Hello ,

Peyton Manning will retire with the best quarterback statistics in the history of the NFL. His younger brother Eli is also an elite NFL quarterback. Yet, both brothers have quietly spent the past few off-seasons going back to their old coach-Coach Cut-and allowing him to deconstruct them and take them back to their most basic quarterback fundamentals.

Coach Cut (David Cutcliffe) was Peyton's quarterback coach at the University of Tennessee. They've stayed tight. "He's always been my coach," Peyton said in a recent interview. When Coach Cut started coaching for the University of Mississippi, Eli took notice and signed on to play there.

Peyton Manning was released by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, when a serious neck injury left them believing his career was over. Enter coach Cut. After watching tape of Peyton's throwing sessions, Coach Cut told him, "Your mechanics are all wrong, you're going to blow out your arm." Cutcliffe then spent the next two years reconstructing Peyton the quarterback by taking him unceremoniously back to the basics. Eli Manning had a rough season in 2013, and similarly has allowed Coach Cut to carve him up and help rebuild him.

Why would these two premiere athletes allow their old coach to tear apart their technique and reconstruct their game? Because both Peyton and Eli know that a return to the "basics" isn't a sign of failure. It's actually the path to true success.

I'm not a fan of football (although I have many friends who are), but the underlying principle of going back to the basics applies to spiritual things as well.  Sometimes we get so caught up in "work" of the Lord, that we forget the Lord of the work.  When this happens, going back to the basics is vital to our spiritual health.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word