Manning boys keeping eye on the prize

Winning can bring out the best or the worst in people. Or, as in the case of Eli Manning, it could have no effect at all.

Just five months removed from leading his New York Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII, the younger Manning brother has seen no change in his daily routine.

“I don’t feel like my life has changed any,” Eli said at a press conference at last week’s Manning Passing Academy. “We had a good off-season program. We have to become a better team, and we got hot at the right time and played good football. If you look back at the whole season, we had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of bad games.”

In fact, if anything, winning the title has made the youngest Manning son want to work even harder.

“We have to get more consistent and become a better football team,” he explained. ” We go to training camp in two weeks. It’ll be good to get everybody back and working toward that goal.”

That doesn’t mean that Eli hasn’t enjoyed the moment.

Winning the Super Bowl has opened new doors for the quarterback and his teammates. They visited the White House, had a parade through the streets of New York and recently reunited to receive their championship rings.

If anyone knows the feeling, it’s Eli’s older brother Peyton, who guided the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl title the previous year.

For Peyton, winning the “big one” was a huge relief. Although he’s quick to admit he wouldn’t mind winning another before his career is through, watching his little brother win a title was just as good.

“It was equally as exciting to watch Eli as it was to watch me and my team the year before,” Peyton said. “It gave me a great sense of pride and satisfaction being his older brother up there in the seats. I was reading the blitzes as he was and pulling very hard for (the team). He really persevered throughout the season, especially the playoffs.”

And the best is yet to come, according to Peyton. At the outset of the coming season, Peyton said his brother’s team will share the knowledge that they accomplished something special together.

“I see the guys like Brandon Stokley and Cato June who are no longer on our team but to see them now is special,” Peyton said. “It’s good knowing that we had something special that year. Those are the best times.”

With the Super Bowl win, there’s also pressure from fans for a repeat, he said.

But Eli has certainly witnessed his share of pressure. Playing in a large media market provides plenty, but he’s dealt with pressure his whole life, according to Peyton.

“He has to certainly deal with the comparisons to me and playing in the NFC like my dad,” Peyton said. “Going to the same school as my dad. My older brother Cooper was a social legend over there, so that was a lot of pressure.”

“He is very much himself,” Peyton added. “He doesn’t try to be anyone else. He just tries to be Eli.”

When training camp starts next week, Eli understands the spotlight will now turn his way. Being a Super Bowl winning quarterback, he knows he must only find ways to get better.

For that, he uses his brother as an example.

“I’m not trying to compete with Peyton. I’m trying to get to his level of play,” he said. “I’m trying to improve my game… he is the better quarterback. I just have to improve my game.”

As for an all-Manning Super Bowl, neither brother would actually want that because it means one would have to lose.

“I would love the opportunity to go back to the Super Bowl and if he so happens to be my opponent, so be it,” Eli said. “It’s not something I would want because it would mean playing against a tough competitor and a tough team. We played a few years ago in the opening game and they always make it out as Manning vs. Manning, not about the teams. That’s not the way we want it. It’s the Giants vs. the Colts.”

If his brother were playing defense however, Eli said it would be a different story.

“I wish Peyton was playing defense and he was guarding Plaxico Burress because then I know where I am going every play,” he joked.