Whether he's peddling a number of products on TV, busting out the comedy as a *Saturday Night Live* host or a featured roaster on Comedy Central, or diving into the acting world as a special guest star on *Modern Family*, Manning continues to be one of the more sought-after stars of the celebrity world.
Oh, and there was also this "throwing touchdowns and winning Super Bowls and league MVPs" thing he used to do, too.
So common sense would say that Manning would also be a hit in the broadcast booth, too, right?
That was a topic of conversation this week on the NFL Network's Good Morning Football, where hosts Kay Adams, Nate Burleson, Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt wondered which big-name NFL player could be the next big-time TV football analyst.
The talk stemmed, of course, from this week's news out of Dallas, where longtime Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo announced he was stepping away from his NFL playing career to pursue a career as a broadcaster. In fact, Romo is going to be diving head-first as CBS' lead NFL game analyst on Sunday afternoons as well as on Thursday Night Football, replacing Phil Simms.
So will Manning follow Romo's lead into the booth?
Not exactly, Sports Business Journal's John Ourand told the Good Morning Football folks.
According to Ourand, at this time, Manning seems more interested in eventually getting back into football on the team side, and doesn't appear set to be a consistent on-camera presence anytime soon.
"I haven't actually talked to Peyton about this," Ourand said, "but people that are close to him say that he has no interest in being a sports broadcaster."
Manning, Ourand continued, might instead want to follow the path of another big-name quarterback: John Elway, who has become a very successful player personnel executive as general manager of the Denver Broncos.
"What he's looking at is more of what John Elway did, and try to get back in the game on the other side — the business side," Ourand said of Manning. "But he has little interest in traveling every Sunday; he has little interest in going into work every Sunday maybe to do a studio show."
Manning's name had actually been thrown around in January as a possible general manager candidate as Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay considered parting ways with Ryan Grigson. But after announcing Grigson's firing on Jan. 21, Irsay quickly extinguished any rumors of a Colts-Manning reunion — just yet.
"There were never any serious negotiations or anything like that for him coming in to be general manager," Irsay said. "I would welcome the opportunity for him and I to talk about that possibility someday that he would play some role in our organization."
Irsay, who remains very close with Manning — Indianapolis' greatest player — said No. 18 is "enjoying retirement, enjoying the chance to not be downed into a schedule and that sort of thing."
Manning himself said in November that he was taking last fall "to breathe and take a little pause and kind of enjoy being a football fan."
"I enjoyed watching the game and pull hard for the Giants obviously, enjoy watching Eli (Manning) play. I have been back to a number of Tennessee games so shockingly football has been a big part of my fall," Manning said in a press conference at the Colts' Super Bowl XLI 10th anniversary reunion ceremony. "I have been able to do some things that I haven't been able to do in 25 years in the fall so I think that is the best thing that I did."
He said he'll continue to follow some recent advice from his former head coach, Tony Dungy.
"He said, 'Don't sign up for something right away; take a little time, take a little pause,'" Manning recalled. "Jeff (Saturday) and I have talked about it, Reggie (Wayne) and I have talked about it, so I am really kind of enjoying it."
The analysis from those producing content on Colts.com does not necessarily represent the thoughts of the Indianapolis Colts organization. Any conjecture, analysis or opinions formed by Colts.com content creators is not based on inside knowledge gained from team officials, players or staff.
