ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Rich Bartel learned everything he needed to know about the deep ball when he was at the Manning Passing Academy.



At the end of the camp, Peyton Manning and the instructors put on a passing clinic. They would go through every route in the route tree, ending with the “9” route or “go ball.” Peyton told the quarterbacks they were there to put on a show, so if throwing the ball far was their thing, they should feel free to uncork it.



“I could just tell you I’m going to throw 42 yards, five yards from the sideline,” Manning told them.



“And sure enough, dude, when he threw that ball it was 42 yards, five yards from the sideline,” said Bartel, who spent seven seasons in the NFL and has worked as a private quarterbacks coach. “That really just confirmed what I knew as a player and as a coach, which is that all the way at the highest level you have to think of it that way: rhythmic...