If Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has a rookie NFL debut like a Manning once did, it would be quite a day.
No, not how Peyton Manning did for Indianapolis against Miami in the 1998 opener, when he completed 21 of 37 passes for 302 yards with one touchdown but had three interceptions in a 24-15 loss.
And not how Eli Manning did for the New York Giants against Philadelphia in the 2004 opener, when he relieved starter Kurt Warner late in the fourth quarter and completed just 3 of 9 passes while getting blasted by defensive end Jerome McDougle on the final play of a 31-17 loss.
The Manning rookie debut that really stands out was the one from Archie, the father of Peyton and Eli, for New Orleans in the 1971 opener. After being taken with the No. 2 pick in the draft out of Mississippi, Manning completed 16 of 29 passes for 218 yards and scored on a 1-yard touchdown on the final play in a 24-20 home upset of the heavily favored Los Angeles Rams.
“We put together a final drive at the end to win the game,’’ Manning told The Denver Gazette. “It was a big thrill, of course. It was a fun game to win and I’ll never forget it.’’
Manning would welcome Nix having similar success when he makes his debut Sunday at Seattle. Nix will become just the second Broncos rookie quarterback to start a season opener, following John Elway in 1983.
“I’m a Broncos fan, so I’m pulling hard for him,’’ said Manning, who played in the NFL from 1971-84 and was named to two Pro Bowls. “I hope he does well.”
Manning began to follow the Broncos closely when Peyton played for them from 2012-15, and his son has continued live in the Denver area while serving as an ambassador for the team. Manning is close with Denver coach Sean Payton, who once coached for 15 seasons in New Orleans, where Archie lives.
And Manning long has known Nix.
After Nix’s senior season of 2018 at Pinson (Ala.) High School, Manning spoke at a banquet in nearby Birmingham in which the star quarterback was honored. In 2021, Nix was a participant at the Manning Passing Academy, held annually in June in Thibodaux, La. And last December, as chairman of the board of the National Football Foundation, Manning was on hand in Las Vegas when Nix was awarded the prestigious Campbell Award, considered the academic Heisman Trophy.
Nix played at Auburn from 2019-21 before spending the past two seasons at Oregon. He was taken wih the No. 12 pick by Denver in the April draft.
“He was a great kid,’’ Manning said of having Nix at the Passing Academy after his sophomore year at Auburn. “One thing I have noticed, especially his last two years at Oregon, is he improved a lot, especially his accuracy. At our camp, he wasn’t as accurate as some of the other quarterbacks. … I’m just so proud of him that he’s gone to the Broncos and made the impression he has. When Sean picked him, I knew he had seen something in him because Sean is a very good evaluator in my opinion.”
So what kind of advice does Manning have for Nix entering his first start?
“He played 61 college games and that’s a good thing and sets him up well but it’s still a huge transition from college to the NFL,’’ Manning said. “I don’t care if you’ve played 161 games in college. But he’ll be well prepared for it. If you have a hiccup somewhere, you’ve got to have a short memory and just keep getting better. Your first game is not always your best one, but he’ll handle it.”
Manning had his share of hiccups in his NFL debut against the Rams at old Tulane Stadium, but he was able to overcome throwing an interception and being sacked seven times, six in the first half. Trailing 20-17, the Saints with 3 seconds left and before the NFL instituted overtime, opted to forgo a tie and try for the win.
When Manning scored the winning touchdown on a run around left end, he lost the ball and the Rams claimed they had recovered it. But he was ruled to have crossed the goal line. In an NFL Films recap of the game, the ending was called a “Hollywood script” and that Manning had carried the ball “1 yard to immortality.”
“It was high drama, for sure,’’ Manning said. “The crowd was really into it. We didn’t win many games in those years so you remember the ones you won.”
Manning played for the Saints from 1971-82, and they went just 35-93-1 in games he started. But while both his quarterback sons won two Super Bowl rings, neither could match the NFL debut of their dad.
Franklin-Myers’ charity efforts
Defensive end John Franklin-Myers was active in the community when playing for the New York Jets from 2019-23, and that will continue with the Broncos.
Franklin-Myers, whose grandfather Billy Ray Myers died of the cancer in 2011, has pledged to donate $1,000 this season for every sack and $25 for every tackle to the Sarcoma Foundation of America. And the Broncos will match every donation up to $10,000 for the season.
“So let’s hope he gets 10 sacks this season,’’ said his agent, Cliff Brady.
As part of his working with the charity, there will be a Franklin-Myers team in the Sarcoma Race for Cure at Berkeley Lake Park in Denver on Saturday, Oct. 26. Brady said Franklin-Myers, whose Broncos play the next day at home against Carolina, hopes to make it to the event.
Speaking of home games, Brady said Franklin-Myers will be quite active at them. He said No. 98 at each one will hand out 20 foam footballs to kids in the stands that will have the date of the game, his signature and have inscribed on them, “98.0 JFM QB hits.”
“It sounds like a radio station,’’ Brady said.
Franklin-Myers also will hand out five to 10 T-shirts before each home game to adults with the same slogan. The orange and navy blue shirts have been printed.
Franklin-Myers handed out footballs and T-shirts at home games when he was with the Jets. He also donated $1,000 for each sack then to the Marty Lyons Foundation, which was founded by the former Jets defensive lineman and works with kids with life-threatening diseases.
What I’m thinking
—Nix is regarded as a hard worker who long has been diligent in developing as a quarterback, but he does draw the line somewhere. Archie Manning said he also invited Nix to attend the 2022 Manning Passing Academy. “I called him and he said, ‘Mr. Manning, I’m not going to be able to come. I’m getting married that weekend,'" Manning said. Manning said he then told Nix jokingly, “That’s no excuse, Bo. I mean, you’ve got to get your priorities in order.”
—With the Broncos picked by many oddsmakers to have an over-under win total of 5.5, Payton is relishing being an underdog. Payton has talked about how in his first season as an NFL coach in 2006 he took New Orleans to the NFC championship game after the Saints went 3-13 in 2005. “I think we like a challenge and that’s a challenge,’’ he said of the Broncos now being regarded as an underdog.
What I’m hearing
—It was a very difficult last Tuesday for former Broncos star tight end Riley Odoms. In the morning, his sister Winnette died of cancer at the age of 75. Later, he learned that former Broncos quarterback Charley Johnson had died that day in Las Cruces, N.M., at age 78. Odoms played with Johnson from 1972-75.
“I was very sad," said Odoms, 75. “I lost two beautiful people."
Odoms, who will be inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame on Oct. 6, had five sisters but all are now deceased. All three of his brothers are still alive.
—As Broncos rookie running back Audric Estime prepares for his NFL debut at Seattle, he said veteran back Javonte Williams has been “a real good mentor for me.” Estime, a fifth-round pick from Notre Dame, is fired up to take the field.
“I’m real excited," he said. “It’s been a long offseason, a long process leading to this, but I’m ready to go."
What I’m seeing
—Early indications are NFL kickoffs could become boring again. In Kansas City’s 27-20 win over Baltimore on Thursday to open the season, nine of the 11 kickoffs were touchbacks. The NFL’s decision on the new kickoff rules to place touchbacks at the 30-, rather than 35-yard line, does not offer enough of a drawback to prevent teams from booting the ball out of the end zone. That’s because kickoff returns on average are being taken out to roughly the 28 or 29.
—Broncos safety JL Skinner looks to be a lot more comfortable than he was last season, when he got into only two games as a rookie. There were games in which Skinner, a sixth-round pick, was inactive and Denver dressed out only three safeties.
“I’m a lot more comfortable,’’ Skinner said. “I’m able to just see things more clearly” after admitting he “got panicked at times” last year.
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