Manning, Sharper Misremember Each Other At Super bowl

NFL News - February 2, 2010 - Written by John Ritter

With the constant whirlwind of media coverage in the NFL, it sometimes behooves a player or coach to leave out another's name when responding to questions to avoid being a victim of clever editing. In 2007, Dallas Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells continually referred to Terrell Owens as "the player" when continuously badgered about his off-field chicanery.

Sometimes those choices of words can be taken as insult, albeit unintentionally. Sometimes they are quite intentional.

As the Super Bowl nears, and hungry reporters scour for anything worthy of buzz, a brief war of words has broken out between Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper.

In an interview with ESPN, per ProFootballTalk, Manning misremembered Sharper, calling him "Jamie", a former linebacker of the Houston Texans who hasn't played a down since 2005.

Manning, one of the most thoughtful and ripe-minded players in the league, would probably know that, causing Sharper to respond by calling the Colts QB, "Eli", his brother for the New York Giants who has never been confused for his older brother.

Sharper knows the difference. He has four interceptions off Eli, and housed three of them. He has exactly zero against Peyton.

Manning has -160 odds to throw at least one interception in the game, according to NFL Betting Lines provided to online bettors through Bodog. Sharper is getting +240 odds to pick him off, but -300 to go without.

Neither team has grown a reputation for being particularly mouthy to their opponent so the story will likely die before it even starts. And Manning and Sharper are probably weary of making any extra motivation for their opponent. Then again, this is the Super Bowl, and if the teams even have room in the tank for extra motivation, they're playing the wrong sport.