ENGLEWOOD, Colo. . - Peyton Mannings next touchdown throw will be his 500th, and hes spreading the credit around just like he does the football.The five-time MVP doesnt like to talk about individual accomplishments.As he approaches another milestone in a career filled with so many big moments, however, Manning took time Wednesday to reflect on all the help hes received on his 499 TD passes.He acknowledged that yes, he looks at his TD throws and interceptions every year because if the former is high and the latter low, that means youre getting your team in the end zone and that means youre protecting the ball. I think that particular statistic usually leads to winning football games.As far as the other thing, obviously, youre just trying to win this football game, Manning said. But when asked about it, I have reflected on how many great teammates and coaches that Ive been with along the way that have been a part of that. You dont throw that many touchdowns without a lot of help.Its not just the 44 players who have caught one of Mannings TD throws, but the rest of his teammates and coaches.As my old centre Jeff Saturday said, the only reason Ive thrown that many is because I had great protection for so many years. Typical lineman speaking, especially one in the media now, Manning said. But to tell you the truth, hes right. There are so many people that have helped me along the way.Hell face men who made big early impressions on him Sunday when the Denver Broncos (2-1) host Arizona (3-0).Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was Mannings first quarterback coach when Manning arrived in the NFL in 1998. And Arizonas assistant head coach Tom Moore was his offensive co-ordinator during his 13 seasons in Indianapolis.The Cardinals would love to delay Mannings milestone another week, but they know as well as anyone that its probably just wishful thinking.Thats tough because Peyton always finds a way to get the ball in the end zone, Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said.The last time Manning didnt throw a TD pass was Nov. 14, 2010, against Cincinnati.So, chances are No. 500 will come sometime Sunday.Hell probably brush it off like its just another touchdown, Denver nose tackle Terrance Knighton said. But I know it means a lot to him.And chances are Mannings touchstone touchdown wont come down in the arms of a receiver, either.Tight ends Julius Thomas (five) and Jacob Tamme (two) have accounted for all but one of Mannings eight TD tosses this season.Newcomer Emmanuel Sanders went into the Broncos bye last week as the league leader in catches (25) and yards (334), yet he still waiting to spike a TD toss from him a€” unlike Denver defensive tackle Mitch Unrein.Its still kind of a shock to me that I have a touchdown from Peyton, Unrein said.Sanders cant wait to join the list.With 14 catches so far, Thomas jokingly asked Sanders on Wednesday if he could spare a reception.All right, Sanders retorted. Ill trade you for a touchdown.Thomas said Sanders can have No. 500 if he wants it.Ive already got a couple milestones, said Thomas, who caught Mannings 51st TD throw that broke Tom Bradys single-season record last year. It was one of his dozen TD receptions that surpassed Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpes team record for tight ends.I hope they throw it to me, said Knighton, noting that a jelly-belly lineman a few lockers down caught one.Unrein lined up at fullback on Dec. 2, 2012, slipped into the left flat unencumbered on first-and-goal from the 1 and hauled in Mannings floater to help the Broncos beat Tampa Bay 31-23.Manning has thrown 100 TD passes in the regular season since his arrival in Denver.His first in a Broncos uniform was the 400th of his career and it came on a 71-yard screen pass to Demaryius Thomas.Manning figures to surpass Favres record of 508 TD throws later this month.Behind them are Dan Marino (420), Drew Brees (370), Brady (363), Fran Tarkenton (342) and John Elway (300).Told he has nearly 200 more TD passes than his boss, Manning said: He probably has a few more rushing touchdowns that I do.Elway has 33 of those, Manning, 18.Notes: LB Lerentee McCray (knee) practiced for the first time since getting hurt against Kansas City on Sept. 14. That left S David Bruton (ankle) as the only player who didnt practice. RG Louis Vasquez (ribcage) was limited. ... Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw and point guard Ty Lawson attended Wednesdays practice.___AP NFL website:
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http://twitter.com/arniestapleton . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns. .It managed to highlight the good and bad of a complicated MLS club which always has a lot more than meets the eye going on under the surface. . Ellsbury lined an RBI single on a 0-2 pitch to score Derek Jeter with the go ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Tuesday night.Anyone who spends 15 years in charge of the Royal & Ancient surely is entitled to at least one mulligan. Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. "As you know, we dont have them over here. I was 2 down with four to play and on the par-3 15th, I shanked one. So I said to him, Ill have my mulligan now. And with my next shot, I had a hole-in-one. I think he was so rattled that he lost the match. I never allowed myself to take another one. I had to keep my record intact." Dawson is keeping another record rather tidy, somewhat by coincidence. He announced last month that he will retire in September 2015 as secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and chief executive of The R&A, a business division he wisely created 10 years ago. He will have served 16 years, the same tenure as the three R&A secretaries before him. What sets him apart is coping with perhaps the most challenging times in the clubs 260-year history. He is proud of a central role he played in getting golf back into the Olympics for the first time in more than a century, and Dawson will stay on as head of the International Golf Federation through the Rio Games. One of his favourite moments was gathering British Open champions at St. Andrews in 2000 to celebrate the millennium, an exhibition that brought together the likes of Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros on a glorious late afternoon at the home of golf. But the Royal & Ancient game has been moving at warp speed over the last two decades, and Dawson has been in the middle of it. He took over in 1999, about the time Callaway introduced the thin-faced ERC driver with a trampoline effect that was not allowed by USGA, yet approved by the R&A standards. That three-year period of golfs ruling bodies not being on the same page is the one "working mulligan" Dawson would have wanted. Three years later, the R&A and USGA published a "Joint Statement of Principles," and pledged to work more closely together. The most recent example was the decision to publish a new rule in 2016 that will ban the anchored stroke used for long putters -- a putting stroke used to win each oof the four majors over the last three years. . There remains strife among leading golf organizations over the ban, though Dawson isnt budging. He also has heard plenty of criticism about changes to the Old Course at St. Andrews, seen as sacrilege by purists who believe the R&A is changing golf courses instead of reining in technology. And in September, the R&A Golf Club is to vote on a proposal to allow female members for the first time, which Dawson endorses. The vote is two years after Augusta National invited female members to join for the first time. Was it all enough to make Dawson want to retire? "That was just normal course of business," he said dismissively. "Quite often, the media perception of what is weighing heavily on us is not particularly so." What weighed heaviest on Dawson, and still does, is striking the balance between technology and skill. There is pressure from one corner to slow the golf ball and reduce the size of drivers, and pressure from another corner to make the sport easier at a time when golf participation is in decline. "Keeping the balance right has been the biggest intellectual challenge," Dawson said. He is comfortable that the R&A and USGA got it about right. That will be debated long after Dawson leaves, and it figures to confront the next R&A chief. Dawsons reputation, unlike that of predecessor Sir Michael Bonallack, was built on management more than golf, and it was the right fit for the times. The next R&A chief could be a blend of both. No obvious candidates have emerged in the last month. Asked for the best qualifications, Dawson mentioned someone steeped in the values of golf, with commercial and international experience, and two other attributes -- diplomacy and humility. "One of the things you have to do as a governing body is to treat golf as a sport, as opposed to a business," Dawson said. "Other bodies might put business first because of priorities. The commercial side of what we do is very important to allow us to fulfil the governance role, and you cant lose sight of that. But I view golf first. Business is close. If youre scrambling for finances, its difficult to maintain your principles. So the financial success is important to sport." ' ' '
by ldh2013 » Fri Jul 01, 2016 8:37 am 
