Today is Super Bowl Sunday and hopefully you are getting ready to stack up the nachos, chill down the beer and prepare to watch a great game with good friends. It would be a good time to get your mind off your financial problems and have a little fun, except for this article I read about super quarterback Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts.

If you have even a passing interest in professional football this piece from Slate is a fascinating look into what makes Manning so freakin’ amazing, and such a pain in the ass to work with.  To make a long story short, he cares more about football than everything else in his life combined and works harder than anyone else in the game to be perfect. Not great, but perfect. When it comes to football, Manning has an obsessive-compulsive personality and speaking to his family and teammates you can get more anecdotes than he has passing yards.

When he was just twelve, Manning pushed his Pop Warner teammates to block harder. He got to college six weeks early to work out with the upperclassmen. At home, he falls asleep with the remote in his hand after hours of breaking down custom game film.

Reading all of this got me to thinking… Do you care enough about knocking down your debt to approach it like Peyton Manning would?

It’s a fair question. Football provides Peyton Manning everything that is important to him in life while massive debt prevents you from enjoying everything that is important in life. And both paths are temporary. Football players have a limited window to compete before age and injury take hold while you want to envision a time when you are living debt-free. Until then you have to focus and deliver.

So imagine what this would look like. Are you willing to break down your credit card statements looking for irregularities? Badger your card companies into lowering your rates? Get to work early and stay late to jockey for a raise or promotion? How about cutting out your favorite entertainment to save money? I doubt that Petyon Manning is going to a lot of movies on Saturdays.

Manning memorized his team playbook in days. Do you even have one? It’s called a budget and without one you’re in the financial pee-wee leagues and you’ll never be debt free.

Manning also expects other people to treat the game as he does. When a teammate left practice early to be present at the birth of his daughter, Manning asked why he couldn’t have babies in the offseason.

Here I would say that your family is on your debt-reduction team and they need to know their roles and get behind you. Or in front of you, if they are your metaphorical O-line. Make sure that your spouse knows that you’re serious about debt reduction and you expect him or her to do their part to cut spending and pay more towards the bills. And the kids. Playtime is over if it means expensive clothes, toys and electronics. Explain what the goal is, that it’s only for a short period of time and that they are helping the family win.

So go an enjoy the Superbowl today and tomorrow be ready to wage war on those bills. (Not the Buffalo Bills. You know what I meant.)