EJ Manual won his first game as an NFL quarterback Sunday. He revealed Tuesday that before the game winning drive he gathered his offense and told them to be “legendary.”
It looks like EJ Manuel may just be getting a grip on this leadership thing. As the quarterback Manuel is the de-facto leader of the Buffalo Bills. Pulling his team together the way he did shows why the Bills selected Manuel with the 16th overall pick in the draft.
The Bills were down 23-17 to the Carolina Panthers with 80 yards to go. According to Manuel he fist-bumped his teammates before the drive and said, “hey, let’s go be legendary.” Buffalo drove down the field, and with two seconds left Manuel lobbed a pass in the endzone to a wide open Stevie Johnson.
Then, in one of the week’s most meaningful moments, EJ Manual broke down on the field and cried. He had arrived.
Manual gave full credit for the win to his “legendary” teammates and the Bills offensive coordinator . Speaking with Pro Football Talk Live , he said, “The whole situation played out great for us. We handled the situation very well and Coach [Nathaniel] Hackett gave us some great calls and allowed us to make some great plays and great decisions.”
The win is sure to go down in Buffalo history. Of course, Manuel should consider himself as grateful as he is lucky. At one point in the drive he threw a game ending interception. Well, the play would have ended the game if not for a pass interference penalty on Panthers linebacker Luke Keuchly.
Manuel didn’t let the play fluster him. He came back, and you know the rest:
After two weeks EJ Manual looks like a franchise quarterback. He’s poised in the pocket, makes smart decisions, and gets the ball out quickly. Bills fans should be very excited for the team’s future.
[image via Wikimedia Commons]