Aw heck, this kinda takes a little of the fun out of it.
If you weren't watching last night, in the midst of the Denver Broncos 42-17 destruction of the San Francisco 49ers, during the game, Peyton Manning broke the record for most TD passes of all time. That record was previously 508 and held by Brett Favre.
In fact he added to it by throwing 4 TD's in the game.
But TD pass 509, while impressive as heck, was almost overshadowed afterwards when Broncos receivers Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Wes Welker appeared to play keep away from Manning, who wanted the ball to mark the occasion.
And watching on TV, it was really, really funny.
But...
We've all been had. Demariyus Thomas said Peyton Manning himself planned the keep-away. Peyton had them practice it too.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 20, 2014
Sad face....
It would have been a lot more fun had it been spontaneous, but it was still funny.
If you ever wanted proof that Denver Broncos and former University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning is the king of the nerds, well...now you have it.
Look what happened Monday morning at Broncos camp when while the team was doing stretching drills, the Vols fight song (Rocky Top) broke out on the speakers.
Who thought that Peyton Manning would roll seven touchdowns against Baltimore for the season opener...???
Manning equalled a feat that hadn't been done in 44 years in the 49-27 win. Manning connected with Wes Welker, Julius Thomas, and Demaryius Thomas for two TDs each in piling up the most points scored on the Ravens in their 18-year history.
Manning was 27 of 42 for 462 yards with the seven TDs and no interceptions. He finished with a quarterback rating of 141.1.
Thomas led Denver receivers with 161 yards. Julius Thomas was the first Denver tight end to go over 100 yards receiving in a game since 2009- with an even 100.
Oh, by the way... Knowshon Moreno was the leading rusher with 28 yards on nine carries.
Joe Flacco was 34 of 62 passing for the Ravens for 362 yards, 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. One of those interceptions led to the only Broncos fail on the evening...
Danny Trevathan celebrated a little too early- fortunately it didn't cost the team since they were up 25 at the time...
((HT: NFL on NBC))
If you haven't seen this, it's worth the 2 minutes or so that it takes to watch. And yes, we know, it's a DirecTV ad, but it's still worth watching.
Check out the Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli as they try, albeit somewhat interestingly, to sing about "Football on Your Phone".
The song--and ad is a very well done piece showing various shots of the French Quarter and more importantly featuring the Super Bowl winning QB's, with some really, really bad wigs and stuff.
So, Mr. Johnny Football is continuing his tour of winning friends and influencing people....
According to multiple reports, Johnny Manziel was asked to leave the Manning Passing Academy, run by the Manning family primarily to work with High School players., after showing up late on Saturday for his work and missing several meetings.
Folks at the academy told reporters the Texas A&M quarterback was "Sick". However a little digging apparently found Twitter pictures (since removed) of Manziel enjoying a night on the town Friday evening with friend and Alabama QB A.J McCarron. McCarron apparently found his way to the meetings and work Saturday.
Is this unto itself a major faux pas? Depends on your definition. It probably won't do much to help him with the Manning's (Archie, Peyton, Eli or Cooper). No, their blessing will nor does not make or break people.
But it does continue the growing impression by many not associated with A&M that Manziel has some growing up to do. He's had a series of off field questions pop up this spring and summer. Most having to do with him doing what a college kid with money can do if he wants.
There's only one way for Manziel to quiet his growing legion of critics, improve on his freshman season, which is not going to be so easy to do. How do you top winning a Heisman your first time out?
We didn't see the episode when it aired, and we are now deeply regretting that. Though we have spent the first part of the morning laughing hysterically at the South Park episode that aired the other night titled, "Sarcastaball".
And that was just the opening shot: (it gets better...and totally mocks replacement refs)
In no particular order, they took shots at: Roger Goodell, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Lamarr Woodley, Jim Rome, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, The Denver Broncos...and anyone else they could think of.
Seriously, this was freaking brilliant, you need to watch it. Since we can't post the entire episode, we strongly recommend you go to the Southparkstudios.com website and watch.
Somebody or some group with a pretty good editor and creativity came up with the penultimate spoof.
The comedy group Humordy, which we suspect is a bit of a riff on perennial favorite Funny or Die, came up with a music video, set to the melody of the popular song by Gotye "Somebody that I used to know".
The result--"Some QB That I Used to Know" and it's really good and REALLY FUNNY.
According to the four-letter, Peyton Manning is heading to Denver- barring something going going kerflooie in contract negotiations with agent Tom Condon.
This way, Alex Smith (another Condon client) could stay with his new BFF, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. And it also may mean the end of Tebow-Mania in Denver...
Much to the dismay of all those jersey-wearing Maniacs, unless Tebow gets traded to Jacksonville- which could piss off Chad Henne and/or Blaine Gabbert...
But new Jags owner Shahid Khan needs as many butts in seats as possible...
Here's early discussion on what could be a 5-year, $95-million deal between Peyton and the Broncos...
1400 UPDATE: KUSA-TV sports anchor and FOSG Susie Wargin is reporting that the Manning press conference is tomorrow...
Because we know you are all secretly NFL junkies and want to know even the most minute details of the Peyton Manning courtship.
In Friday's adventure, our hero is wined, dined and treated like royalty in Denver. Why is that a "Big-Deal" you ask? Well, because the Broncos allegedly were going to be the team of Tebow.
For those of you in love with Saint Timmy, this probably shouldn't instill confidence. For that matter if you are Mr. Tebow, you shouldn't be real confident either. Mostly because this indicates the Broncos like you...but don't "LOVE" you.
Mr. Manning, Peyton to most, got the royal treatment in Denver. From the Helicopters buzzing the airport and tracking his plane, the beaming of live pictures not only in Denver, but nationwide, to the tracking of the car to Broncos HQ, only the OJ Simpson slow speed chase was a more compelling "Football Player In A Car" story.
Manning is going to spend his Saturday meeting with Mr. Elway, Mr. Fox, Mr. Bowlen and others before moving on and heading to Arizona.
The question is, will it be a big enough "Breaking News" story to interrupt programming in at least two cities yet again?
Probably.
Here is your "Breathless" coverage from KUSA in Denver:
Yeah, sure. We know. It isn't a surprise and it has already been reported that Peyton Manning is going to be let go today (Wed.) by the only team that he's ever played for--the Indianapolis Colts.
And unfortunately, its something that had to happen.
The official announcement is going to be made at a Noon Wednesday presser in Indy.
Colts owner Jim Irsay did what he had to do. And it is one of the tougher decisions in Sports.
What do you do when your franchise guy ages and is due a ton of money, enough money that it would prevent you from rebuilding your team?
You do what Irsay is doing. And he had to do it this week...or he was going to pay Manning $25 million to stick around for a year or two to teach Andrew Luck the ropes while the team suffers.
And yeah, it has been messy at times. The two made some public quotes they probably regret about it, but last night (Tuesday) they flew to Indy together and seemed to be okay with what was going to happen.
WTHR caught the pair arriving at Indianapolis International Airport:
The question that now is out there: "Where does he go and is he ready to play?"
The answer isn't simple.
There are several teams that will be interested. The New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and a couple of other quarterback challenged teams will call.
But we think he's going to end up in Miami.
Why?
It's a team that has a lot going for themselves. Good Running Back (Reggie Bush), good receivers and a pretty good defense. Plus a former offensive coordinator (Joe Philbin) at head coach.
Will he be the Manning of old?
Probably not. But he's an upgrade for the Dolphins or any of these teams. He's not going to get a $25 million deal here and shouldn't. But for 2 or 3 years he may be a good fit.
Only time will tell if he recaptures the magic...or becomes Joe Montana in Kansas City...or Joe Namath with the Rams...or John Unitas in San Diego. (These are old school guys who played a couple of years past their prime)
We 1st met Peyton when he played at Tennessee, we've interviewed him a few times since and he's always been a fantastic interview. And he also has a sense of humor...and a good commercial pitch guy.
Here's highlights of the presser...
((HT: WISH-TV))
A video surfaced on YouTube Friday that purportedly shows Peyton Manning working out and throwing with teammates Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne...at Duke University.
If you are asking why Duke? Because that is where former mentor and current Duke head coach David Cutcliffe resides.
It's very hard to tell if it is Manning on the wide cellphone shot, but the footwork and motion look eerily similar to Manning.
And yes, our pals at ESPN say they have independent confirmation that it is all true.
The Twitter sportswriting community has been all abuzz on a Wednesday afternoon over a somewhat odd tweet from an odd source.
Actor @Rob Lowe apparently tweeted this afternoon: "Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow. #Colts
Before getting to the responses, there is apparently no truth to the rumor, with Manning's father, Archie telling the Indianapolis Star (laughing) "He ain't retiring. I think he would have told me."
What is oddly fascinating here is the response. And it was a pretty vitriolic response...from Sportswriters who seemed to think Lowe was trying to encroach on their territory and break news.
A sampling of responses:
@realfreemancbs (Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com): "Rob Lowe...shut up"
@bobkravitz( Bob Kravitz Indy Star Colts writer ): "I better not get beat on Manning story by Rob Lowe. Although I liked Youngblood. His dad in movie, Eric Nesterenko, was my HS hockey coach"
@AlbertBreer (Albert Breer of NFL.com): "I enjoyed Rob Lowe's work in Tommy Boy"
@SI_JoeLemire (Joe LeMire of SI.com): "Rob Lowe does play a sitcom character who lives in Indiana. This could simply be terrific grassroots marketing. #Peytonmanning. #Parksandrec"
@FoxSports: : "Breaking News from Pawnee, Indiana insider, Rob Lowe! #Colts #Manning"
Okay, so it is a slow news day and we found this quite funny. Either way, take a breath Indianapolis Fans, Peyton isn't retiring...yet. You can rest assured, though Lowe may be friends with Jim Irsay, someone other than Lowe will be the 1st to report it.
So with that in mind....
Here is a look at the "Youngblood" movie, mentioned by Mr. Kravitz:
