You might have heard by now that Super Bowl 50 is right around the corner. As next Sunday approaches, you will undoubtedly be ambushed by advertisers and sports analysts alike enticing you to tune in to the showdown of the Denver Broncos vs. the Carolina Panthers. Chances are you (or someone you know) will be amongst the 114.4 million viewers in the U.S. to watch this event. At least that is how many people last year’s game drew. Though it’s been since 1995 since I’ve seen my team win a Super Bowl (cue the Dallas Cowboys jokes) I never miss the “big” game.

So whereas I can’t say I have a dog in this fight, I will say I have a hero in this fight. His name is Peyton Manning, otherwise known as “The Sheriff” because no one controls the line of scrimmage with their audibles or controls the opposing team’s defense quite like Manning. He’s famous for his no huddle offense, theatrical hand signals, unique play calls, and his ability to draw the defense offsides with his hard count. He leads the NFL with five MVP awards, is a 14^th time pro-bowler, 2-time NFL offensive player of the year, has 3 Super Bowl appearances and 1 Super Bowl MVP, holds all passing records for any quarterback of all-time as well as the most 4^th quarter comebacks by a quarterback of all-time.  In 2012, the guy won “Comeback Player of the Year” while playing his first year as a Denver Bronco after having his FOURTH neck surgery. He is about to take the Broncos to their 2^nd Super Bowl in 4 years. It is also fair to point out that the 39-year old Manning is famous for beating teams more with his mind than his arm. The man is brilliant. Enough of the statistics though.

Weeks after Dalton’s accident, Peyton Manning learned of our situation. My husband is friends with Lawrence Tynes (former kicker of the NY Giants) who is a former teammate of Eli Manning (Peyton’s younger brother). Lawrence told Eli (who in turn told Peyton) that Dalton’s older brother, Colton, was a HUGE fan of Peyton’s. Eli also told Peyton that our family would be traveling to Kansas City to watch the Broncos vs. Chiefs game. Subsequently, Peyton told his brother he would love to meet us beforehand. So on November 29^th, exactly 2 weeks after losing our 13 year old son, we were escorted to a small conference room in a hotel located about 10 minutes from the center of Kansas City to wait on one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time to walk through the door.

We did not tell Colton and Keely who they were about to meet. Instead we told them that their dad needed to visit with a customer at this particular hotel and then we could leave. That cover was quickly blown when on the way to the conference room Colton spotted a huge gathering of Broncos fans in the lobby. The fans were lining a walkway that had been recently roped off to allow “certain people” to walk through. I watched Colton’s eyes get huge as he began to recognize the important people walking by. First there were some assistant coaches and trainers, followed by more identifiable people strolling by at a leisurely pace. Fans erupted into cheers as defensive tackle Terrance Knighton and running back Ronnie Hillman showed up sporting sweats and hoodies, headphones in, looking like they had just woke up. The players were great sports – high fiving fans and smiling for selfies.

Back in the conference room, the kids began to suspect something was up. With the door wide open, a Broncos press manager hung out with us for a couple minutes assuring us “our guest” would be there soon. After about ten minutes of waiting, in walked Peyton Manning dressed in a dapper grey suit and tie. He thanked the gentleman who was waiting with us and ushered him politely out of the room. Closing the door behind the gentleman, Peyton looked at us, introduced himself, and shook all of our hands. He asked us to have a seat. My first thought was Wow, he’s so much taller and thinner than he looks like on tv. The atmosphere felt exciting, but somber. The reason we were meeting this great athlete was suspended in the back of all of our thoughts. The first thing out of Peyton’s mouth was that he heard about Dalton and that he was so sorry. The sincerity in his voice was evident. Always holding our gaze, this NFL great asked us to tell him what kind of a kid our son was. “Ornery” might have come out of our mouths 5 times or so. Taking turns, we shared that Dalton had been 13 years old when he was in his fatal ATV accident, was an 8^th grader at Wichita Collegiate School, and had excelled in baseball, football, and basketball. Troy explained how Colton was our big Manning fan and that Dalton had been a huge Tom Brady fan. That triggered a snickering, lop-sided grin from Peyton. He asked us to tell him more. Not 100% sure where this story was going, I listened as Troy told Peyton a story about the last time our boys watched a Broncos vs Patriots game. It had been 27 days earlier on November 2, 2014 and the Patriots had stomped Manning and the Broncos 43-21. Though Peyton had thrown for 438 passing yards and 2 TD’s, he threw 2 interceptions and could not overcome the dominance of Tom Brady and the Patriot’s offense that game. Apparently, after the game was over, Colton was eating a snack in our kitchen when Dalton strutted in. Seeing his emotionally beat up brother, Dalton patted Colton a couple times on the back and said, “Man I feel too bad for you and Peyton to even brag about this right now.” As soon as Troy told Peyton this part, he erupted in laughter and turned several shades of pink. He shook his head and replied, “Yeah well I felt pretty bad for myself that game too.”

It had been a wonderful ice breaker. After that story, we spent the next 25-30 minutes forgetting we were sitting an arm’s length away from a legend. We covered so much in such a short period. At one point our daughter, Keely, decided to take a snapchat photo of Peyton while we were all deep in conversation and apparently she forgot to turn the sound off on her phone. That was real embarrassing. Peyton never even acted phased. And you know he noticed. Nothing happens in his presence that goes without his knowledge.

Without any prompting from us, Peyton volunteered his view on faith in God and God’s plan for all of us. Boy I loved that. We live in a world that often feels like the subject of God is taboo. People tend to not bring up faith because they are afraid they will offend someone. Tolerance for anything anti-Christian is jammed down our throats, but us God-fearing folks better learn our places. At least that is the way it seems to me most of the time. Anyway, Peyton told us that God must be our #1 priority. It hit home with us and elicited numerous tears. It felt amazing to be discussing Christian values with someone who is considered a legend. He opened up about his Christian background being the foundation on which he lives his life. It is his compassion for people going through hardships that motivates him to offer his time off the field. He strives to be a flicker of joy for families that are walking through the valley of darkness.

Our visit with Peyton culminated with the usual fanfare of asking him to sign autographs and pose for pictures. He hugged us and said he would be praying for us. After that, a gentleman walked into the little conference room and said the press was waiting for him across the hall to do some Q&A. Just like that, it was over. We left the hotel feeling like we were in a fog, marveling over having just met Peyton Manning. We text our family and friends and gave them the details. Someone asked if he was what we expected. That was easy to answer. No he wasn’t. Not exactly. Peyton ended up being way better than anything we could have ever imagined. You hear all the “Peyton Manning good Samaritan stories” and you think he must be a really great guy. Then your dream comes true and you actually get to meet him and find out “great guy” doesn’t do this man justice. What an insufficient description.

I heard the Panthers are favored over the Broncos to win by six or so points in the Super Bowl. That’s okay. It would make for a much more impressive story for Manning to end his career winning NFL’s biggest game after being labeled an underdog. Call him washed up, old, or crack a joke about his arm. For a competitor like Manning, it doesn’t really matter. He will only work harder to prove the doubters wrong. Sometimes a little doubt is all a person needs to shine. I will say this… win or lose, the Palmer family has a true hero to cheer for. He made an unbelievable difference in our lives and helped us to see joy at a time when it felt the most unattainable. Go get them, Sheriff.

 

“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7)