John Fox Fires Back at Jim Irsay Over Peyton Manning Bashing
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John Fox fires back at Jim Irsay over Peyton Manning bashing By Mike Klis The Denver Post October 15, 2013 Broncos coach John Fox. Broncos coach John Fox fired back at Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on Tuesday in defense of Peyton Manning. Irsay earlier implied in an interview with USA Today that he wanted to move on from Manning’s “star wars” stats and start winning more Super Bowls. Fox, on his weekly appearance on NFL Sirius radio on Tuesday with Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan, was asked about Irsay’s comments. “I saw the comments. And to be honest with you, I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot,” Fox said. “To me, in my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate. “Peyton would never say anything. He’s too classy to do that. They sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me. For a guy who has set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won four MVP awards… be thankful of that one Super Bowl ring, because a lot of people don’t have one.” Irsay, among other quotes, said in reference to Manning’s time with the Colts: “(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these,” Irsay said. “Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.” Here’s a link to Fox’s radio interview. Broncos promote Tavarres King to 53- man roster, waive Adrian Robinson By Mike Klis The Denver Post October 15, 2013 When the Green Bay Packers tried to sign away rookie receiver Tavarres King, the Broncos' front office countered with its own play. The Broncos waived linebacker Adrian Robinson on Tuesday and added King to their 53-man roster. "It all happened so fast, it was crazy there for a while," King said Tuesday. "I didn't know if I was going to be staying here or moving up to Green Bay. But I love it here. This is where I was drafted. I want this place to be my home. Fortunately for me, I guess I got a little love back." King was one of the Broncos' two fifth-round draft picks in April, but he didn't make their season-opening, 53-man roster. The Broncos were able to sign him to their practice squad where players can be signed away to another team's 53-man roster. That's what Green Bay tried to do after it lost receivers Randall Cobb and James Jones to injury Sunday at Baltimore. Cobb will be out six to eight weeks. Jim Irsay takes classless shot at Peyton Manning By Mike Klis The Denver Post October 15, 2013 Jim Irsay is known for his interview filibusters where he can be talking about his running game one minute and running off his mouth to a non-related subject the next. But the Indianapolis Colts’ owner went too far in implying his former quarterback Peyton Manning was more about flashy statistics than winning championships. In an interview with USA Today, Irsay started off by saying nice things about Manning, the Broncos’ quarterback who will be coming back to play Indianapolis on Sunday night. But then, maybe because Manning is playing far better than anyone thought possible since Irsay released him in March 2012, the Colts owner seemed to defend his decision. “We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these,” Irsay told the paper while flicking up his right hand to show his Super Bowl XLI championship ring. That Super Bowl ring, by the way, was delivered thanks to Manning’s Super Bowl MVP performance in a driving Miami rain. “(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these,” Irsay adds. “Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated. “You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this.” Then, according to the USA Today article, Irsay flicked up his right hand again. Ah, Jim. If I was Peyton Manning, I’d tell you to take that planned pre-game tribute and fire it through the roof of the stadium. The stadium Manning essentially built, by the way, through his WINNING performances, game after game, year after year. What a low blow. And implying Brady is more of a winner than Manning? Them are fighting words, Jim. Look, everyone knows Manning has just one Super Bowl title and has a 9-11 playoff record. And he now has eight one-and-dones. But a missed field goal cost him one year. Bad defense cost him some others. A 70-yard Hail Mary cost him last year. There were several years there in Indy when the only playoff-caliber part of their roster was at quarterback. Clearly, Irsay has been listening to be people who tell him what he wants to hear. He never should have taken such a shot. Not this week. But we’ll see. First one to the Super Bowl wins, Jim. Tony Dungy: In hindsight, Jim Irsay may have kept Peyton Manning By Mike Klis The Denver Post October 15, 2013 It may have been a difficult decision on a human’s heart and soul. But the NFL is a cold-hearted, win-at-all-costs business. The decision Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay made two years ago to release Peyton Manning and draft Andrew Luck was a no-brainer as it relates to business. Manning was about to turn 36 and was coming off four neck surgeries that caused him to miss the entire 2011 season. Luck was considered the best quarterback prospect to come along since Manning in 1998. Like in 1998, the Colts had the No. 1 overall draft pick. Luck could be had for $22.1 million over four years. Manning was due to make $35 million in 2012 alone. Still, a big factor in the decision was no one thought Manning would be playing the way he is now. He has a 17-game winning streak with the Broncos. In two seasons, he has thrown 59 touchdown passes against 13 interceptions. He has been the best quarterback in the league the past two years. He’s been way better than Luck, who has played well for his youth, but no qualifier is needed with Manning. In hindsight, was the decision not quite as smart as it was then? “I can tell you it wasn’t a no-brainer,” former Colts coach Tony Dungy, who is now an NBC analyst, said on an NBC conference all Tuesday that was set up to help promote Manning’s return to Indy on Sunday night. “I was on the phone with Jim Irsay probably five or six times over a month as it was leading up to that. He knew all those factors that you just enumerated there. “But Jim also had a great deal of loyalty. Jim was a young boy when his dad traded Johnny Unitas. So he knew the ramifications of this type of decision. And he also knew how much Peyton had done for the city of Indianapolis and for that franchise. “So even for all the reasons you just stated why it should be done, I don’t think it was ever a no-brainer in his mind and I can almost guarantee you that if he knew he was going to be healthy like this and playing this kind of football, in hindsight I don’t think he would have done it.” The Colts might have drafted running back Trent Richardson or receiver Justin Blackmon with the No. 1 overall pick instead. “But with everything the way it was at that time, with Andrew being there and being available knowing the scouting report on Andrew, and the percentages of Peyton coming back and playing well at that point it was the right thing to do,” Dungy said. It’s all about the Super Bowl. If Manning wins two Super Bowls in the next three years and the Colts win none, it will have been a terrible decision. Future be darned. If Manning and the Broncos don’t win the Super Bowl and Andrew Luck and the Colts win two in the next 10 years, it will have been a great decision. Indianapolis-area students welcome Peyton Manning back with parody of “Football On Your Phone” video By Joan Niesen The Denver Post October 15, 2013 You’ve no doubt seen Peyton and Eli Manning’s “Football On Your Phone” ad for DirecTV. (If you haven’t, check it out here.) A group of Indianapolis-area students loved the video so much that they made a parody of the video to welcome Peyton back to Indianapolis. A story on ABC 7′s website gives some background into the students’ idea and includes both a video interview with the students and their video, which has more than 40,000 views as of Oct. 15. Jim Irsay says Peyton Manning told Colts to pick Andrew Luck By Joan Niesen The Denver Post October 15, 2013 In a story published Tuesday morning on USA Today’s website, Colts owner Jim Irsay tells the paper that Peyton Manning, coming off his neck surgeries, advised the team to pick quarterback Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL Draft. From the story: And Manning, at the time trying to rebound from four surgical procedures on his neck, could see the Colts’ future in Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.