Two Fathers Sharing the Same Pain

No one knows the joys of fatherhood better than another father. At the same time no one knows the pains of watching your child struggle like a fellow parent, which is why Archie Manning reached out to Dan Grossman this week. Dan is the father of Rex Grossman, perhaps the only quarterback in football who is more maligned than Archie's younger son Eli.

"We met Dan and Maureen (Rex's mother) when the boys were in college. Dan and I still communicate."

Those have got to be some of the more maudlin exchanges handled by the good people of AT&T. It would make for a pretty decent commercial about cell phones dropping calls though.

Archie: Hey Dan! It's Archie Manning.

Dan: Hey Archie. So glad you called. Rex is going through another one of those tough spells. His mom and I are just about out of ideas about how to cheer him up.

Archie: Just tell him to keep his head up and keep plugging. Things will turn around soon.

Dan: Yeah, just like they have for Eli, right? (laughs)

(long, uncomfortable pause)

Dan: Archie? Archie? I was just kidding, man. Eli just had one bad game.

(another long pause)

Dan: C'mon Arch, it was just a joke. I'm sure he'll do better this week. And at least you guys have Peyton.

Remember kids, dropped calls are just as painful as dropped passes.