Archie Manning helped man overcome misery of losing wife

I read this story from bpnews.net and was much moved with tearful eyes. It’s actually not much about Archie Manning and the Manning family, but more about life and love. The hero of this story is not Archie Manning or Payton Manning, but a man named Mark Kelly, who was a faithful fan of the Mannings.

The story happened in the fall of 2006, when Mark’s wife Kris was struggling with cancer. He received a personal phone call from Archie Manning, who talked with Kris for a few minutes on phone. You know what that meant to long-time fans, who celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to see Peyton Manning leading the Indianapolis Colts against the New England Patriots in 2000, two years before Kris was diagnosed with cancer.

“Those 10 minutes on the phone with Archie were special, but not the best for her,” Kelly said of his wife, a schoolteacher in Greenville. “Her best 10 minutes were when she was taking a kid with a bad home life and making him feel special. Even though she wasn’t feeling that very well with cancer, she tried her best to make an impact in others’ lives.”

Later in that fall, Mark canceled their original trip plan to watch the Colts play again as Kris’ condition had deteriorated. A couple of weeks later, Kris passed away, and Mark fell into great misery. Another two weeks later, Mark received tickets for a Colts game from his friends. So he and his two daughters put on his wife’s beloved Archie Manning jerseys went to Indianapolis to fulfill Kris’ dream. Their seats were at the 10-yard line courtesy of Archie Manning and the Colts organization. Being so near with their beloved NFL players, Mark regained beliefs in life and hoped his experience would also help some other families with similar experiences overcome the miseries.