“Somebody asked who are your best players on offense,” quarterback Peyton Manning said in the week leading up to the big game. “I said Brandon McManus and (punter Britton) Colquitt are two of our best players on offense. They are weapons for us and we use them.”
But McManus, Denver’s second-year kicker, has another distinction. After all, how many other players can say they competed in the Super Bowl the year after serving as a USGA intern?
McManus interned for three weeks leading up to — and during — the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, held in July at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
“When you’re running a championship, you’re relying on a lot of other people to do things,” McManus, who played college football at Temple in Philadelphia, said to USGA.org last summer. “It’s more of an anxious stress. I’d much rather have the stress of the kicker, because at least I have full control of it.”
In both the case of the Super Bowl and the U.S. Women’s Open, McManus had a keen interest from an organizational perspective.
“Growing up it was a dream of mine to play in the Super Bowl,” McManus told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. “But there’s another. After I’m done playing, hopefully I’ll be able to plan one” as director of operations for the game.
Meanwhile, McManus is no stranger to golf, owning an 8 handicap. He landed the USGA internship gig through the NFL Career Development Program, which helps players get work experience that can be useful after they retire from the game.
While interning for the USGA, McManus helped staffers in a variety of areas, including course set-up, agronomy and operations. He also served as a walking scorer.
“It was cool to be under the radar compared to my usual job, walking (with) the three professionals,” McManus said.
“There’s a reason why professional athletes like Brandon make it — it’s because they’re willing to put in the time and the effort to make it happen,” U.S. Women’s Open championship director Matt Sawicki told USGA.org.
On the football field this season, McManus made 40 of 45 field goal attempts for the Broncos, including 10 for 10 in the postseason.