Peyton Manning wins Award Options

[Shahin]

DETROIT (AP) -- Peyton Manning got to spend a day with Walter Payton when he was only 4 years old.

The Chicago Bears' famed running back took him into the surf in Hawaii in 1980, when Manning's father, Archie, was on the island for his first Pro Bowl. At first, the Mannings weren't sure who was watching the kid.

When they learned it was Payton, they stopped fretting.

"Walter had me out the whole time on a catamaran," Manning said. "I felt safe, and my parents obviously were relieved because they knew Walter was taking great care of me."

Now, Manning is adding to that legacy of caring for others.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback received the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award on Friday, recognizing his work with children and Hurricane Katrina victims. Payton died of cancer in 1999, and his widow, Connie, presented Manning with the Gladiator statue signifying the annual award.

"I challenge each and every player in the National Football League to consider the impact they have just because they play the game of football, then go do something about it," Manning said. "There's more to the game."

Manning set up the PeyBack Foundation to help communities around Indianapolis and has worked with a national nonprofit group that helps abused and neglected children. After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, he and brother Eli, the Giants quarterback, flew to Louisiana and delivered 30,000 pounds of relief supplies.

Their father was the Saints' quarterback for 11 years and still lives in New Orleans, where he is involved in philanthropic activities. His house was spared from storm damage, but not his business.

"To my brother Eli and me, the hurt was real and it was personal," Peyton Manning said. "The whole town of New Orleans is really like family to us. They weren't just pictures on the news to us. We knew the streets, the businesses, the neighborhoods, because we grew up there. It's different when it's your hometown that's ripped apart and washed away."

Archie Manning was in the audience for his son's honor. He remembered that day in Hawaii when his son's babysitter was a Hall of Fame running back clearly out of his element.

"Walter didn't know what he was doing on that catamaran," he said.

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