Peyton Manning this week shared the 2007 backstory behind his memorable Saturday Night Live United Way parody commercial. Similar to how he would mentally prepare for a game against the Titans, the former Colts quarterback spent a grueling week with the SNL crew prior to hosting the NBC show.
Asked to fire footballs at children during the “digital short,” Manning naturally had reservations, as he told Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times in his excellent piece on the show’s 50th anniversary. But after Manning overheard a parent tell the director his preference that Manning hit his child, the quarterback was all in. To further prepare Manning, producers told him to think of the kids like some of his Colts teammates.
“They told me to treat those kids like rookie receivers with bad attitudes,” Manning shared with Farmer. “I thought, OK, I can channel that.”
In the real world, the Colts this week need to do a little channeling of their own with younger receivers. That’s because leading pass-catcher Michael Pittman could be sidelined multiple weeks with a back injury. But unlike Manning’s United Way receivers, those charged with filling Pittman’s role in Shane Steichen’s offense have great attitudes.
“Yeah, it’s going to be all of us just stepping up, knowing there’s more opportunity out there – a void that’s got to be replaced,” said third-year receiver Alec Pierce, whose Colts (2-3) travel to Tennessee (1-3) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). “So, we’re all up to the challenge. We’ve got a lot of good receivers in the room, a lot of talent, a lot of guys that could probably do a lot more than they’ve been doing. So, guys are going to step up and get more chances.”
Pierce figures to get most of those chances. In addition to his 13 catches this season, he leads the team in both receiving yards (368) and touchdowns (three). But what jumps off the page is his 28.3 yards-per-catch average, No. 1 in the NFL. Even before he was front and center in the Colts’ feverish comeback attempt last week at Jacksonville, he’s been on the receiving end of some of the NFL’s most exciting plays this year.
It’s no surprise to his position coach, Manning’s former Colts teammate Reggie Wayne.
“Y’all was ready to shut down on Alec. All of y’all,” Wayne said Thursday. “I was in the battlefield with him, and now everybody wanna buy him cake.”
“He busts his ass every day. No complaints. … He’s been the ultimate pro. He does everything right.”
What Pierce is doing right is something Wayne did for Manning in his third NFL season: Improve. In his third NFL campaign, 2003, Wayne improved in every area and helped the Colts to an AFC South title and berth in the conference championship game. Now, Pierce in his third season is hoping for similar results thanks to Wayne’s tutelage.
“Yeah, for sure,” Pierce said Thursday. “I mean he always told me, especially these last two years, just to stay patient, wait for the opportunity. He can relate exactly to that. So, yeah, he just told me before this year, ‘I think this is going to be a big year for you.’ I think just with kind of the quarterback situation, stuff like that, it was going to play better off to my game.”
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