Well, well. It's official: Archie Manning has changed his tune. Again.
Shortly after Archie commented -- a month ago -- that Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck playing on the same team wouldn't be ideal, for either involved, Archie tried to clarify that the remarks were simply his own beliefs and they hadn't came from some long father-to-son talk with Peyton.
Basically, it sounded as if Peyton had ripped his dad a new one for the remarks, causing Archie to backtrack and offer his form of a mea culpa.
Apparently, Archie believes it's time to talk about the future some more.
Now, a month later and less than three months before we learn the fate of his son, Archie has officially flipped the script and jumped onto the "Luck and Peyton can co-exist!" bandwagon. After an appearance at an awards show in New Orleans, Archie proclaimed, "without a doubt" that his son and Andrew Luck could co-exist if Luck is drafted, as expected.
What a surprise... Funny how people's opinions "change", isn't it?
Along with his newest Manning v. Luck declaration, Archie reconfirmed the thoughts of his son, in which Peyton admitted that he was disappointed about Bill Polian's departure. Also, according to Archie, Peyton remains committed to coming to the Colts in 2012, despite the newly initiated rebuilding phase.
Wait, what? I thought Peyton didn't talk to Archie about his future?
Strange, but not really.
We all know that Peyton speaks to his dad about the future, regardless of what Archie says. That's what a father and son are supposed to do... The Manning family is tight-knit and it would only be natural for Peyton to spitball with his paps about what the future may hold. His little brother too.
We also know that Archie has direct communication with the Luck family, as he stated, making his original comments about the two not being able to co-exist seem authentic in nature. Peyton always says the right things, so maybe Peyton was afraid of how he would be perceived in the future due to Archie's comments.
Who friggin' knows, at this point.
I'm just going to operate under the assumption that Archie knows what he's talking about when it comes to his son, even though he may sound like the occasional attention seeker.
Will the result be a happy ending for the Manning and Luck family? Let's hope so.