In my book, Peyton Manning is a very good big brother.

Scratch that. Peyton Manning is a very good brother.

Period.

Manning, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who missed the past season to recover from more neck surgery, kept a low profile at Super Bowl XLVI this past weekend with his younger brother Eli — make that his brother Eli — trying to win his second Lombardi Trophy in four years for the New York Giants.

Eli did — another impressive win over the New England Patriots, this time a 21-17 decision — which gives him two championships, one more than Peyton, and also picked up his second Super Bowl MVP.

It apparently isn’t enough to enjoy the fact that two brothers — and sons of former NFL quarterback Archie — have achieved something kids dream about when they first start playing football.

But for two weeks — actually for several years now — the media wants to turn this into a sensationalistic “big brother vs. little brother” saga.

The questions can go on and on — Who’s better? Which one would you rather have right now? Who’s the more elite quarterback?

There was even odds available at how times Peyton would be on camera during the game.

A bit of overkill, wouldn’t you think?

Of course, there are brothers and then there are brothers.

If you look at Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, it’s been well established that these two have been highly competitive against each other since they were toddlers.

You come to expect a dose of sibling rivalry, especially when the media started making a big deal about which game Mom and Dad — the latter being longtime college coach Jack — was going to attend and if either would be upset.

The Mannings, however, have always been supportive of each other. Peyton has always been bursting with pride about Eli, especially when he reached his two Super Bowls.

You could compare the two — Peyton 1-1 with an MVP of his own in the win to Eli’s 2-0 in Super Bowls — but the two of them never seemed to be keeping track of how far or behind the other is doing.

As the youngest of four in my family — with three being boys — I never sensed an overly competitive nature between us. My oldest brother wrestled and my twin brother was one of our top runners on our cross-country and track teams.

The running joke — no pun intended — was that he always had a five-minute head start on me. Sometimes, the competitiveness between brothers is there and sometimes it’s supportive.

The way the media wants to portray the Mannings’ relationship sickens me because it wants to look for something that isn’t there.

Can’t we enjoy the fact these brothers have accomplished something very rare in football? That should put them on equal footing.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.