John Elway disputes report about Peyton Manning not wanting to be a backup
John Elway fired back at a report that Peyton Manning would not want to be Brock Osweiler’s backup.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport originally reported on Sunday that the quarterback situation in Denver is difficult, particularly for Manning, who Rapoport reported has no desire to be holding clipboards for Osweiler.
Elway quickly disputed the report via Twitter.
Peyton has never told Gary or myself that he doesn't want to be the backup. Any report or rumor that suggests otherwise is incorrect!!
— John Elway (@johnelway) December 20, 2015
Rapoport responded to the tweet by clarifying that Manning hadn’t given anyone an ultimatum to start him or else, a source close to Manning told him that he wouldn’t want to be a backup, and that Manning isn’t even healthy enough to be a backup right now anyway.
It’s an odd report to dispute. Of course Peyton Manning doesn’t want to be a backup. He’s an NFL legend in the twilight of his career, and he’s not going to sit around and end his career on a bench if he can help it. He may never have explicitly said so to Elway or Gary Kubiak, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the case.
