Peyton Manning cleared to play: report
The Peyton Manning saga may have just gotten a lot more interesting.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback has been medically cleared to resume his National Football League career by two doctors, according to an ESPN report Thursday. The fourtime MVP missed the 2011 season because of lingering problems from a third neck surgery during the past two years.
The report said Dr. Robert Watkins, who performed the latest surgery on Manning’s neck last Sept. 8, and Colts neurosurgeon Dr. Hank Feuer had cleared Manning to play again.
Colts owner Jim Irsay said he would meet soon with Manning, who turns 36 on March 24, to discuss the quarterback’s future. Manning is due a $28-million roster bonus in early March, and Irsay wants more medical information before then in order to decide whether to keep Manning or release him.
Irsay has raised the possibility of extending the March 8 roster bonus deadline, although it is uncertain if Manning would agree to delay that date.
A Colts spokesman said Thursday night that the team would have no comment on the latest report.
If Manning is released, he would be free to sign with any NFL team. The Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets have been mentioned as potential landing spots, although Jets officials have stated publicly several times they expect Mark Sanchez will remain their starting quarterback next season.
Watkins said Dec. 1 surgery to fuse two disks in Manning’s neck had achieved a “firm fixation,” and he could increase his level of activity. Manning has since resumed throwing.
The ESPN report cited a source saying Feuer recently told Manning, “If you were my own son, I’d tell to go play.”
Manning said Tuesday in ESPN interview he was making significant progress and expected to be cleared to play in the near future.
The report said, however, Manning needs to see more improvement in nerve regeneration in his triceps, an issue that has affected the strength of his throwing arm.
The report added manning may not know until sometime around May — which would be a year after another surgical procedure on a bulging disk in his neck — whether he felt his arm would be strong enough to allow him to play at a high enough level to return.