In my two biographies about “Shaquille O'Neal: A Biography ” by Murry R. Nelson and “Peyton Manning: A Biography” by Lew Freedman I learned so much about what it takes to be one of the greats. Its takes a lot of hard work and dedication to a sport to be a great. It also requires you to have a lot of love and a big passion for the game. Without love for the game or without some passion for it, you're setting yourself up to not be the best athlete you can be.
Shaquille, also known as Shaq, was one of the most dominant NBA centers to ever touch a court. Arguably he’s a top five center of all-time and he is also a Hall Of Famer. Then there's Peyton Manning, who will be in the Hall of Fame soon, is one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to throw a football. Both of these players had really …show more content…
Though they were both very successful they had different paths to success. Shaquille O'Neal’s path wasn't exactly what everyone would expect it to be, he grew up in poverty right before moving out of the country on to a army base. He was also labeled as a troubled kid because he was being bullied for his ridiculous size growing up. In the Shaq’s biography, Murry R. Nelson said “He was angry a lot, but he tried to act cool. That didn't last long, however, he became a bully and a thief. Kids would would tease him and he would respond by smashing their faces into a desk or punching them” (9). All of these added up made Shaq the troubled kid he was. Peyton Manning on the other hand, who was very rich growing up because of his father Archie Manning who was also a quarterback in the NFL. Peyton was a pretty good kid overall growing up. The only trouble he got in, was when he got into petty fights with his brothers. In Peytons Biography, Lew Freedman implied that “Cooper and Peyton fought all the time. They got into fist fights over football, board games, and petty arguments. They took sibling rivalry to the heights of the World Wrestling Federation”