Typical Peyton, yucking it up at the Pro Bowl:
"Peyton addressed both teams and was very funny, saying, 'All right you coaches from Baltimore and Philadelphia, there will be no negotiations with Albert or DeMarcus Ware unless it goes through me,' " Haynesworth said, referring to the Cowboys' NFL sack leader with a year left on his rookie contract.
"Peyton told [Haynesworth], 'We can solve the situation (of) you hitting me. You can come to the Colts, and we'll be straight.' "
The Pro Bowl is a silly, useless game that is neither fun to watch or worth anything. It is, essentially, a paid vacation for players who sometimes play pretty well, and other times they get in because they are a "name."
In Peyton's case, he has always viewed the Pro Bowl as an honor, and unlike most of the players and the rest of us, he takes it seriously. No, he isn't watching game film or anything like that, but one of the points of emphasis he imposes on his AFC team is that they must learn the terminology of the coaches and their systems at the Pro Bowl. For this year's contest, Peyton and the AFC offense must learn the basic Baltimore Ravens playbook. This means they have to know that (and I'm making these words up here) that Scat-Right-22-Dumbo-Ears-Raptor-5 means a toss pitch to the running back going right with the guard pulling.
And no, Peyton Manning is not truly "recruiting" Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth will become the highest paid defensive player in the league this off-season, and already he isn't happy with Tennessee's negotiating:
"I'll give the Titans their opportunity to sign me," he said. "But it's not very flattering that they're being slow."