Peyton Manning to Retire This Week, Report Claims
By Jason McIntyre
Peyton Manning will retire this week, according to a report in the Denver Post.
Woody Paige’s scoop is hardly one, especially when you read how the columnist hedged his report:
"Peyton Manning is saying goodbye; it’s been lots of fun. I’m told Manning will acknowledge his decision by the end of this week. In all probability, Peyton, who will turn 40 on March 24, is leaving the Broncos and retiring from the game he has played competitively for 29 years. It’s implausible that Manning would opt to sign with another team for one season."
From “in all probability” to “it’s implausible,” this report seems like an educated guess to sell a bunch of newspapers on a Sunday.
The world knows Peyton Manning is retiring. That’s been a given since the Panthers choked in the Super Bowl. Of course the Rams would have discussions about bringing in Peyton Manning for a year to sell some tickets. But Manning turns 40 in a few weeks and just had the worst season of his career. That wasn’t happening.
He’s got a deadline of March 9th. The end of next week is March 4th. He’s not retiring on a weekend. He doesn’t want to force Denver’s hand and make his exit awkward. Of course he’s going to retire. Of course this is the week to do it. One of the days, he will, Woody Paige claims.