When the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning came to the decision to part ways, everyone knew Manning would be playing somewhere other than Indianapolis this season for the first time in his 14-year career.<\/p>\n
But, how many of those people thought that place would be Nashville, Tennessee?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll go out on a limb and say not many.<\/p>\n
Last week, we were given names of teams that had interest in Manning.\u00a0 Of course, teams like Denver, Arizona, Seattle and Kansas City, teams that desperately need help at the quarterback position, were thought to be the most likely landing spot for Manning.<\/p>\n
However, over the last couple days, a new front-runner has emerged in the Manning sweepstakes: The Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n
Tennessee may not be the sexy choice for Manning, but the choosing the Titans makes sense for several reasons.<\/p>\n
To begin, It\u2019s home.\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m aware that Peyton is originally from Louisiana.\u00a0 I don\u2019t necessarily mean \u201chome\u201d in the literal sense.\u00a0 The state of Tennessee loves Peyton Manning, especially East and Middle Tennessee.\u00a0 The Indianapolis Colts have developed a tremendous following in Knoxville over the last 10 or so years.\u00a0 Coincidence?<\/p>\n
I doubt it.<\/p>\n
I guess what I\u2019m saying here in a round-about way is that Manning is Tennessee\u2019s favorite son.\u00a0 Any other quarterback that started all four years at Tennessee and never beat Florida would likely be met with at least some animosity.\u00a0 But not Peyton.<\/p>\n
So, If Peyton decided on the Titans, he\u2019d be welcomed with open-arms.\u00a0 Big deal, you say, he\u2019d be welcomed anywhere.\u00a0 This is true.\u00a0 But, Tennessee also provides him with an opportunity that no other viable location does.<\/p>\n
The chance to play the Colts twice each season.<\/p>\n
Those who know Peyton, and even those who don\u2019t know him so well, are aware of Peyton\u2019s competitive nature.\u00a0 If you think the opportunity to spank the Colts twice a year won\u2019t factor into his decision, I\u2019d say you\u2019re being naive.<\/p>\n
Couple the ideal location for a return with the complement of weapons Tennessee provides for Manning\u2019s usage, and you have the perfect situation. Chris Johnson gives Manning the great running back he\u2019s never had. As for his receiving corps, I\u2019ve seen Manning do more with less than Kenny Britt, Nate Washington, Damian Williams and Jared Cook.\u00a0 Britt is the only Pro-Bowl caliber player on that list, but Manning does this thing where he makes all the people around him look really good.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, the Titans boast one of the best offensive lines in football.\u00a0 They allowed the second-fewest sacks and hits on the quarterback in 2011.\u00a0 The line is anchored by three-time all-pro Michael Roos at left tackle, who sounds like the perfect guy to watch Manning\u2019s blind side.<\/p>\n
So, start with a great location, add an ultra-competitive guy looking to prove everybody wrong and supplement that with a solid supporting cast and what do you get?<\/p>\n
Bud Adams is hoping the answer to that question is a Super Bowl.\u00a0 Adams did say he\u2019s willing to pay anything to have Peyton in Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Well, Mr. Adams, time to put your money where your mouth is and bring Peyton home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning came to the decision to part ways, everyone knew Manning would be playing somewhere other than Indianapolis this season for the first time in his 14-year career. But, how many of those people thought that place would be Nashville, Tennessee? I\u2019ll go out on a limb and say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3UALm-5927","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.volnation.com\/volsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}