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Colts quarterback Peyton Manning had his annual “PeyBack Bowl” charity fundraiser last night, and in what may be a first for an event at which an athlete raises money for charity, the media were not invited.
The reason appears to be that Manning didn’t want to be photographed wearing a brace on his injured knee.
But it didn’t work. Someone in attendance took a picture of Manning, wearing the brace, and e-mailed it to the local TV station WTHR. The station reports that Manning was not on crutches but was “taking it easy” on the knee.
It has now been five weeks since Manning had surgery to remove an infected bursa sac from the knee, and there is increasing speculation around the league that Manning — who has started every game since the Colts made him the first pick in the 1998 draft — won’t be ready to go for the regular season opener.
The Colts’ company line is that Manning’s knee is going to be fine, but then again, their company line last year was that Marvin Harrison’s knee was going to be fine, and that didn’t work out so well. Other than WTHR, the local media in Indianapolis haven’t shown much interest in reporting on the state of Manning’s knee, but eventually a serious injury to arguably the best player in the league has to become a major story.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
lol, did anyone else see the ad with the hairy feet right under Peyton?
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:24 am
The Colts have definitely entered Patriots territory in terms of not providing full disclosure about injuries…and I can’t say I blame them. It would be really unfortunate because the NFL is certainly more exciting with Peyton Manning quarterbacking the Colts as opposed to Jim Sorgi. The Colts would be wise to ensure that he’s fully healthy before putting him back out there. If it’s only a few weeks it may prevent them from getting homefield, but they’ll still be a playoff team.
He’s just lucky he’s not a member of another certain NFL team…or he might have a staph infection already…
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I think it’s actually been 4 weeks florio, stop trying to make a story whilst there is none.
What about Brady, who’s openly stated that he might not be ready for the first game.
No, cos we know he’ll play as well.
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:32 am
You did read the article right?
The brace is on his right knee, he had the bursa sac removed from his Left knee.
So your storys about ummm what?
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Favre’s Iron Man legacy is intact!!! Booyah!!
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:42 am
“… but eventually a serious injury to arguably the best player in the league has to become a major story.”
That statement assumes what it seeks to prove. How can you know it’s a “serious injury” if you admit that all you have to go on is speculation and the Colts’ predictable (but not necessarily false) response?
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:43 am
PFT keeps saying the same thing about the Colts re: Harrison’s injury last year, but as a Colts’ fan, I specifically remember Dungy and Polian being very vague as to his return and never saying ‘everything was okay, he’ll be back soon’. If you can show me some quotes or list a Bill Polian Show episode where he says something other than ‘There is no structural damage to the knee, but we can’t get the swelling down, and until we do, he can’t play’, I would appreciate it; Otherwise you’re just making stuff up as you go (I know, shocking for this website).
The Colts, btw, did the same thing with Corey Simons mysterious illness. While they weren’t giving you the play by play on his injury, they never once lied or misdirected their fans about his return.
One final note: In Peter King’s MMQB, Bill Polian practically performs the surgery [that peyton had] on King. I think if the team was attempting to be vague or evasive, they would tell me to FOADIAG, not explain the procedure and even point out that he’ll have less lubrication in his knee now.
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:53 am
That’s it? A small, blurry pic of a guy that might be Peyton Manning?
Also, surely finishing the regular season healthy > consecutive starts.
Right?
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August 19th, 2008 at 10:57 am
“…the local media in Indianapolis haven’t shown much interest in reporting on the state of Manning’s knee.”
That’s because it’s Indiana…when someone says “the knee will be fine” it is assumed that “the knee will be fine”…any further questions on the matter would simply be considered unnecessary and impolite.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
If these allegations are correct, then the Colts may go 0-1, but then again they are playing the Orton led Bears week 1, so maybe not.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am
First, there was no “serious injury”. It wasn’t an injury at all. It was an infection, which is gone. Second, there is no hiding of Manning. In fact, he is there with the Colts at their first practice in their new stadium.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/SPORTS03/808190415/1100
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Manning will miss most of the opener, but my guess is he’ll take one snap to keep his record going.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
The author of this has missed the point. Manning had surgery on his LEFT KNEE. The brace was on his RIGHT KNEE. And if you look at the picture, he is leaning on the left knee, and reports were that he was favoring the RIGHT knee all night.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I know its his event but why would he be participating if he wasnt ok to? I understand the speculation but think about it. The Colts wouldnt let him do this if he wasnt ok.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:31 am
What record is that kellyb9?
It might extend Manning’s streak but the guy with the record is probably going to put it out of reach this year playing for the Jets. Or maybe next year, when he un-retires….again
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:36 am
“The Colts have definitely entered Patriots territory in terms of not providing full disclosure about injuries…and I can’t say I blame them.”
No. I think they are very different. The Patriots won’t comment on injuries whatsoever. If a player is injured you don’t know if he has a mild sprain or lost his leg. The Colts tend to lie about the extent of their injuries of their marquee players like saying Marvin Harrison had a knee bruise and was day to day for the 11 games that he missed. I think they did something similiar with Bob Sanders in previous years. I guess they are similiar, but they are different.
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August 19th, 2008 at 11:40 am
“What about Brady, who’s openly stated that he might not be ready for the first game.”
When did this happen? He didn’t even say whether he would play against the Eagles on Friday, but now he said he might not be ready for the regular season? He pretty much illuded to that if the Bucs game on Sunday night was a real game, he probably would have played. The only mention Brady made about the regular season was that he said Belichick is smart enough to know that if he isn’t 100% of Friday that it is more important to let him rest rather than sacrificing reinjuring the foot and hurt his chances for the regular season.
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August 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
It is a riot reading some of these comments. The die hard Colts fans, take everything that is said, by any member of the organization, as absolute fact, with no chance that there could be anything other than complete truth being told.
To go back to Marvin Harrison last year, they pretended that Harrison was going to play each and every week after the injury, to mess with their up coming opponent. If you think that they actually expected him on the field every week, there is some great oceanfront property in Nebraska for you. That is smart, keep the extent of the injury in house, and let the other team prepare for a player that the Colts know isnt going to touch the field.
For this Manning injury. I havent seen pics, or videos or anything. But some of you have noted he had a brace on his right knee, and was favoring his right knee, “when he had surgery on his left”.
1) If he indeed had surgery on his left, and is wearing a brace on his right, and favoring his right, you have more to worry about than his bursa sac. If I was a Colts fan, and Manning had left knee surgery, and then was seen “limping around”, with a bad right knee, that would be cause for concern.
2) How do you know what knee he had surgery on? The Colts may have said it was his left knee, when it was really his right. No one really knows, except the Colts, Peyton, his family, and the Dr. who performed the surgery. It also goes back to this concept that the Colts are so honest and up front about everything. No team in the NFL is going to do that, it would be stoopid. By saying nothing, that means that the Bears have to prepare for Manning, and if he isnt going to play, which I doubt
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August 19th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Why do the people knit pick on Florio. You don’t like it do not read PFT. Start your own ‘RUMOR’ mill website.
We will not know about Peyton until the first game. IF he plays, my bet is on him taking the first snap or series, then he is out. If Polian is involved the is a lie.
Again, you Polain lovers are either his employee, family or on drugs.
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August 19th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
What would be the point of saying he had surgery on his left knee instead of his right? I see the point of not being honest in the Harrison situation, but I’m not seeing the benefit about which knee was sliced.
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