Pete Carroll tried to surprise Peyton Manning with a visit and got denied

Early on in the Peyton Manning free agency tour, the Seattle Seahawks were considered to be a potential suitor. Any team in need of a quarterback was discussed when speculating where Manning would end up, but there were few who actually knew where Peyton wanted to play. Manning wanted to make his decision in a hurry, so scheduling a good amount of visits and meetings in a short span of time was unavoidable. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, however, was avoidable.

As Peter King pointed out in his recent Sports Illustrated article that details how Manning ended up in Denver, Peyton met with representatives from the Broncos, Redskins, Niners, and Cardinals while out west a couple of weeks ago. Since he had not scheduled a meeting with the Seahawks, Carroll decided he would show up unannounced and try to win the four-time MVP over.

One more surprise: Manning got a call informing him that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had flown, unannounced, with Seattle G.M. John Schneider to the airport in Englewood. Carroll would do whatever Manning wanted—talk for a while in Denver or on the plane to Arizona, his next visit, or fly him to Seattle for a lengthier discussion.

Peyton Manning does not like surprises. He said no thanks. Carroll flew home.

Burned. Carroll gets an A+ for effort, but it’s obvious Manning must have had no intention of playing for the Seahawks. At the time he was a busy man who was listening to sales pitches from a number of teams while trying to make the biggest decision of his career. Clearly, there was nothing Carroll could have said to make him consider playing in Seattle. Luckily for Pete, that’s why they invented business expenses.

H/T The Seattle Times Seahawks Blog
Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE