Peyton Manning | Larry Brown Sports

Peyton Manning Really Proud of Brother Eli

January 23, 2012 By Larry Brown 3 Comments

There will be at least one Manning playing a meaningful football game in Indianapolis this season. Unexpectedly, it will be Eli.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was in San Francisco to watch his brother’s Giants beat the 49ers to advance to the Super Bowl. The older brother had positive thoughts for his little bro.

“I’m really proud. He played great and the team played great,” Peyton said after the win. “I’m just proud of the way he competed. He took a lot of hits as a quarterback. I have a great appreciation for the way he competed, for the way he got up. As his brother, I’m awfully proud as well.”

Peyton somewhat shrugged off the suggestion that the accomplishment of beating the 49ers to face the Patriots was amazing.

“It’s what I expected him to do, I guess what he expected to do. I think it’s pretty neat as a rematch. It’s an awesome job by him, an awesome job as a team.”

Well those are all answers you would probably expect to hear. Now if the reporters had some real minerals, they’d ask Peyton what he thinks of everyone questioning if Eli is the better clutch performer. I think little bro may be.

Rob Lowe Transitions from Actor to NFL Reporter, Claims Peyton Is Retiring

January 18, 2012 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Rob Lowe created the perfect confluence of events Wednesday by tweeting some “inside info” on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

At 3:15pm ET Wednesday, Lowe tweeted “Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow.”

Lowe then told Rich Eisen “My people are saying Manning will retire today. What do you hear?”

“Colts fans, let’s hope my info is wrong. Don’t like being wrong, but this time… I’m hoping” he added a few minutes later.

Not that we really needed to check, but both Archie Manning and Peyton’s agent denied the claim.

With that in mind, I think what Steve DelVecchio said about the whole sequence of events is right: Lowe is a B-list actor looking for attention and getting what he wanted.

And I’m happy to provide it.

Lowe actually is friends with Colts owner Jim Irsay. Maybe he just got his parlance wrong and he intended to say Peyton wouldn’t be back with the Colts because of medical issues. That is a report I believe and don’t need Rob Lowe for. But keep in mind, Lowe (according to his character is Wayne’s World) speaks fluent Cantonese. His character in Thank You for Smoking played quarterback at UCLA. I don’t think we can doubt a person with such a versatile background, do you?

No matter how you slice it, Rob Lowe becoming the central figure in a major football report is a winning day in LBS history. This is the sort of unpredictability that gets me up each morning.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Peyton Manning, Rob Lowe

Nick Mangold on Peyton Manning Talk: I’ll Take Joe Montana or Dan Marino Too

January 12, 2012 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

Jets fans want to see some changes this offseason. After two seasons in which New York reached consecutive AFC Championship games, the Jets struggled mightily this year. Mark Sanchez did not take significant strides in his third full year as a starter and the Jets’ offense looked stale. As a result many fans, some anonymous teammates, and at least one former player want a change at quarterback. One name that has been thrown around quite a bit is Peyton Manning, but who said he was for sale? Jets center Nick Mangold alluded to that during an interview with The Michael Kay Show on Wednesday.

“I think if anybody could get a clean bill of health, shoot, I’ll take Joe Montana if he had a clean bill of health,” Mangold said sarcastically. “Dan Marino, I think, would be another great one. I think it’s all speculation, and I think that Mark Sanchez is my guy. Hes the one I want to go into battle with, and I wouldn’t be too keen to seeing that being changed.

“(Sanchez) puts in more work and more time, cares more about the team than I think anybody else in that locker room. And for somebody to come out and say (he’s lazy), and not put their name behind it, really bothered me.”

The “anonymous” Jets sources seem to feel the same way the fans feel, and despite Rex Ryan’s continuous support of Sanchez they are hoping to force some sort of move. The only problem is star quarterbacks aren’t just sitting out there waiting to be plucked away from their current teams. Everyone likes to talk about Manning being a potential target, but Colts ownership has insisted he isn’t going anywhere. Andrew Luck should be the quarterback of the future, but it’s doubtful Indianapolis will risk trading a healthy Manning and handing the offense over to Luck next season.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Nick Mangold, Peyton Manning

Joe Theismann: Colts Should Draft Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning is Done Playing

January 6, 2012 By Steve DelVecchio Leave a Comment

Over the past few weeks, we have heard so many different opinions about what the Colts should do with their draft pick in April that it is just about time to stop listening. Most people seem to believe Andrew Luck is the obvious choice and a quarterback that could contribute almost immediately in Indianapolis. At least one former Colts coach believes Robert Griffin III is the better choice and would have more to offer an NFL offense. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is a member of Team Luck, but for a slightly more dramatic reason.

“First of all, if you’re the Indianapolis Colts, you have to draft Andrew Luck,” Theismann said during an interview with SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio on Friday. “He’s as complete a package as you are going to get coming in to professional football. Andrew Luck, if you have him available and you are the Indianapolis Colts and you saw what happened when you lost Peyton Manning, you have to go draft him. Dan Orlovsky, Curtis Painter are not the future of the Indianapolis Colts. So I think you have to draft him irrespective of what gets worked out regarding Peyton.

“I hope (Manning) does come back, but I would say right now on this show, I don’t think Peyton Manning will be back in a uniform to play football, for his health and for his safety. Ever again. I mean, he hasn’t practiced. He hasn’t taken a hit. You’re rolling the dice on $28 million for him to take a hit. Would you do it?”

Manning returned to throwing toward the end of the season, but his future is up in the air. History tells us he’ll do everything he can to get back into playing shape over the offseason, but if he’s at risk of seriously injuring his neck Theismann could be right. Colts fans aren’t yet ready to face the possibility of Manning never playing again because it came on so abruptly, but unfortunately it isn’t that far-fetched an idea.

Filed Under: College Football, Football Tagged With: Andrew Luck, Joe Theismann, Peyton Manning

Andrew Luck Reportedly Expected to Sign with Peyton Manning’s Agent

December 20, 2011 By Larry Brown 2 Comments

Can you say awwwwwkward? In a column at Yahoo! Sports, Jason Cole says Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is expected to choose Peyton Manning‘s agents to represent him. Luck is expected to be the top pick in the NFL draft, although some teams reportedly prefer Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. We’ve already heard that Peyton Manning may try to force a trade if the Colts drafts Luck, so this makes matters even more complicated.

Tom Condon and Ben Dogra at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) may end up in a messy situation. If they sign Luck as a client, they’ll try to get him drafted first overall. They’ll also try to negotiate the best possible contract for him, and they might prefer that he begins playing immediately. Would that motivate them to push for Peyton to be traded? I would think so.

You can say that Luck should just choose another agent to avoid the conflict of interest, but why should he have to choose different representation because of the circumstance? Perhaps the only way around this potentially awkward scenario is if the Colts win two more games and don’t get the top pick in the draft.

H/T Evan Silva

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning May Force Trade if Andrew Luck Is Drafted

December 10, 2011 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

When Archie Manning said earlier this week that Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning wouldn’t want to play on the same team, maybe he was just revealing the feelings of his son.

In a column published Friday, Adam Schefter indicated that may be the case.

“But inevitably Manning is going to have to let his feelings be known for the Colts, and the sense around the league is there will not be room for both quarterbacks, Manning and Luck, in Indianapolis,” Schefter wrote. “But after this season, as March begins to creep closer, it’s worth remembering that Eli Manning once navigated his way out of San Diego. And it will not be a surprise if Peyton Manning does the same with Indianapolis.”

Archie Manning backed off his initial statement about Peyton and Luck, later saying the two could play together. That was probably said for PR purposes to make it seem like Peyton is still a friendly guy. We believe his initial words reflected the truth.

Former personnel exec Michael Lombardi says he wouldn’t want to be the GM who trades Peyton Manning, but we think that would be the best move for the team. Peyton Manning is coming off multiple neck surgeries and is 35 years old. You probably have 3-4 years with him at best. Andrew Luck should be able to give the team 12 good years, even if he’s not as good as Peyton his first few years.

H/T Rotoworld

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Archie Manning, Peyton Manning

Dwight Freeney Says It’s Disrespectful to Other Players to Call Peyton Manning MVP

December 8, 2011 By Steve DelVecchio 1 Comment

It would be almost impossible to argue that Aaron Rodgers isn’t the front-runner for the 2011 NFL MVP award. As both Tom Brady and Kurt Warner expressed, Rodgers could be having the greatest season by any quarterback ever — including Brady’s 2007 campaign. Arguments have been made for Tim Tebow because of his uncanny ability to win under any circumstances, but Joe Theismann and others would laugh at that notion. Then, there is the Peyton Manning debate. With Manning, the Colts reached the postseason in each of the last nine seasons. Without him, they are a whopping 0-12. Does that make Manning an MVP candidate without playing?

As NFL.com shared with us, Dwight Freeney thinks putting his teammate in that discussion is absurd.

“It is disrespectful and it’s ridiculous across the board, to all of the guys who are actually playing the game,” Freeney said. “To the guys who are playing hard, it’s unfortunate that they’re doing something like that. They will and they do look ridiculous doing that.”

Freeney is right about it being ridiculous. The MVP award is reserved for the player who was most valuable to his team this season. If anything, the Colts 0-12 stink-fest proves that Manning was most valuable to his team in each of the last 10 seasons — not this year considering he didn’t play. It’s a nice compliment and a testament to the type of player Manning is, but the fact that people are seriously debating whether or not he deserves the 2011 MVP award is — for lack of a better word — lame.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: Dwight Freeney, Peyton Manning