With all the chatter about Colts quarterback Peyton Manning possibly pulling a Favre and trading his years of Indy equity for a fresh start in the Big Apple, his brother Eli has gotten in on the talk, too.
“It would be fun,” Eli tells WEPN-AM, via NFL.com. “We could probably commute to work maybe, and, you know, come home, eat dinner together and have the kids be playing.”
Eli then continued to have fun with the possibility of sharing a city with his sibling: “Twin beds . . . we could share notes on opponents and watch some film together.”
But then Eli, who has a chance to double his brother’s career Super Bowl wins in the House That Peyton Built, turned serious.
"[W]ould it be fun?” Eli said. “Yeah, I think it would be interesting to have your brother in the same city playing football together. I don’t think we would see each other that often, just ‘cause I . . . think our schedules would be a whole lot different, probably just talk on the phone more than see each other during the season, but, you know, it would be interesting.
“I’m not saying it’s gonna happen or I want it to happen, but to have your brother that close to you and playing in New York would be very unique.”
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Eli’s remarks is his willingness to so openly entertain something that should seem unthinkable. In this latest edition of “What Else Would You Expect Eli To Say When Asked A Direct Question?,” the safer response would have been something like, “I can’t imagine Peyton playing for anyone other than the Colts, and it’s ridiculous to try to envision him in any other uniform.”
The fact that something that gives much more credence to the possibility of Peyton leaving the Colts popped out of Eli’s mouth suggests that the Brothers Manning have been talking about a not-so-distant future that entails Peyton playing in a different city.