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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently broke an NFL record—most career passing yards. Breaking such a record is remarkable since it requires performing at the highest level of athleticism for a long period (Brees is in his 18th year in the NFL).
The previous record holder, Peyton Manning (his record was 71,940 yards), who isn’t that long retired himself, congratulated Brees wholeheartedly—both men have reputations for good sportsmanship and citizenship in addition to their football prowess.
They have another connection, through Manning’s father, Archie Manning, who was the Saints’ best-known quarterback prior to Brees. Archie remains a very present figure in New Orleans and welcomed Brees with open arms when Brees first arrived there.
Manning, who quarterbacked the Saints for 12 years, was known as a great all-around athlete. However, he never gained the kind of success Brees has had—which makes his personal generosity all the more becoming.
The families have another connection. Both Archie Manning and Drew Brees had a parent who committed suicide—Manning’s father and Brees’ mother. Brees was an adult at the time. But Manning, at 20 years old, had just completed his summer college session when he found his father’s dead body.
Manning was so traumatized he considered quitting college, and football, permanently. But he didn’t. Instead, he continued in both, became a great athlete and positive member of the community and, perhaps most well-known, a father. For Manning had three sons, all of whom starred in football. In addition to Peyton, another son, Eli starred as an NFL quarterback. (Eli, who still plays for the New York Giants, recently competed against Brees’ Saints, losing to them.)
Eli and Peyton have each won two Super Bowls. Along with Peyton’s career passing accomplishments, Eli is sixth on the all-time passing yardage list.
Archie’s success in raising his sons is so highly regarded that ESPN produced a documentary, “The Book of Manning,” focused mainly on his parenting role. When asked how to raise star quarterbacks, Archie shakes his head emphatically “no” and says, “We (Archie and wife Olivia) just tried to raise kids.”
Drew (who has also won a Super Bowl) is likewise known for his community service, philanthropy, and devotion to his family. He is married to his college sweetheart (as was Archie Manning); they have four children.
Brees’ own upbringing wasn’t so propitious. His parents were divorced when he was seven. He was largely alienated from his mother, a prominent attorney, when she committed suicide after a scandal derailed her career.
What should we make of all of this? That early family problems and trauma, including suicide, don’t need to determine people’s lives in a negative way; that those who have far from perfect upbringings can raise healthy families themselves; that life is—to rely on a trite expression—what you make of it.
And, so while sympathy is demanded when a young person’s parent commits suicide (of which there have been several prominent recent examples), doomsaying—which we so often do in our “Trauma Nation”—is not.
