DENVER — When Peyton Manning makes his weekly trips to the Broncos’ training facility, the key fob that gave him access to the building during his four seasons as the team’s star quarterback still gives him a green light to roam the halls.
“Keith Bishop never made that go away, so that was helpful,” Manning said of the team’s vice president of security. “I’m probably at the facility a couple times a week. There’s great snacks over there in the cafeterias. I don’t know if I’m being charged for those or what, but great access.”
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Manning doesn’t arrive at his former workplace, a stop he makes between sports practices for his twin kids Marshall and Mosley, just for the food. Ever since he retired in 2016, after setting numerous records and winning a Super Bowl with the Broncos, he has served as an ambassador for the team, similar to roles he takes on with the Colts and the University of Tennessee, his other famous football stops. It may not be an official, on-the-payroll gig, but it’s one he nonetheless relishes.
“I take seriously sort of that role of being an ambassador, for all the teams that I played for,” Manning told reporters Wednesday night before being honored with the Mizel Institute’s Community Enrichment Award for the work his Peyback Foundation has done in the city since he arrived as a free agent in 2012. “Living here in Denver, maybe even more so. I still feel an attachment.”
“He’s one in a million.”@CondoleezzaRice, @SeanPayton, @johnelway, @DeionSanders, Jim Nantz & more honor Peyton Manning’s impact in Colorado as he receives 2024 Community Enrichment Award from the Mizel Institute: pic.twitter.com/OBpEVWxNR9
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 23, 2024
Unsurprisingly, the part of the gig Manning enjoys most is the connection it brings him to the quarterback position. Ever since he retired, Manning has made it a point to connect with the players who have followed him as quarterback of the Broncos. He invited former second-round pick Drew Lock over to his house for lengthy film sessions after Lock’s first season as a starter. He talked football with Russell Wilson after the blockbuster trade that brought the veteran to the Broncos in 2022. He’s made himself available as a sounding board to any quarterback who has had the unenviable task of trying to restore the high level of play No. 18 achieved for the better part of his four seasons in Denver.
“It’s huge to have someone like that here who’s close to the organization,” Broncos general manager George Paton said after the draft. “I think it’s great for all of our players and everyone in the organization. He comes by all the time, and we have dinner so it’s outstanding to pick his brain. Obviously, he knows all the quarterbacks.”
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BuyOne quarterback Manning knows well is Bo Nix, Denver’s first-round pick in last month’s draft. Their relationship dates back to Nix’s time at Auburn. Nix attended the Manning family’s passing academy in Louisiana as a counselor. The two stayed in touch, Nix even reaching out to Manning when he was contemplating a transfer to Oregon. At the end of his second season with the Ducks, Nix won the same scholar-athlete award from the National Football Foundation that Manning won when he was at Tennessee, and they reunited at a banquet for the honor.
“I’m super happy for him to be here,” Manning said. “I think it’s a great fit for him. I can tell how excited Sean (Payton) is to have Bo here. … It’s the kind of system I’d like to play in.”
Manning also has a relationship with Jarrett Stidham, another former Auburn quarterback on Denver’s roster who is vying for the starting job with Nix and Zach Wilson during an offseason competition that began with this week’s first OTA practices. Stidham also attended the Manning camp and the two recently golfed together. Manning doesn’t personally know Wilson, but he texted the 24-year-old after the Broncos acquired him in a trade last month and believes that playing in a system under Payton that is “extremely quarterback-friendly” could help Wilson resurrect his career after three difficult seasons with the New York Jets.
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Whether there will be a bonafide quarterback competition is still to be determined, but if Stidham or Wilson emerge as the starter in September, he will likely be doing so only as a placeholder. Nix was drafted to be Denver’s quarterback. The only question is when he’ll be ready.
Manning indicated Wednesday that early reps are the best thing for a quarterback — even if they don’t go well. It is a stance built on experience. Manning went 3-13 as a starter in 1998 after being the No. 1 pick of the Indianapolis Colts. He threw 28 interceptions, a record for an NFL rookie that still stands.
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“If any one of these rookies wanted to break my interception record — I don’t want Bo to break it — I’d like to get that one off my resume,” he said.
The scars ultimately turned into Manning’s superpower. The Colts went 13-3 in 1999 and his Hall of Fame career was off and running.
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“There’s no way that would have happened had I not played in kind of going through those struggles and throwing those interceptions and figured out, ‘Hey, I can’t do that anymore. These guys are faster,'” Manning said. “You know, you sort of file it all away. Eli (Manning) played six games his rookie year, and he said what he learned in the six that he played was night and day compared to the 10 that he sat. So we’ll see how it all shakes out.”
Manning will find time to be there to watch. Good snacks and all.
(Top photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
