I've seen two major records broken in my life as a watcher of the NFL. The first was Emmitt Smith breaking the all-time rushing record. He hung on for a couple of years too long, he complained for the final two years in Dallas about not getting enough carries, even though the carries he did get were most often marked by him taking three steps and then falling down. On that November day, he ran a little bust right up the middle for 4 yards, and broke the record.
The game then stopped down for 10 minutes while he stood up, pointed to the sky, made a spectacle of himself, hugged Darryl Johnston, and reveled in it for a while.
The second was just now, when Payton Manning, who's Colts were down by 8 points, threw a complete pass on a timing route to Brandon Stokely and broke Dan Marino's 20 year old single-season touchdown record.
He immediately held up two fingers, quieted the crowed, and pulled his team's concentration back from the record to the game at hand, in which a two point conversion would tie the game. They got the conversion, and he walked off the field. He talked to his Offensive Coordinator, and I never once saw him crack a smile. Why? Because there is still a game to play, and they haven't won yet.
As I write this, an overtime period is about to begin, and the Colts just won the coin toss. I was a fan of Emmitt growing up, but I soured on him in the last years, especially when, after leaving to go play a fruitless 4 games in Arizona before getting injured and ending his season, he made a comment to the press that, in his last years in Dallas, he was the equivalent of a diamond surrounded by trash.
It is refreshing to see someone display the kind of class and concentration that Payton Manning has today. He broke the record, but winning the game was more important to him. If the Colts lose the game, you can bet that he won't be celebrating tonight.
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