Like many NFL players, defensive lineman Mike DeVito remembers the first time he faced Peyton Manning.
It was 2009, and DeVito — an eight-year veteran who has spent the last three years with the Chiefs — was with the New York Jets then. During the lead-up to the game, he could already tell this would not been an ordinary week.
“I just remember how the intensity and attention to detail really turned up with our coaching staff, and they relayed that to us,” DeVito said. “The guy knows the game so well that if you had any little tell — like a d-lineman putting his hand on his knee or a cornerback getting into position too quick — he knew it and picked you apart.