My Peyton Manning Story

If you have followed the news at all, you now know that Peyton Manning, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, has been cut loose to find his fortune elsewhere. It's been a sad, sad time for Indianapolis. Most of us feel that Mr. Manning IS the Colts here--QB for 14 years, taking the Colts to the Super Bowl twice, once for a win.

Most fans adore Peyton Manning. Number 18 jerseys don fans everywhere--now doomed to Goodwill. We don't know where Peyton will land or who will replace him, but he has made an impact on Indy. There is a children's wing in a hospital named after and supported by him.

Still Peyton Manning is a very private person. In his whole time in Indy, we have known nothing about his personal life. Last year--or maybe the year before?--he and wife had a child. It was announced, but no one knew she was even pregnant. How's that for privacy??

It is public knowledge that Peyton Manning is/was from New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina happened, I was running net control for SATERN (the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) on the radio for the event. There were two TV news channels in my house in two days, just to advertise what was going on. New Orleans was under water. People were in attics and on roofs, looking for rescue. It was awful...

In the midst of it, a fellow representing the Colts called me...a man named Kelly...who was inquiring if we could find out via our radio network if Mr. Manning's property in New Orleans was safe. He made it clear that he wasn't calling because Peyton had asked...was just hoping that we could shed some light on the situation to ease his concerns. I could have put that out on the radio network but decided to sit on it for awhile.

I'm so glad I did! People were dying. People were in desperate situations. There was no electricity, no air conditioning...no food or water. People were suffering. If I had put it on the network to check on a football star's property, it would have made both of us seem insensitive. I called Mr. Kelly back awhile later to explain to him that the situation was too intense for us to act on his request. He understood and agreed.

It was a tough call. I could have made myself seem famous for making a request for a famous person! I could have asked for people to check on Peyton Manning's property as a favor to him...but HE wasn't the one requesting it and I had the presence of mind to understand that some things aren't worthy of our attention. Bottom line is that I would probably have received criticism for the request and made Mr. Manning look like a selfish person.

In the end, it turned out that Manning's property in New Orleans was high and dry. I know I made the right decision for Mr. Manning and myself. Our integrity remained intact.

That's my brush with Peyton Manning...and he doesn't even know it!