Peyton Manning Shocks At Practice With Running Abilities, Teammates Say He Looks Far From Retirement
Peyton Manning shocked everyone at the Denver Broncos practice on Monday when he showed off his fancy footwork, doing his best impression of Michael Vick with a nifty scamper.
The run had everyone on the sideline looking shocked, as clearly the 39-year-old Manning is not used to picking up yardage with his feet. CBS Sports shared a picture of the reactions Manning got.
Reactions to Peyton Manning running the ball? Priceless. (pic via @Broncos) pic.twitter.com/AQAC3tqLaB
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 8, 2015
The run could be a reaction to some harsh words Peyton’s chief rival, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who said in an email that leaked last week that Manning appears to be near the end of his career.
“I’ve got another 7 or 8 years. He has 2. That’s the final chapter. Game on”
There were rumors this offseason that Manning could be considering retirement. The Broncos even gave him a few weeks to make his decision before Peyton ultimately came back, saying he was excited to start playing for new coach Gary Kubiak.
Publicly, Brady has said he would like to see Manning on the field a lot longer.
Brady asked about what he thinks Manning will do. “I certainly hope he’s back.” Brady said the game would miss Peyton if he left.
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) January 29, 2015
Brady himself showed off some uncharacteristic running ability, scampering for a 60-yard touchdown at the team’s practice last week.
Coming off an injury that hampered him much of last season, Peyton Manning has been looking sharp and showing few lingering effects during training camp so far.
He recently got some accolades from wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who said that Manning looks to be nowhere near retirement.
“He’s smiling. I feel like he’s good. I don’t know with the arm strength because I know I haven’t caught a lot. I don’t know if you all are going to believe what I say, but I think it’s a little more zip on it,” Thomas said after practice last Thursday. “I don’t know how he can do that. He’s an older guy—one of the oldest guys on the team—but I feel like every year around this time, there’s almost more zip on his ball. You can notice it. He threw a couple posts today, probably 50, 60 yards, and I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ It’s making me excited.”
It seems his running isn’t the only thing shocking about Peyton Manning.
[Image via Getty Images]
