As Peyton Manning gets far closer to the end of his career than the beginning of it, he’s spending some time with a couple of icons who soon be doing what Manning will be doing, sooner rather than later.
Manning has traveled to New York, site of his Super Bowl XLVIII blowout loss (sort of), for a Sunday visit to Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium and a Monday visit to David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
“I came to see Derek play,” Manning said Sunday, via Kieran Darcy of ESPNNewYork.com. “Derek and I have been friends -- he’s a couple years older than me, but we’ve been pretty much professionals at the same time. So I wanted to pay my respects and see him play for the last time.”
On Monday, Manning will visit someone who’s a couple decades (actually, three) older than Manning.
“I’m doing Letterman tomorrow night, so I’m paying my respects to him, who’s also retiring,” Manning said. “I’m sad to see some of these guys retiring. I’m not far behind.”
So when will Manning call it quits?
“As long as I’m still enjoying the preparation part of it, as long as I can still produce and help a team -- I don’t want to just be out there hanging on -- then I’m gonna keep doing it. . . . I hope I know when the right time is.”
If he doesn’t, the Broncos will let him know by dumping his $18 million annual salary -- and the rest of the NFL will let him know by not offering him anything close to that amount.