March 8. That's the date on which Peyton Manning is due $28 million from the Indianapolis Colts for services, uh, not rendered. At least not any time recently. Which forces a decision for Peyton.
Does he forgo the money and re-sign with the Colts for a much less lucrative deal (which Colts owner Bob Irsay is reportedly open to) or does he hit the open market? The latter is what should concern Rams fans. If Peyton does indeed test free agency or even sign with a team before the draft, the chances to trade that second over pick lessen.
The question is whether or not Peyton Manning will be able to play football in 2012. Judging from today's report from Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, it's not incredibly likely. Not only did that article reveal a previously unreported fourth surgery from last season, but Banks went on to say:
...league sources say Manning's neck has potentially developed bone spurs just above the point where his latest fusion surgery took place in early September, and the Colts organization is under the belief that it is nearly inevitable Manning will at some point require further surgery, and possibly another fusion procedure, even if he does successfully return to the field in 2012. It's unclear how any potential long-term neck issues will impact Manning's decision to attempt a resumption of his NFL playing career later this year.
It's not the most damning article to come out, but it's worth reminding those fan bases eager to bring in Peyton Manning to be their savior that he may not be capable of being himself anymore.
Age has a weird way of making everyone retire at some point.
0 recs | 26 comments
once released, he'll be scrutinized by all the coaches about his health
If I were him, I’d retire. He has a ton of money, has a ton of popularity, has a ring, set records for the Colts, is a shoe-in for the hall of fame. Just go make funny movies and enjoy your 50+ years of retirement – make the senior PGA tour.
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
I bet he sucks at golf though
Brick Top - February 15, 2012
yeah, I think the neck plays a big part in the swing.
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
What about Ping Pong with Sam?
OakCityRam - February 15, 2012
I bet I could beat Sam at ping pong. No joke, used to play all the time.
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
Shame that an already successful HOF career has to come to an end before it's time.
Da Rams! - February 15, 2012
Dude, you're only gonna play 3 more years
And at this point, it looks like you are gonna end up paralyzed. Go home, seriously. No one wants to see a HOF qb carted off the field never able to use his legs again
King Sam Rules! - February 15, 2012 via mobile
What pisses me off is that they got Peyton, as soon as he's done they get the first pick when the next Peyton is coming out of college.
bullshit. Every team has to suffer with a shitty QB for a bit.
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
Maybe Luck will bust.
RAMpage28 - February 15, 2012
Last time I checked, Luck and Leaf both are four letter words that begin with 'L'.
Da Rams! - February 15, 2012
Don't assume Luck is the next Peyton just because he played decent in college doesn't
mean he’ll be able to do the same thing in the NFL unlike Peyton he hasn’t proved jack in the NFL and I’m willing to bet he does bust. I think RG 3 will do better then Luck as far as I’m concerned.
Freewheeler2 - February 15, 2012
i wouldn't say that RG3 will be better, he reminds me of Vince Young
it’ll all depend on who is around the players, but Luck just had better mechanics and more smarts, which should translate to the NFL.
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
Well the times between Unitas and Peyton were a little lean at QB
Pardon me Dickey fans.
LARams1968 - February 15, 2012
yeah ok, I'll give you that one
sergey606 - February 15, 2012
It is sad...
Best pure passer of my generation.
Rcoon1307 - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Just went to the Steven Jackson related article on the yahoo sports
why would he post something like that on twitter.
RAMpage28 - February 15, 2012
I won't be losing sleep tonight about whether Mannings gonna hurt the Ram's trade down ability.
Even if he comes back and goes to Washington they still need to draft their QB of the future this year. Mannings not gonna last the entire year if he does play. What team will want to take that risk? The Rams are gonna get the deal of the decade this draft because they’ll have 4-5 teams wanting to trade up. Lets hope for two #1’s, two #2’s (one this year and next), a #3 and a vet player to be named later.
Da Rams! - February 15, 2012
How about Manning take a paycut and become the QB coach for the Coach?? I’d love to still see him on the sidelines of the Colts games!!
RamsIchor - February 15, 2012
What Peyton Manning will do if he retires
Commercials to become the retired white Michael Jordan of the NFL.
PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING - February 17, 2012
I'd say he's toast
dbcouver - February 15, 2012
As having had a fusion myself,
I would say no, but I am not a professional athlete and my fusion was at two levels in my lumbar spine. I cannot even imagine playing football in my condition or doing much else. I am also set to have another fusion soon and I would say to call it quits. I would think the problems later could possibly make him worse. Just my personal opinion.
GoRamsandAngels - February 15, 2012 via mobile
How would you hold up against getting your head slammed into the ground. Or, maybe getting hit real hard repeatedly.
I’m just thinking that once hurt there a persons risk of another or even more devastating injury would increase significantly.
LARams1968 - February 15, 2012
That is exactly why
I said I would call it quits. All he has to do is get hit hard, or get slammed to the ground, and he could possibly break the hardware in his neck. Who knows? Maybe it could rupture his spinal cord and he could end up MUCH worse.
GoRamsandAngels - February 15, 2012 via mobile
So even if he can come back, or be medically cleared.
He would be a fool to do it, right? I’ve been thinking the same thing about Bartell. I don’t know anything about the respective injuries of those two but the neck protects the spinal cord and that is something a person should not want to risk injury to.
LARams1968 - February 15, 2012
Retire Retire Retire
If he retires now he has a chance to keep full movement in his neck and back, but if he keeps playing and happens to damage it further he stands a chance to be paralyzed worst case scenario, or at the minimum end up like Earl Campbell. I hate to see Earl needing a cane to get around when he did so much for the game of football, and the same goes for Payton, I would hate to see him like Christopher Reeves. He has his ring, considered to be one of if not the best QB of all time… Time to retire and become a coach. Lord knows there are teams out there that would hire your ass in a second.
laramsfn - February 16, 2012
HHHHmmm Interesting thing to find on an STL web site
I thought you people in STL were all about Sam Bradford and wern’t that fond of Peyton.
Also I would like to make it perfectly clear that this article is not on the Colts SB nation blog page nor are any poles about Peyton and retirement. Because the person who runs that site has all the wrong opinions on Peyton. He thinks the Colts should release Peyton and draft Luck an unproven QB as do a bunch of other idiot fans. And he says Peyton needs to sign with another team and get come back player of the century to help the NFL keep it’s popularity.
Look STL as a true Cardinals, Blues, and Colts fan since birth I’m not gonna go off on all this crap about Peyton signing with another team. But I am going to say that articles like this need to be on Stampede Blue (the Colts SB website). Peyton retiring would be better for the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana then him going and signing with another team to get come back player of the year. Not to mention the fact that Peyton retiring will up Tom Brady’s chances of retiring once his contract expires (another good thing for the Rams, that will be allot less competition in the superbowl for the AFC) in 2 seasons causing the Patriots to be the biggest flop after their QB retires in NFL history and turn into the Lions of this past decade. But the bottom line is you people at turf show times are doing a much better job with the Manning thing and have much better opinions on it then the guy who runs Stampede Blue. And as a Colts, Cards, and Blues fan since birth I thank you very much for that and have tremendous respect for your opinions and your votes for the poll on Peyton. I just wish more articles like this one minus that stuff about the second pick of the 2012 draft where on stampede blue instead of ones saying Irsay is going to release Peyton and he needs to make an impact with another team.
PS.
Having a father who is a doctor and knows about this injury, I agree with the poll Peyton likely isn’t coming back for anyone. And on my final note I would like to say that that Patriots stole 3 VL trophies two from my Colts (2004 & 2005) and one from the Rams (2002).
PatsR18andDONEwithoutCHEATING - February 17, 2012
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