INDIANAPOLIS –- At Eli Manning’s first news conference of Super Bowl week on Monday, he fielded several questions about his big brother, Peyton Manning.

Manning was engaging, even sharing stories about what it was like growing up with Peyton.

“I probably have quite a few of them,” Manning said. “His most popular move, he would pin me down and take his knuckles and knock on my chest and make me name the 12 schools in the SEC. I didn’t know them all at the time but I quickly learned them.”

“It was a great learning technique,” Manning deadpanned. “I don’t suggest anyone else try it out but it definitely made me learn the schools of the SEC. Once I figured those out, he moved on.”

If it wasn’t all the SEC schools, it was all 28 teams in the NFL at that point.

“I had to get my studying on for that,” Manning said. “Then once I figured that out, the one I never got was the 10 brands of cigarettes. When he really wanted to torture me and knew I had no shot of getting it, that’s when I just started screaming for my mom or dad to come save me or maybe Cooper [the oldest Manning brother]. That was his go-to move.”

Little Manning has since grown up and matured into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. He created waves when he said during the preseason that he considered himself an elite quarterback in Tom Brady’s class.

Head coach Tom Coughlin didn’t understand what all the fuss was about then, or now.

“He’s never ever been anything less than a top one to me,” Coughlin said. “That’s all I care about. I don’t know if I got the entire story on it. What I really heard is this business about him being elite. And he is elite, period.”

It’s a good bet that at some point, perhaps on Friday, Manning will get some elite advice on how to handle Bill Belichick’s defensive schemes from hi sbig brother. Peyton told reporters after the Giants won the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco that the two broke down the Niners’ secondary to the exact look San Francisco gave on a 17-yard touchdown pass by Manning in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps Peyton will go old-school and grill Manning and have his little brother recite all of Belichick’s defensive looks?

“Peyton has been a great big brother to me and very helpful in my progression as a quarterback,” Manning said. “He has supported me and given me any tips he could think of. For a Christmas present, he bought me a computer that stores all our software to watch film at home. He would want to do anything for me to be a better quarterback."

“He’s been the guy who I’ve looked up to,” Manning continued. “From the time he was in seventh grade through high school. I saw every one of his games. I tried to see every college game. When he went off to college, he would come back and things his coaches were teaching him, he would teach to me when I was in eighth grade or high school. I thank him for all that he’s provided me and helping me become a better quarterback.”