Peyton Manning is walking!

Peyton Manning is doing nothing other than moving his two legs briskly around the Colts' practice facility, but to me, him walking laps is awesome news. Not awesome in that it makes me think he will be back this season, but awesome in that it banished the mental image I had of Manning being immobile and strapped down in a hospital bed wearing a thick neck brace.

Peyton Manning walking around the Colts' practice facility

It is very encouraging to see him up and about. He even joked around with the cameramen saying, "Can I get this for my scrapbook? Pretty exciting, huh?"

There's a video clip of Manning walking his laps at ESPN.

ESPN spoke to Archie Manning about Peyton at the Giants' game and Archie said Peyton was sore for a week after the surgery, but is now feeling better and in better spirits. Archie doesn't know if Manning will play this season and he also didn't say anything about the stem cell procedure.

Besides struggling to get healthy, ESPN reported that Peyton's also struggling with how to feel and how much time to spend around the Colts. He wants to be there and help the team, but also doesn't want to "overload" and be around too much.

As a fan, I don't see any reason why his presence would be anything but positive.

Get well soon, Peyton!

Go Colts!

Sunday Night Football: Some Peyton Manning bloopers

With Judge Susan Nelson lifting the NFL lockout, football in 2011 moves one step closer to reality. In reminiscence of the many Sundays I've spent carving out an ass-dent on my living room sofa, here are some bloopers from Sunday Night Football promos:


Credit: ManningsRule1810

Football is still not a sure thing yet (the NFL has appealed the ruling), but Peyton Manning has been keeping busy with his receivers, including Blaire White. White has been working out with Manning and I have a really good feeling about the two of them when it comes time to march onto the field.

Manning knows he can't afford to lose a year because he's running out of time. Here's to football in 2011 and a Colts Super Bowl win in 2012!

Also, read this article about talking football with Archie, Peyton, and Eli. It's really funny. In it, Peyton talks about "tanking the NFL baseline concussion tests," but it was probably made in jest as Archie slapped him on the forehead after he made the comment. This article here seems to be making a big deal out of nothing.

Peyton Manning believes there will be a regular season

During his speech at the Salvation Army 18th annual William Booth Benefit Dinner, Peyton Manning said, "I certainly believe there will be a normal football season... I do think the closer we get to the regular season, the more of a deadline there is to get this resolved and we will have a normal season." Number 18 thinks the lockout will end before fall.

If the Field General says so, then it must be true!

Manning also brought along Colts wide receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez. The three of them enjoyed bro time and played some golf.

Read the full article at Tulsa World here.

Peyton Manning is the most powerful athlete

Peyton Manning was named the number one most powerful athlete by Business Week, taking over the spot from Tiger Woods.

"That's right, bitches"

Big P is a great quarterback, hard working, funny, and overall, a pretty good guy.

There hasn't been much to update on this blog ever since the Colts were eliminated from the playoffs, but I will start posting highlights from Manning's 2004 season after the Super Bowl.

Manning and the Colts are still working on getting the kinks out of his contract. The Colts made an offer last week, but Manning's agent said the meeting was "uneventful." Is it just me or does Tom Condon represent everyone in NFL?!

I hope the contract is favorable to both Manning and the Colts organization. He doesn't need the money, but he can't take too little or he will not be doing his other fellow players justice. He can't take too much either or there won't be enough money left for the Colts to sign the players they need to make a serious run at the Super Bowl. Lord knows they have a lot they need to fix this off season. I know they'll get it done though.

Go Colts!

God likes Peyton Manning but loves the Patriots

Photo credit: Field Gulls

This ol' joke is all over the internet, but I read it for the first time this morning. I thought I'd share it with you guys for a nice laugh:

Michael Vick is a better leader than Peyton Manning

At least that's what Jason Whitlock over at Fox Sports believes. He also thinks Vick is the more mature quarterback of the two.

Sorry, I just fell out of my seat from laughing so hard.

And now give me a second as I enter a new synonym for idiot in Urban Dictionary. That way, you know, if one of your friends staples his thumb to his forehead, you can tell him, "Hey, stop being such a Jason Whitlock." Or, "Got Whitlocked again, huh?"

Okay, I'm back.

If you want to waste two minutes of your life reading the most obviously "angled-at-gaining-readership" and  "trying to ride the one-and-done Peyton Manning media wave for what its worth" article, then hop on over there for a strong dose of "having a mental age below three years." Jason Whitlock even warns Colts fans on his twitter to "read carefully" and "not overreact". What a joke. That's exactly the kind of reaction him and his editor crave.

But, to not give him the satisfaction of actually going to his site and reading his article, you can raise your blood pressure simply by reading these juicy "incites" from his shameless spin:

"Manning is rarely forced to do what Michael Vick has been doing the past three years – look inside and examine himself."

Right, as if no one demanded any answers from Manning during his three-game slump this season. And as if no one ever questions and criticizes Manning to death (essentially what Whitlock is doing right now) each time the Colts lose a playoff game. And who forced Michael Vick to look inside and examine himself? Uh, no one but Michael Vick. If not for his own poor decision-making, things would be very different.

Peyton Manning congratulates the Butler Bulldogs

Peyton Manning makes a video to congratulate the Butler Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were all what he and the Colts talked about for the past two weeks. I really wanted them to win, but oh well. From the video, at least Peyton seems like he's doing well after his neck surgery!

Credit: bbruner

Here's a somewhat clearer, but shorter version:

Credit: lbalous

From a Pats fan: Peyton Manning is the Best Quarterback Ever

Even a die-hard Patriots fan and loyal Brady supporter thinks Peyton Manning is the best ever.

From Kirk Minihane over at WEEI Sports Radio Network:

It hurts to say this, but Peyton Manning is the best ever

Mon, 01/25/2010 - 7:31am
By Kirk Minihane
Bio  |   Email Kirk Minihane  |   Subscribe to RSS  |   Print

Comments (4)

It's time to face the facts, Peyton Manning is the best ever. (AP)

Why is this going to be tough column for me to write? Let us count the ways …

1. I’m the guy that thought the Colts should have taken Ryan Leaf over him.

2. There was that day in 2005 I spent in the stands at a snowy Gillette Stadium, screaming “Cut that meat!” as I watched him lose to the Patriots for the seventh straight time. I’ll never forget looking out on the field and seeing Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne lined up against Hank Poteat and Troy Brown. An all-time mismatch, right? The Colts scored three points that day. After the game, 60,000-plus Patriots fans happily sat in brutal Route 1 traffic, secure in the knowledge that Bill Belichick was in his head. How quickly things can change in five years (just ask Luke Wilson — in 2005 he was still a movie star. Today he’s stuck doing dopey commercials and is a moustache away from being a dead ringer for Mr. Belvedere.)

3. As of last Wednesday I am now the biggest Tom Brady fan under the WEEI umbrella. They had a ceremony and everything. The previous owner of the crown would, I think, literally vomit if he were to read the next 1,000 words or so.

4. Yeah, I hate the commercials. Every time I see him and Justin Timberlake playing ping-pong (which is only about 50 times a game) I want to take both my eyeballs out with a spoon and then use said utensil to puncture my eardrums.

5. Archie and Eli Manning (who, if not for a miracle David Tyree catch, would be the sports version of Don Swayze or Jim Hanks at this point) also annoy me to no end. They’ve mastered the “I’m trying not to look like I’m polished” act in commercials. Just go away. Family of phonies. And I can call 'em. The only one I have any use for is Cooper, and that’s just because he's the only waiter at Bertucci's who doesn't make a face when I ask for more rolls.

All (at least mostly) true and easy to write. What isn’t so easy to write, alas, is also the truth.

Peyton Manning is the best quarterback I have ever seen.

The idea has been kicking around in my mind ever since the 2006 AFC title game. It only grew after he carried a terrible 2008 Colts team to a 12-4 record to win his third MVP. And I was almost ready to call it after fourth-and-2. The circle was complete, after all. Manning was now in Belichick’s head.

But still I held out.

Maybe, I hoped, Rex Ryan would have an answer or two. Maybe, maybe, I would see at least a glimpse of the Manning every Pats fan felt they owned five years ago. And would it be too much to ask for at least one shot of Manning ripping his chinstrap off in a fit of confused rage as he ran to the sideline after forcing a pick? You know, for old times sake?

Well, the best defense in the NFL actually knocked Manning down a couple of times in the first two drives. And there was a time when that might have affected him for the rest of the game. Those days, as Don Henley once told me, are gone forever (he told me that at an arcade at the Billerica Mall in 1985. He was really into Ms. Pac-Man.) 

And I should just let them go.

Manning completed 26-of-39 passes for 369 yards and three TDs (no picks) in the AFC title game on Sunday, making every throw in the book as he continued his mastery over Big Rexy (he has lost once to a Ryan team — and that was the game he played just a half in last month.) Just a master at the absolute peak of his game. Total control.

Which led to the question: Who have I seen that is better? There are only three guys that I could make a case for: Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Brady.

Marino was every bit the pure passer that Manning is, maybe better, even. But the numbers are at best a wash, and Manning won more. A lot more, actually: three more 10-win seasons in five fewer seasons, plus at least one more Super Bowl.

As great as Montana was, it’s hard to shake the idea that he was the best system quarterback in history. The guy that replaced him (Steve Young) won a Super Bowl and was even better statistically. I don’t see any other QB today stepping in and winning 14 games with this Colts team, and if the Colts stepped on the pedal they would have gone 16-0.

(Anyone watch the Saints/Vikings game? Did you see Brett Favre running all over the field? Yeah? He’s just a kid underneath it all, you know? And a cowboy, too. A child cowboy. You see his wife? Still not sure where to rank her? Me neither. Oh, and that last-second pick, you know, the one that might have cost the Vikings the game and a chance at the Super Bowl? Of all the “great” QB’s in history, he is the one most likely to make that throw. And that’s why he’s not on the list of candidates. He'll always be Simple Jack Favre to me.)

It’s how Manning does it that must drive guys like Ryan and Belichick crazy. The Jets took Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark out of the game (7 catches combined.) Not a problem when you have those household names Pierre Garcon (11-151) and Austin Collie (7-123). 

Ask yourself this: When Manning got the ball at his own 20-yard line with 2:11 left in the first half (down 17-6), was there any doubt in your mind that the Colts would score a TD? Three passes out of the shotgun to Collie (the second a perfect 46-yard deep ball) and it was 17-13 going into the half and it somehow felt like the Jets were losing.

(I’m going to give Ryan a hard time in the next paragraph, but the Jets acquitted themselves very nicely on Sunday, I thought. And in 2010, a team other than the Patriots will begin the season as the favorite to win the AFC East. That hasn’t been the case since 2001.)

And this is when Ryan did something that seemed all too familiar. After a solid Jets drive to start the third quarter stalled, he had Jay Feely attempt a 52-yard field goal. Wide right. Well, you don’t need to be have the script in front of you to know what happened next. An eight-play drive (all passes) that ended with a 4-yard Garcon catch. Colts, 20-17. The Jets never led again and it was all over except for the shouting and an awkward trophy ceremony with Edgerrin James (who I don’t think was ever in the mix for “Meet the Press” hosting duties after Tim Russert’s death.)

And here’s what I mean by “all too familiar.” I think against every other team in the NFL, Ryan punts in that situation. But I think he felt the need to put points on the board vs. Manning and decided to force the issue, to ignore the percentages. Manning has now done this to the top two defensive minds in the NFL in a span of about 10 weeks. No small feat.

For years I heard that Manning had the weapons. That’s why he put up huge numbers. Edge and Harrison and Wayne and Clark. Well, he was throwing for 4,000 yards before Wayne and Clark were in Indy and he’s throwing for 4,500 yards after Edge and Harrison are gone. And have any Colts players on offense done anything after they’ve left? Marcus Pollard? Terrence Wilkins? Jerome Pathon? He was never a product of the system. We’re not talking about just plugging any actor into a CSI show here. He made the system. He IS the system, dammit! 

(And yes, the odds of Peyton Manning appearing in a CSI episode sometime in the next three years is 4-to-1. The odds of Cooper Manning getting his father to love him as much as he loves his other sons is still a 250,000-to-1 shot.)

And now we all know that he is a “winner.” The comeback vs. the Pats and the Super Bowl win over the Bears put that question to sleep forever (I think the win over the Pats meant more to Colts fans than the Super Bowl, I really do. Which game do you think they talk about more? Not unlike the 2004 Red Sox with the ALCS vs. the World Series.) Of course, winning 13 games in his second year as a starting QB with Wilkins as your second wide receiver, Jim Mora as your head coach and a defense in the bottom half of the league might have been a sign as well. And he has won at least 10 games in all but two of his 12 seasons in the league.

When Manning retires, he will hold every significant passing record. And he’ll have probably five or six MVPs (no one else has more than three.)

So, we’re done, right? Anyone else have an argument? OK, we’ll hear from the man from San Mateo.

Tom Brady is, I think, one of the four or five best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. And he was the perfect fit for the three Super Bowl winners. I would not have traded Brady for Manning at any point during those years if I were Belichick. But other than blind loyalty to Brady, I don’t see an argument for his career being superior to Manning’s. They have been in the league together for a decade now. In those 10 years Brady has been named first-team All-Pro once. Manning has been the choice five times.

But Brady has the best single season of the two, right? That plus the 14-4 playoff record plus the (for the moment at least) two extra Super Bowls is enough, isn’t it?

True, Brady broke Manning’s TD pass record in 2007. He threw 50 TDs to Manning’s 49. But he needed an extra 81 passes (over two games worth) to get to 50. Manning’s TD percentage was higher (9.9 percent to 8.7 percent, which means that Manning would have finished with 57 TD passes had he attempted the same amount of attempts as Brady did in 2007), as was his passer rating (121.1 to 117.2). Both great, great seasons, but I don’t think anyone could really state with any confidence which was the better one.

Other numbers? Well, Brady has finished in the top five in passing yards, TD passes and QB rating a combined eight times in his career. In those 10 years Manning has finished in the top five a combined 22 times.

The case is closed.

Peyton Manning is the best quarterback I've ever seen.

Still hurts to write it. A four-pick meltdown in the Super Bowl would sure ease the pain. Think I should get my hopes up?

The proper way to hold a clipboard

In this hilarious article from The Onion, Peyton Manning shows his backup, Jim Sorgi (before he went on injured reserve this season), the proper way to hold a clipboard:

Peyton Manning Shows His Backup Proper Way To Hold Clipboard

August 23, 2007 | Onion Sports

Manning demonstrates the proper form to use while holding the clipboard with one hand and using the headset during third-quarter second-and-long situations.

TERRE HAUTE, IN—Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning interrupted an intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday for approximately 45 minutes in order to show backup quarterback Jim Sorgi how to properly hold his clipboard.

"He's got to learn consistency if he's going to be the backup on this team, and that starts with the little things, like holding the clipboard with two hands," Manning told reporters following the practice. "When I see my backup holding the clipboard with the top portion clenched in his one hand and the bottom portion digging into his bicep, I see a quarterback taking a 'me-first' approach. That's unacceptable."

"Holding the clipboard isn't about individual performance. It's about winning," added Manning, who later stated he was disappointed in Sorgi and that he thought the two were on the same page following a two-hour clipboard conversation he had with Sorgi during the Colts' voluntary spring practice. "I once thought that if Jim wanted to set himself apart, maybe he could wear his hat with a little extra curvature in the brim. But for now, I'd have to say he doesn't deserve that privilege."

Manning claimed to have mentioned several previous clipboard-mishandling incidents to Sorgi prior to the on-field confrontation, including times when Sorgi held only the bottom-left corner of the clipboard "as if he didn't care if he dropped it"; when he caught Sorgi gripping the clipboard with two hands, but loosely and "as if he was just going through the motions"; and when he saw Sorgi standing on the sidelines trying to spin the clipboard on his index finger, an action Manning called disrespectful to both the team and the game of football.

"I even caught him out of the corner of my eye letting the clipboard hang carelessly down by his thigh during our preseason game against the [Chicago] Bears," said Manning, adding that he had not said anything to Sorgi at the time because he wanted to give him a chance to rectify the problem on his own. "I almost burned a time-out, but that was on the same day he took my advice to affix an 18-inch length of clean white cord to the clipboard in order to keep better track of his writing utensil, so I let it slide. Baby steps, after all."

Manning said he began to suspect that Sorgi had reverted to a careless and lackadaisical state of mind upon seeing Sorgi gripping the clipboard at the top part of its clamping mechanism, which Manning said could have ultimately led to the application of enough pressure to allow the documents held by the clipboard to escape, and possibly even be blown towards the opposing sideline.

"Look—if he messes up like that and the other team has all of our offensive schemes, then we don't repeat as [Super Bowl] champions," Manning said. "It's that simple. True, I've never had to hold that clipboard, and I never plan to. Jim Sorgi is going to be holding that clipboard for the rest of my career, so it's essential he becomes a pro at it."

"We're only as strong as our weakest link," Manning added. "Jim Sorgi had best remember that."

Though Sorgi admitted to violating Manning's clipboard-holding policy, he said a lack of communication, not a lack of commitment, was really to blam

"Sometimes Peyton and I just aren't always on the same wavelength," Sorgi told reporters after Manning left the facility. "It gets really confusing. Basically, Peyton likes to give me three different clipboard-holding options during specific game situations, signaling them to me before the snap. At any given time during a game, he could scream at me to change my grip to, say, ten-and-two instead of six-and-four, and naturally, there will be times I don't hear him completely."

"I just wish he would stick to his initial clipboard-holding plan—two hands at three and nine," Sorgi said. "It would make things easier on all of us."

Upon being told of Sorgi's comments, Manning commented that Sorgi's "prima donna attitude is the reason he's not allowed to run kneel-downs during the regular season."

Colts head coach Tony Dungy claimed he was unaware of any problem with his quarterbacks and said he would be taking more of a hands-off approach this season, allowing Manning to do the majority, if not all, of the coaching.