With Peyton Manning having been out with a neck injury all season, his father has decided to become more vocal. Nobody really knows why Archie Manning has decided to come forward and defend his son Eli or analyze the Colts draft status heading into 2012, but he has. On Tuesday, Archie shed some light on the Andrew Luck situation in Indianapolis. Assuming father and son exchange dialogue from time to time, it’s now pretty obvious that Peyton would rather not play on the same team as Luck.
“I don’t think it’d necessarily be great for either one,” Archie Manning said on FOX Sports 570’s Zakk & Jack Show. “I think Andrew’s the type of mature player, you’ve seen him play he can walk right in. I mean, these other three or four guys that are playing this year, if they can walk in and contribute, Andrew can, too.
“We know Andrew well. He comes down to our camp every year. I used to play with his dad (Oliver). I’m in New York, I heard from him last night. Peyton’s always tried to help Andrew and kind of be a friend, but I doubt if either one of them wants to play on the same team.”
Every rookie wants a chance to start right away. However, I’m sure Luck wouldn’t mind being on the Colts as much as Peyton would mind having him there. Although Peyton insists Phil Simms was wrong in his assertion that a healthy Manning would never let the Colts draft Luck, I’m sure he wouldn’t be all that thrilled with Indy drafting a quarterback with the first overall pick. If Peyton continues to play, he wants to win another Super Bowl. Drafting a quarterback with the top pick in the draft would do nothing to help him personally. For Luck, a chance to study under a Hall of Fame quarterback for a couple seasons wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Jump forward to about the 30-minute mark to hear the audio of Archie talking about Peyton and Luck together:
H/T to Pro Football Talk for passing the interview along.
