SAN FRANCISCO -- Back home in New Orleans, a man who had endured three heart attacks, three back surgeries, an orange-sized growth on his liver, two knee replacement surgeries and a near-death encounter with Hurricane Katrina had just spotted a package on his porch. Tony Reginelli figured it was his standard shipment of medical supplies, at least until he and his wife of more than a half-century, Joan, noticed the name of the sender.
Peyton Manning.
The Reginellis dug into the box and pulled out a charcoal-colored Super Bowl jacket with an NFL football patch on the back, a star on the front, the number 50 on the side, and the date of the big game, Feb. 7, 2016, stitched inside. On the phone Thursday, as Joan looked over the jacket in her husband's closet, she came across a couple of shirts carrying the Manning name and number, 18.
But no, Tony Reginelli isn't your average 82-year-old superfan living out his own glory days through the career endgame of an all-time great. Reginelli is the high school coach who junked his veer offense at Isidore Newman School to accommodate the gangly pocket passer who didn't have his old man Archie's wheels.
"Coach," a tentative, teenage Peyton asked Reginelli back in the day, "we're not going to run the option, are we?"
Reginelli allowed himself a laugh over the memory, before apologizing if the pain medication made him sound tired and weak. Manning sent the jacket the other day as a get-well gift after Reginelli's latest back surgery, and as a way to keep the old coach connected Sunday when he settles in to watch the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers on TV.
Manning called Reginelli earlier this week as a follow-up; he'd been in contact with all five of his high school, college and pro head coaches in the lead-up to what will likely be the final game of his distinguished football life. At his news conference Thursday, Manning said of Reginelli, "He was truly one of a kind and a special man."
Nearly every pro athlete holds fast to the sweetest memories of his or her high school coach, and Manning is no exception. Reginelli kept saying how shocked he was by the beautiful jacket his quarterback had sent him, at least until the old coach inside of him reached for a whistle.
"I just want Peyton to concentrate on this game," Reginelli said.
Don't worry, Coach. Peyton Williams Manning is most definitely concentrating on this game.
But even as he approaches this stunning duel with Cam Newton, a Super Bowl appearance that seemed unfathomable to his family and friends only a month ago, Manning has Reginelli on his mind. The quarterback has spearheaded an effort to raise more than $100,000 to rebuild some structures around the Newman football field and to rename its entrance "Reginelli Way," in honor of the coach who first took the head-coaching reins in 1968 and retired 26 years later. The dedication is set for the end of the month, according to Reginelli's son, Reggie, and Peyton is scheduled to attend.
Will he be an officially retired living legend at that point? The Reginellis, both two-sport athletes at Tulane, aren't in agreement on that one.
"I think it's definitely Peyton's last game," Reggie said, "but my dad seems to think that Peyton is so competitive that he might take off a couple of months and decide to give it one more year."
Of course Tony Reginelli sees his quarterback fighting on. Reginelli grew up in the Mississippi Delta as one of nine kids in a farming family that believed work was more essential to the household than education once eighth-grade schooling was complete. Tony was the first of the Reginelli kids to continue into high school and beyond, and his athleticism delivered him to a football and baseball career at Tulane, where he was an all-SEC catcher who drew some interest from the Red Sox.
"And my dad never even told me that," Reggie said. "I had to find out about the Red Sox while reading a book on Tulane's baseball history. That's the kind of guy he is."
Tony Reginelli was a worker, a grinder and a man of precious few complaints. He was in Memorial Medical Center for treatment on his liver infection when Katrina hit New Orleans with an apocalyptic fury in 2005. The levees broke, flood waters started rising in and around the hospital, and Reginelli escaped and pulled himself onto a National Guard truck already overloaded with screaming patients and residents.
"I was the last one to get out," Reginelli said.
He was transported to Baton Rouge while his daughter-in-law, a nephrologist, stayed behind to treat patients at Memorial, where several patients did not make it out and the bodies of those who didn't survive the storm were kept in the hospital's chapel.
"After Katrina my father was down," said Reggie, 55, an attorney who also runs a pizzeria business. "My mom told me he was upset and saying, 'I just don't know if I've done anything in my life.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding mPeyton Manning was among the hundreds upon hundreds of students who were better for knowing Reginelli over his four-plus decades at Newman. Reggie remembers watching Peyton as a sophomore, his first year as the varsity starter, and thinking in the first few games of the season that the kid still had plenty to learn.
"But by the middle of the year," Reggie recalled, "suddenly Peyton was hitting his receivers in stride. I'll never forget a throw he made at St. Martin's. Peyton threw just a dart to his older brother, Cooper, who was streaking across the middle of the field, and it was right where it needed to be. It was a major college throw as a high school sophomore. Cooper took it for about a 50- or 60-yard touchdown, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, my father has something special here.'"
Soon enough, Peyton became everybody's All-American, the target of Division I powerhouses in every corner of the land. Reggie recalled Peyton being quoted during his senior year saying he wanted to win a state championship for his high school coach; the coach's son found it an awfully mature thing for a teen prodigy to say.
It didn't matter that Newman lost in the state semis. The journey shared by Manning and Reginelli couldn't be measured by some high school scoreboard.
"It would be great if I could make it out to San Francisco," Tony Reginelli said through a sigh. "But I'm going to have to sit this one out."
The old coach laughed one more time over one more thought. Archie Manning finished up his career with Houston and Minnesota, and Reginelli was wondering what would've become of his own career at Newman had Archie moved his family -- young Peyton included -- to one of those cities for keeps.
Truth was, even if the Saints were done with Archie, the Mannings were never, ever leaving New Orleans. Peyton ended up at Newman, Reginelli revamped his offensive system to suit him, and the rest is NFL history.
"My father is my hero," Reggie said, "so it's a great feeling to see what he's e. He's touched so many lives at Newman, and you'd have to put 100 people together to match that. His legacy will live through that school and everyone he touched.'"
Peyton Manning was among the hundreds upon hundreds of students who were better for knowing Reginelli over his four-plus decades at Newman. Reggie remembers watching Peyton as a sophomore, his first year as the varsity starter, and thinking in the first few games of the season that the kid still had plenty to learn.
"But by the middle of the year," Reggie recalled, "suddenly Peyton was hitting his receivers in stride. I'll never forget a throw he made at St. Martin's. Peyton threw just a dart to his older brother, Cooper, who was streaking across the middle of the field, and it was right where it needed to be. It was a major college throw as a high school sophomore. Cooper took it for about a 50- or 60-yard touchdown, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, my father has something special here.'"
Soon enough, Peyton became everybody's All-American, the target of Division I powerhouses in every corner of the land. Reggie recalled Peyton being quoted during his senior year saying he wanted to win a state championship for his high school coach; the coach's son found it an awfully mature thing for a teen prodigy to say.
It didn't matter that Newman lost in the state semis. The journey shared by Manning and Reginelli couldn't be measured by some high school scoreboard.
"It would be great if I could make it out to San Francisco," Tony Reginelli said through a sigh. "But I'm going to have to sit this one out."
The old coach laughed one more time over one more thought. Archie Manning finished up his career with Houston and Minnesota, and Reginelli was wondering what would've become of his own career at Newman had Archie moved his family -- young Peyton included -- to one of those cities for keeps.
Truth was, even if the Saints were done with Archie, the Mannings were never, ever leaving New Orleans. Peyton ended up at Newman, Reginelli revamped his offensive system to suit him, and the rest is NFL history.
"My father is my hero," Reggie said, "so it's a great feeling to see what he's
meant to Peyton, and to know that Peyton is still lifting his spirits today."
This is the bond so many professional athletes share with so many high school coaches, and one the 39-year-old quarterback of the Denver Broncos will carry onto the Super Bowl 50 field.
If Johnny Manziel doesn't receive help, he won't make it to his next birthday, his father told The Dallas Morning News on Friday.
Manziel's father, Paul, told the newspaper that the Cleveland Brownsquarterback has refused to enter area rehab facilities twice in the past week. He said the family tried to get Manziel, 23, to enter a local addiction facility on Saturday, but Manziel refused to stay. Paul Manziel said he tried to have his son admitted to a psychiatric and chemical dependency hospital on Tuesday, but Manziel was allowed to leave, despite his father telling officers that he believed Manziel was suicidal.
"I truly believe if they can't get him help, he won't live to see his 24th birthday," Paul Manziel told the paper.
Manziel turns 24 in December.
The first attempt to get Manziel to enter rehab, his father told the newspaper, was Saturday afternoon after news surfaced of a police investigation into an alleged incident between Manziel and his ex-girlfriend the night before.According to the police report, Manziel and his ex-girlfriend were at a hotel in downtown Dallas and left together after he struck her. The ex-girlfriend told officers that she and Manziel shouted angrily at each other and that he struck her several more times on the drive to her apartment in Fort Worth, Texas.
ABC affiilate WFAA, citing unnamed sources, reported that Manziel told the ex-girlfriend to "shut up or I'll kill us both" after he forced her into the car. The woman alleged that Manziel was acting "as if he were on some kind of drugs" but maintained he was not intoxicated.
In its initial statement Saturday, Fort Worth police said the woman "advised our officers of concerns that she had regarding the well-being of her ex-boyfriend," prompting police to search for Manziel, including by helicopter. Officers said they later determined Manziel was safe and in no danger. Manziel wasn't charged by the Fort Worth or Dallas police departments, which said Thursday they consider their investigations closed.
Manziel, in an interview with TMZ Sports posted on its website Thursday, said of the allegations that he struck his ex-girlfriend: "It didn't happen." He also said, "I'm completely stable. I'm safe and secure."
Manziel's agent, Erik Burkhardt, cut ties with Manziel earlier Friday, saying in a statement that "it has become painfully obvious" that Manziel's future "rests solely in his own hands."
"His family and I have gone to great lengths to outline the steps we feel he must take to get his life in order. Accountability is the foundation of any relationship, and without it, the function of my work is counterproductive," Burkhardt said.
"I truly wish the best for Johnny and sincerely hope he can, and will, find the kind of peace and happiness he deserves."
The Browns released a statement saying they would address Manziel's status "when permitted by league rules." A source told ESPN's Pat McManamonearlier this week that the Browns plan to release Manziel in March.
Private investigators working for Peyton Manning visited the source of a report that he and other star athletes had obtained performance-enhancing drugs before the documentary aired late last year, according to a report from The Washington Post on Thursday.
In December, Al Jazeera reported that an intern at an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic was secretly recorded suggesting that Manning's wife received deliveries of human growth hormone in 2011. Manning, then with the Colts, was rehabbing from neck surgeries at that time.
The intern, Charles Sly, recanted his statements, which were recorded without his knowledge. He said they were fabricated in an attempt to impress a potential business partner.
Manning angrily denounced the report, calling it "completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage," and insisting he never took shortcuts in his return to football after missing the 2011 season with neck problems. He recently said he supports an NFL investigation into the report. His father, Archie Manning, said Thursday on ESPN's Mike & Mike that he believes his son never took HGH.
"I always had a saying when he was going through everything and he had to talk to a lot of different doctors and trainers, and I always said, 'No voodoo.' That was kind of our theme. And he didn't. He said he didn't. He didn't."
Peyton Manning and the Broncos are preparing for Super Bowl 50 against theCarolina Panthers on Sunday.
Manning's lawyers launched the private probe shortly after Al Jazeera started contacting athletes who would be named in the documentary in December.
They hired investigators to identify, locate and interrogate Sly and sent a lawyer to examine the medical records of Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley, at the Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine in Indianapolis, according to Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary and current crisis-management consultant hired by the Broncos quarterback.
Fleischer told the Post that Manning's investigative team didn't interfere with subsequent investigations, nor did it remove any medical records or coerce Sly into recanting his statements.
Fleischer did confirm to the Post that the Indianapolis anti-aging clinic shipped medication to Manning's wife. But, citing her right to privacy, he declined to say
if it was human growth hormone.
HGH is banned by professional sports leagues and is legal to prescribe for only a few specific medical conditions.
The NFL is reviewing the allegations with the assistance of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a review that Manning has said he welcomes.
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.
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