Colts QB Peyton Manning addressed the local Indianapolis media Thursday for the first time in a month, and a seemingly big piece of news came out of it. According to the Indianapolis Star's Phil B. Wilson, Manning told reporters he might not have been healthy when he signed his new contract back in August:
#Colts' Manning said he knew when he signed contract he wasn't healthy, he wanted deal to include escape clause, in case he didn't heal.
This is certainly nice for Manning to do, and an unnecessary gesture on his part, but what does this mean? First off, what kind of physical did he "pass", according to both Bill and Chris Polian? It certainly makes it seem that ProFootballTalk and Agent Al Irby might have been on to something. I've asked Phil B. for clarification on whether that was a direct quote from Manning, and I'll update once I get something back from him.
As far as the escape clause goes, I'll let 1260-AM host Derek Schultz sum that up for us:
Interesting that Manning says he wanted the clause to be in there. Must've known there was a decent chance for a third surgery months prior.
And if he knew, that must've meant that the Colts also knew. Maybe you 'parting gift' conspiracy theorists have a point.
Do I expect any other news on this situation to come from West 56th Street? Of course not. I'm sure the media guys and gals will do their job and ask the follow-up questions, but they'll be denials and circular talking, enough that it'll make your head spin.
Brittany Diehl of FOX-59 asked Manning about potentially mentoring Andrew Luck:
I asked manning about how he'd feel about mentoring andrew luck...needless to say he wouldnt elaborate.
About the answer everyone would expect.
UPDATE: From DirecTV's Red Zone Channel Host Andrew Siciliano (via Greg Cowan of Coltzilla):
Manning says deal is "1-year deal with a 4-yr extension and that was my recommendation because I wasn't healthy when I signed the contract."