Football's Manning (3)
I believe the answer is:
eli
'football's manning' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for eli that I've seen before include "Priest, teacher of Samuel" , "Old Testament priest, the prophet Samuel's teacher" , "Highest priest at Shiloh" , "Biblical teacher of Samuel" , "- Whitney invented the cotton gin in seventeen ninety three" .)