Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston may take a page from the Peyton Manning playbook by completing all college eligibility before entering the NFL draft. If Winston has his way, other similarities will emerge.
Via NFL.com, Winston said at the Manning Passing Academy that he wants to be like one of the Mannings, specifically Peyton.
“I’m an observer,” Winston said. “So I just observe the way [Peyton] does things. He’s so detail-oriented. And how he carries himself -- I’m really trying to see how he carries himself because I want to be the guy 10, 15 years from now that’s viewed like a Peyton Manning or an Eli or an Archie.”
Here’s one way Peyton carries himself: He doesn’t carry crab legs out of a grocery store without paying for them. Beyond that, Manning generally has his business completely buttoned up off the field, and he holds himself and everyone else to a very high standard on the field.
It’s easy for Winston to say he wants to emulate Peyton Manning. But it entails accepting a level of obsession that becomes persistent irritation, a state of being happy only when there’s something about which he’s thoroughly unhappy.
It many ways, it’s good to be like Peyton Manning. In other ways, it’s surely torturous. Being Peyton Manning means being always “on,” always planning, always working, always striving, always pushing, always trying, and never being satisfied. Some would say it’s more of a curse than a blessing.