Not quite yet. That’s the word out of Peyton Manning on Tuesday on ESPN. Manning told Scott Van Pelt on his radio show that he had no plans to retire and in fact was making every attempt to return to the NFL.
Then again, that’s how the four-time NFL MVP rolls.
He even went out and spoke to reporters, echoing his comments on the radio.
“My plan hasn’t changed,” Manning told reporters. “I’m on track with what the doctors have told me to do, and I’m doing that. I’m rehabbing hard.”
The ultimate politician, Manning has never been one to answer a question without zeal, enthusiasm or his trademark smile. He does things only politicians – good ones – can do: answer questions leaving people forgetting what the original question was asking.
But Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports isn’t biting. In fact, he is reporting that the Manning camp isn’t quite as peachy as Manning is proclaiming.
“For all the discussion over Peyton Manning’s future with the Indianapolis Colts, the underlying issue is that people close to him don’t believe he’ll resume his career.
The nerves in Manning’s arm are not healing as quickly as hoped and, worse, don’t appear to be progressing at enough of a rate to indicate that he will play again, according to two sources with knowledge of Manning’s rehabilitation from neck surgery. The vertebrae in his neck that were fused have healed as expected and Manning began throwing in December. But he hasn’t shown improvement in velocity on his passes, and the two sources fear he likely never will again.”
Most sports fans were left wondering: who are these two sources?
Cole isn’t exactly CBS Sports, and doesn’t go with a story based on a student website or no-name blog.
Manning obviously has some hills to climb and obstacles to overcome before he can play in the NFL again. And if he does make the necessary recovery to pass the doctor’s tests to give him the OK, he then has to pass a team issued physical.
And that’s just to PLAY, not to play well.
To play at an elite level, like Manning is accustomed to playing means a return to his original state, something that perhaps Cole’s two sources are hinting he might not be able to do.
Only time will tell, as the old saying goes, but one has to wonder which side of the story will gain momentum as the days tick down to Mar. 13.
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