For his whole career, Archie Manning had been a company man for the New Orleans Saints. He was great but the team was terrible. For years they had lost. For years he had endured poor offensive lines, poor drafting, and never even coming close to playoff contention.
So you’d think when he was traded to the Houston Oilers and then to the Minnesota Vikings, it would have been a blessing. It could have breathed new life into his career. He still had years left in him, and now he had a real shot at being part of a winning team . . . finally! But instead, in 1984, he retired.
Why? His son Eli. As Manning explained in the book My First Coach: Inspiring Stories of NFL Quarterbacks and Their Dads: I sensed that my relationship wasn’t quite the same with Eli that it had been with Cooper and Peyton at that age. . . . I was gone and I didn’t like it at all. I remember that was one of the real joys for me when I retired: that I would be home, I would be around full-time for Eli.
That’s what great parenting looks like, what true greatness—on and off the field—looks like. Would anyone back then have noticed two more seasons with the Vikings? Would anyone now have bothered to remember them? Maybe. Maybe not. You know who definitely noticed? You know who definitely remembers? Eli. And he benefited unquestionably and immeasurably from his father’s choice. He has a happy family and two Super Bowl victories to show for it.
What could it look like if you put your family first? If you really put them ahead of everything else? You can’t be sure exactly until you do it, but you can be certain that it will feel great.