With the man tears and lip biting out of the way, Peyton Manning bid adieu to the sunny hills of Indianapolis and began exploring his options for a new city to call home this week. Manning's camp told ESPN he aims to make a decision within the next week on where he will play next season. In the Jets' favor: he prefers to stay in the AFC. Not in the Jets favor: Mayor Bloomberg. "We have a Manning playing for the Giants," Bloomberg said on his radio show this morning, rejecting a caller's plea to help the Jets woo Peyton.
For Bloomberg, this isn't as much about Peyton Manning as it is about Mark Sanchez: “I think it’d be a great story for the press, Manning versus Manning, both playing in New York. But keep in mind the Jets have a young quarterback in Mark Sanchez, and he nearly led his team to the Super Bowl twice. So you know, let’s not dismiss [him]. He's sitting there." It's sweet that Bloomberg came to defense of Sanchize, but with his own teammates turning on him, it's hard to imagine Rex Ryan not jumping at the chance to play with the old man.
For some reason, Donald Trump gave his worthless opinion on where Peyton should play next season—the Miami Dolphins. Of course, that's only because the Dolphin's owner is his good buddy, and maybe they could get Peyton to join his golf club: “First of all [Dolphins owner] Steve Ross is a very good friend of mine. He’s a member of my club in Palm Beach and I think Peyton would be great for Miami. It would be a fantastic thing for this area.”
So far, at least 12 teams have reportedly reached out to Manning's representatives, most prominently the Jets, Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos—and Manning chose to make the Broncos his first in-person stop. Might Manning dethrown the Evangelical prince of Denver? "Masterstroke by Elway if he gets Peyton. Easiest possible way to get team out of Tebowmania. Nobody could argue this," tweeted NY Times' Judy Battista.
