‘I will kick your ass for the next 15 years’ – Peyton Manning once gave an NFL GM a legendary warning
Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning was a bit miffed after he traveled to New York in 1997 just to finish as the runner-up to Michigan’s Charles Woodson for the Heisman Trophy. It wasn’t that Peyton thought Woodson was undeserving of the award — it was that dealing with the cameras and the media, only to […]
Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning was a bit miffed after he traveled to New York in 1997 just to finish as the runner-up to Michigan’s Charles Woodson for the Heisman Trophy.
It wasn’t that Peyton thought Woodson was undeserving of the award — it was that dealing with the cameras and the media, only to finish as the runner-up, took its toll on the former Tennessee quarterback.
As a result, it made Peyton question if he wanted to return to New York for the 1998 NFL Draft.
It was that feeling that led to Peyton firing off a warning to then Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian ahead of the 1998 NFL Draft.
The Colts had the No. 1 pick in 1998, and Peyton made it clear to them during a pre-draft visit that they should select him (over Ryan Leaf).
“I was up for the Heisman Trophy and Charles Woodson won it, an incredible player,” said Manning during an interview with Pro Football Focus and Cris Collinsworth. “But I guess it wasn’t the best experience in New York — being up there and having a camera on your face and it’s sort of this live reality TV show kind of filming your disappointment. And the reason I was disappointed, I really wanted to win it for the University of Tennessee. They’ve never had one. Tennessee’s had four runner-up finishes. Never won one, so that was kind of my disappointment.
“Anyway, so now I’m going to go to the draft in April. And I really wanted to go to the Colts. It wasn’t far from Knoxville. I knew a lot about Bill Polian. There was a receiver named Marvin Harrison that I’d studied up on. I think this place has a chance to get it going. And the Colts just said, ‘Hey, we don’t know, we’re not going to tell you up until the day of the draft.’”
“So I went and visited them for a little health combine recheck about three weeks before the draft,” continued Manning. “I just kind of said, ‘Hey, listen, I want to come here. I really think there’s a good thing going here, but I’m just not into playing a lot of games. And I’m not going up to New York again and having this sort of a-ha gotcha moment and y’all take somebody else. If you’re not going to take me, I’d just like to know that in advance’. I said, ‘If you do take me, I promise you we’ll win. If you don’t take me, I will kick your ass for the next 15 years’. It was just kind of how I felt at the time. And supposedly, that’s when Bill Polian said, ‘I think we’re going to take him’. That’s what kind of convinced him that this is our guy. I didn’t plan that. It wasn’t scripted. But I guess they liked that sort of bold statement and maybe that’s why they drafted me.”
Peyton certainly delivered on his promise as he led the Colts to seven AFC South division titles and a win against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
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