As far as all-time great quarterbacks go, there's just no way you can leave Peyton Manning off that list. The Hall of Famer has also done a fantastic job as a broadcaster now that he's taken a new career post-retirement.
According to Manning himself, however, the one thing he just doesn't see himself doing is becoming a coach. The 46-year-old has a bunch of sixth graders to thank for this harsh realization.
Speaking on the Colin Cowherd Podcast earlier this week, Manning explained how this came to be (h/t Tyler Greenwalt of Yahoo Sports):
“I'm the offensive coordinator on my son Marshall's sixth-grade football team. We got beat in overtime on Saturday and a couple of my players asked me why I ran the ball so much in the red zone,” Manning said. “So, I think coaching in my future is also out because hearing that from a couple of sixth graders is tough. Hearing that from a 32-year-old wide receiver or quarterback, ‘Hey I haven't gotten the ball. What are you doing?' I think that's out.”
That's hilarious. I can imagine how a bunch of young kids berated Manning after a tough loss. Clearly, Peyton Manning did not take it too well, and it confirmed his belief that there's just no future for him in the world of coaching.
Manning also admitted, though, that this isn't exactly a new realization for him. He's actually known for a long time that he's a much better quarterback than he is a coach:
“I didn't think I'd be a very good coach,” Manning continued. “I was good at calling plays when I was playing quarterback. I'm not very good when other people are playing quarterback, hence my sixth-grade offensive coordinator job so far. Every time Jim Sorgi or Brock Osweiler went in, sometimes they let me call plays in the preseason and I sucked at it. Three-and-out everything single time. So I learned I didn't want to do that.
“I kind of learned what I did not want to do [during that year] and I just kind of found different things along the way that popped up because I didn't jump into something right away. Now I get to do two shows with each of my brothers.”
The good news for Peyton Manning is that he's proven to be quite an excellent broadcaster for ESPN. At least he has this going for him. The same cannot be said, however, about his coaching skills.
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