The High Court

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From Manning to Horn

Peyton and Eli Manning are Southern football royalty.  Joe Horn is not.  The Manning boys starred at prestigious Southeastern Conference schools, steeped in football tradition.  Joe Horn attended Itawamba (Mississippi) Junior College.  The Manning boys were each overall #1 picks in the NFL draft.  Joe Horn spent the first year after his college career washing dishes and working in a furniture factory.  The Manning boys had the starting jobs turned over to them in their very first seasons in the NFL.  Joe Horn started his professional career in the CFL.  The Mannings, Peyton in particular, are the poster kids for everything right in the NFL.  Joe Horn, he of the cell phone TD celebration and the big mouth, is often viewed as a junior version of Terrell Owens.  So with all of these differences, what do these guys have in common?  Character.

 

Peyton and Eli Manning were back in their home state (the Mannings grew up in New Orleans) to try and provide what aid they could to the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina housed in Baton Rouge.  The Mannings had flown down with supplies to distribute (water, Gatorade, baby formula, blankets, and pillows) and were gladly deputized by the Red Cross.  Not only did the brothers help distribute the relief supplies, they also spent Saturday at Southern University’s F.G. Clark Activity Center visiting with their fellow New Orleanians.  They listened to the stories of the survivors, posed for photos, and signed autographs.  And amidst very trying circumstances, they managed to lift spirits.  “This makes me feel I’m a special person,” said 54-year old Donald Wells.

 

“He’s talking to us like another person, like he knows what we’re going through.  So he’s making a difference right there.  When they (kids) see him, it gives them something to believe in.”  Another quote about the Mannings?  Nope.  That’s 18-year old Brittany Lombard talking about Joe Horn’s visit to displaced victims at the Houston Astrodome.  Horn used an off-day from the Saints (also displaced) training camp in San Antonio to make the two-hour drive to Houston in order to visit with some of the residents of the city where he makes his living.

 

Not exactly what you would expect from a perceived egomaniac is it?  Funny how that works out.  And I will be honest with you:  Had The High Court been around when Horn pulled that post-TD stunt, he would have ended up on at least one contempt list here on Thursdays.  But as we learned with Randy Moss, sometimes there is substance beneath the style.

 

The Mannings and Joe Horn are proof positive of many things.  For one, they are clear evidence that professional athletes are neither detached nor selfish.  They all could have been spending their time any way they pleased.  They could have simply donated some money or supplies and felt their conscience eased, if they felt any need to contribute at all.  But instead they also contributed the most precious commodity any of us have, time.  And that speaks volumes.  You already know how hard it has been to view the immense human suffering through the television.  Imagine having to stand face to face with men, women, and children that have lost every single thing they owned, with people who may have lost loved ones, with people who have lost everything…it makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it.  But these men were willing to go and talk with these people, to listen to their stories, and to try in whatever small way to ease the suffering of these troubled souls.  That, my friends, is an act of real character.

 

These men are also proof that we can all overcome diverse backgrounds to share common ground.  The Mannings grew up with nearly every conceivable advantage.  To be NFL quarterbacks would seem to have been their birthright.  Joe Horn grew up amidst all kinds of disadvantages.  He did not have the pedigree to become a NFL player.  But he never quit, even willing to wash those dishes and work in that factory to support his family.  And through persistence and perseverance, Horn made himself into a star.

 

One might expect that the Mannings would have been too spoiled to have lent a helping hand to those less fortunate.  But Archie Manning raised all of his children right.  They understand the ability they have to help others.  And they treat that ability with respect.  As a duty.  The right thing to do.  And so there they were on Saturday, giving of themselves in every way to ease the suffering of others.

 

One might expect that Joe Horn would be too arrogant and too selfish to help others. You might expect that Horn was too consumed with himself to consider the plight of others.  You would be wrong.  Only a caring, selfless individual would use his personal time to spend hours trying to lift crushed spirits.  Joe Horn knows what hardship is.  He has never forgotten.  And he knows that taking care of family, of each other, is the most important thing in the world. 

 

Peyton and Eli Manning would never do anything much more demonstrative than pump a fist after a touchdown. To do otherwise, as their father taught them, would be disrespectful to the opponent.  Joe Horn would seldom enter the end zone without doing something that calls attention to himself and his achievement.  And he would never consider that his actions might be disrespectful to his opponent.  He is just being emotional, just playing the game, and just having fun.  Ultimately, they are all right.

 

You see, we don’t have to be the same to be the same.  We don’t have to be the same color, from the same place, or of the same socioeconomic status.  But we are all human beings.  And if we all act with the same care and character shown by the Mannings and Joe Horn this week, this country will get the Gulf Coast rebuilt and help Katrina’s victims get back on their feet.

 

And maybe someday, the Mannings will throw touchdown passes in their hometown again, just like they did when they were kids.  Maybe somewhere in that crowd will be a young man cheering, a young man whose darkest days were brightened by that Saturday visit from the Mannings.  Perhaps Joe Horn will get to dance in the New Orleans end zone again, too.  And if he has to stop and answer the phone, the NFL won’t need to fine him this time.  It will probably just be Brittany Lombard calling to say, “Thanks, Joe.”

 

 

(Reports from www.nola.com/newslogs used in preparing this column)

 

 

To read The Battle of New Orleans, click here...

 

 

Contact The Chief Justice at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com.

If you thought Joe Horn was just another example of a “look at me” pro athlete, think again.  The Saints Pro Bowl receiver has Pro Bowl character, too.

(nflplayers.com)

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