Denver tight end Noah Fant mentioned Tennessee Volunteers legend Peyton Manning.
Given the fact that all four of their quarterbacks have to sit out Sunday against the New Orleans Saints due to COVID, lots of wacky suggestions have been thrown out. One not-so-wacky one, though, was for former Tennessee football quarterback Peyton Manning to suit up for the franchise he finished his career with.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Denver reportedly wanted to name offensive quality control coach Rob Calabrese as their starting quarterback. Calabrese played quarterback for the UCF Knights, with his final year coming in 2012. However, the NFL denied the request.
As a result, rookie practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who comes from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, will get the start. However, that didn’t stop calls for Peyton Manning to come out of retirement. Broncos tight end Noah Fant was among those calling for that after slamming the NFL’s handling of the situation.
I’m not one to complain, but @NFL y’all can’t possibly send us into a game without a QB. The most important position to a offense. We don’t even got a back up....
— Noah Fant (@nrfant) November 29, 2020
Anybody know if Peyton Manning is busy tomorrow? Laughing but serious 🙃😳
— Noah Fant (@nrfant) November 29, 2020
After starting every game for 13 years with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning finished his career with Denver. He started every game from there from 2012 to 2014, winning league MVP and setting the single season record for passing yards and touchdowns in 2013. In 2015, after an up and down year, he was the starter in the playoffs and led the Broncos to a Super Bowl title.
Only John Elway is a more legendary quarterback in Bronco history than Manning. However, given the fact that Manning is only a year older than Tom Brady, it’s a lot less crazy to think he could come back and perform well for a game. Of course, this isn’t going to happen, but Manning may have had some years left in him when he retired anyway.
What’s clear is that the Broncos haven’t been able to find any sort of success since that 2015 Super Bowl run. Peyton Manning’s legacy is that teams go from Super Bowl contenders with him to missing the playoffs without him. If he came out of retirement to play with Denver, he could certainly help further prove that.