Jim Mora won’t attend Peyton Manning statue ceremony, still bitter over Colts exit

It’s been 16 years since Jim Mora Sr. was fired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, but that apparently still hasn’t been enough time.

In an appearance on WNDE’s “Query & Schultz” Wednesday, Mora said that he was invited by Peyton Manning to attend his statue unveiling ceremony in Indianapolis this fall but turned down the invitation.

“I told him I wasn’t going to come,” said Mora, per Dakota Crawford of the Indy Star. “I had reasons. I would love to come back there, but because of the way I left the Colts, my relationship with [ex-general manager Bill] Polian, I don’t know. I just wouldn’t feel that I would feel comfortable being there.”

Mora coached the Colts for four seasons from 1998 to 2001, a stretch that also coincided with Manning’s first four seasons in the league. But Mora was fired after the 2001 season and wound up never coaching again.

The Colts aren’t exactly known for cordial breakups, and it sounds like Mora’s exit falls under that category as well, even after all these years.

Image via Gary George on YouTube

H/T ProFootballTalk