We’ve established that Peyton Manning’s neck has recovered enough to play football again.
The question is whether the nerves in his arm will regenerate enough to allow him to play football well again. For now, Manning doesn’t have his fastball back.
“I know some of the people that have seen him throw,” Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz said Tuesday on the Tony Kornheiser Show on 980 ESPN. “They say he’s not throwing like an NFL quarterback yet. That doesn’t mean he never will. This thing is going to take time. Structurally, he’s sound. Structurally, he can take a hit.”
This is where we are in February with Peyton Manning. He can play again, but he may only be able to play like a late career Chad Pennington. Kravitz used the phrase “noodle arm” to describe Manning’s throwing. No one knows how much that will change by August.
Kravitz, who said he didn’t think Manning was being “political” when he spoke to Kravitz two weeks ago, was less generous talking about Manning’s strategy during Super Bowl week.
Kravitz called leaking the story to ESPN about Manning’s health a “calculated” and “deceptive” move by Manning that had the opposite effect of its intent.
“I think people are starting to sway over to Jim Irsay’s side on this,” Kravitz said.