Eighth-grade tango taught Manning about pressure

Updated: January 31, 2007, 7:02 PM ET

Comment Email Print Share

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Archive

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Call it "The Last Tango With Peyton." Or, in the assessment of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the most pressure he has ever felt.

Asked during his Wednesday morning media session to relate the most pressure-packed moment of his life -- from athletics, to proposing to his wife, Ashley, to perhaps having to face his parents after some particular bit of mischief -- Manning dug all the way back to eighth grade for an entertaining anecdote loaded with uncharacteristic levity.

"Now, that's pressure. But I did it. I studied that, and I went full-speed on that tango. There is video. But don't look for it. It's deep in the Manning vault, I can assure you."

-- Peyton Manning

It seems that, in an effort to avoid taking a computer class, Manning signed up instead for musical theater. The only problem: No one informed him that part of the curriculum included participation in the school play.

Manning balked at being in the play, but it was mandatory, and he couldn't wiggle out of it.

"They assigned you a role," Manning said. "The play was 'The Boyfriend,' and they gave me the role of Miguel. In one scene, I had to do the tango with [the character] Lola. It had the wardrobe -- black pants, red, ruffled tuxedo shirt and a yellow cummerbund -- and it was a full-on tango."

Manning and the cast performed the play on a Friday for their schoolmates. But on Saturday, the performance was for families, and so Peyton had to tango in front an audience that included older brother Cooper and younger brother Eli.

"Now, that's pressure," Manning said, laughing. "But I did it. I studied that, and I went full-speed on that tango. There is video. But don't look for it. It's deep in the Manning vault, I can assure you."

The anecdote offered a rare insight into the lighter side of Manning, arguably the NFL's most cooperative player with the media, but a guy who always seems the most comfortable when discussing X's and O's and game-type situations. But beyond letting down his guard for a few minutes, Manning also undoubtedly related the story because it was yet another example of his unparalleled obsession with preparation.

After telling the tango story, in fact, Manning cited quotes from former tennis star Jimmy Connors and Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers about how to deal with pressure. For Manning, the answer is in preparation, an element of his makeup of which he is especially proud.

After the AFC Championship Game victory over New England, for instance, Manning spoke of how it wasn't likely that many people understood how hard he worked during the 2006 season, and for the showdown with the Patriots.

It was a theme to which Manning returned again Wednesday morning.

"I prepare as hard as I possibly can," said Manning, whose study habits are legendary. "Sure, you feel nervous; you feel anxious. But I don't ever feel pressure because I feel that I have done everything I could to be prepared for [a] game. There have been plenty of games where I said, 'I wish I could have that throw back.' Or, 'I wish I had seen that linebacker.' But I have never left the field saying, 'I could have done more to get ready for that game.'

"That gives me peace of mind. That is how I am dealing with this week."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .