American South and race, the author never misses an opportunity to take cheap shots at the protagonists. Thus he accuses Archie of "racism acceptance," adding that while there is no evidence that the Mannings of Drew, Mississippi (where Archie grew up), joined the Ku Klux Klan, "neither is there any reason to believe they opposed" it. Ribowsky also wields his acerbic pen against Manning contemporaries: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a "choker," while the decision of University of Florida star Danny Wuerffel to decline a spot on Playboy's All-America team was nothing but "self-serving treacle." Moreover, the author's put-downs are compounded by numerous errors. Texas Western won the NCAA men's basketball championship in 1966, not 1965. Ryan Zimmerman plays for the Washington Nationals, not the Philadelphia Phillies. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. occurred before that of Robert F. Kennedy, not after. When President Barack Obama called Peyton following the latter's loss in the Super Bowl, Obama was in office for more than a year, not "weeks into his first term."The book has its moments, but not enough to overcome Ribowsky's flubs and irksome penchant for mockery.

Kirkus Reviews

08/01/2018
Ribowsky (The Last Cowboy) is known for providing serious looks at substantial sports and popular music personalities. This volume fits into that pattern and concerns the NFL's first family of quarterbacks: Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning. In this group biography, Ribowsky fully examines his subjects, detailing both their features and flaws. His research is thorough and his writing professional, yet he profiles familiar faces who received similar treatment just two years ago with Lars Anderson's The Mannings. VERDICT Overall, well done, but for those who enjoyed The Mannings, this title might be redundant.

Library Journal

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