The Peyton Manning saga continues. Manning’s future is uncertain and he seems to be coming to the realization that Indianapolis may not be his home next season. Manning spoke with Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star and his comments were very telling.
Not only did Manning say that he didn’t recognize the team building anymore, but he said that Indianapolis just was not a very good environment anymore. Furthermore, Manning made it clear that he is not yet 100% healthy.
If you had to bet at this point, you’d have to believe that Manning has played his last game as a member of the Colts. To read some of Manning’s quotes, continue after the jump and make an opinion for yourself. Does this sound like a guy that wants to come back to Indianapolis?
"I’m not in a very good place for healing, let’s say that. It’s not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least. Everybody’s walking around on eggshells. I don’t recognize our building right now. There’s such complete and total change.I mean, it’s 20 degrees, it’s snowing, the building is absolutely empty except when you see coaches cleaning out their offices. I guess it’s the reality of the football world, just not something I’ve had to deal with very often. But I’m in there every day, so I have to sit there and see it. Everybody’s being evaluated and I’m no different. It’s not the best environment.One of the things about football is, it’s a relationship business. Sometimes guys get fired, it goes across the ticker, ‘Jim Caldwell got fired’ and that’s that. But when it’s every day in a relationship business . . . with Bill [Polian], with Marvin [Harrison], Edge [James], guys who retire, get cut, traded or fired, it’s just really hard. I don’t think I have an emotion for it.I just want to pay tribute to all those guys. It’s unfortunate because so many of them have been such a big part of so many big wins here, and this is so . . . sudden. Their keys didn’t work the next day. There’s no other way to do it? I don’t know. That’s hard to see, all these people leaving.I don’t want to get into some kind of fan campaign with the owner, but I think it’s well documented that I want to play in the same place my whole career.It’s been a privilege to play here. I love the fans, the city, the transformation of the fans, how our place has become the toughest stadium to play in, the fact our fans wear more jerseys to games than anybody else. It’s been fun to be a part of that.But I understand how it works. I understand tough decisions have to be made. There’s personal and there’s business and that’s where we’ve got to separate the two. I’ve seen other guys leave places and it was personal. I’ve invested too much into this city for that to happen. We live here, we’ve given lots of time and money to the community and our church, and that’s never going to change. Nothing changes that."
So again, does that sound like a guy who sounds eager to return to Indianapolis? I don’t think so. Personally, I would be shocked if Manning was in a Colts uniform next season.
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