The Peyton Manning sweepstakes had three finalists, which meant three teams publicly identified themselves as willing to kick their quarterbacks to the curb if Manning agreed to sign. All three of those quarterbacks are doing their best to put a happy face on things.
Tim Tebow, the biggest loser in the Manning chase, says he’s happy to now be playing for Rex Ryan’s Jets. Alex Smith, who re-signed with the 49ers after Manning spurned them, says he’s not offended at all. And now Matt Hasselbeck has weighed in on the Titans’ pursuit of Manning, saying it didn’t upset him.
“There were no guarantees I was going to be back,” Hasselbeck said, via the Tennessean. “If Peyton Manning had come to Tennessee, you know, I wouldn’t be playing for the Titans next year and that would have been unfortunate in my mind. My family and I have fallen in love with Nashville.”
Hasselbeck says there are no hard feelings and he’s ready to go into the offseason competing with Jake Locker for the starting job.
“In terms of getting your feelings hurt, I guess in my career I have played with a lot of quarterbacks and part of playing quarterback is being able to be coached, being able to handle criticism well,” Hasselbeck said. “I feel good about where we are.”