The Manning brothers are squarely in the middle of the obsessive media hype in the lead-up to the Superbowl. I indulge in a number of sports podcasts, and part of the running hum of questions has been around comparing the two and their respective legacies:

If Eli gets his second Superbowl, where does that put him on the list of all-time QBs?

Could Eli's postseason successes be more impressive than big brother's amazing regular season work?

If Peyton is done, is there really a chance we might be debating which of the Manning Bros had the better career 5 years from now?

Lost in all of this is what I see as a far more interesting question:

How is it that two children from the same family have found themselves at the top of a world as competitive as the National Football League?

My worry is that we aren't asking this question because we assume we know the answer:

Talent.

After all, their dad Archie was a great NFL QB. It's genetics, they were simply BORN to be great quarterbacks right?

Not so fast. Certainly there is a genetic component to all of this, both top 6'4" and are somewhere in the visinity of 220 - they are professional athlete sized. But certainly Archie Manning isn't the only great quarterback to have sons right? And with apologies to the South, there have certainly been quarterback with greater physical gifts to pass on than Archie right?

So perhaps an even more interesting question is:

Why haven't there been more siblings to make it to elite positions in the NFL or other sports? Or, why don't the children of all great athletes go on to be equally great?

Hint, it's NOT TALENT

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