Only a few days before Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis, Colts owner Jim Irsay can’t seem to keep his mouth shut. Earlier this week, it came out that Manning told Irsay to draft Andrew Luck, then Irsay added that the Colts moved away from Manning because championships were more important than individual stats. Now, Irsay had more to say.
According to Pro Football Talk, Irsay is backtracking on his previous comments about Manning, via a few Twitter posts:
"My comments meant if we gave Peyton better SP Teams n Def,we would have won more than 1 Sup/Bowl,instead of asking Peyton 2do too muchIt’s hard 2C how any individual could understand them any other way,but CONTRO sells so I understand the games “Let’s get something started”"
While building a better team around Manning would have certainly helped the Indianapolis Colts win more than the one Super Bowl they won with Manning, no one seemed to interpret Irsay’s previous comments this way. Certainly, Denver head coach John Fox didn’t, according to an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio:
"I saw the comments and to be honest with you I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot. To me, in my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate. I mean, Peyton would never say anything. He’s too classy to do that. But they sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me for a guy that has set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won division titles, won four MVP awards. I’d be thankful with that one Super Bowl ring because there’s a lot of people that don’t have one."
Perhaps this misinterpretation is part of why Irsay said earlier today that his comments have been twisted by those with “negative agendas.” However he wants to spin it, Irsay is absolutely right about one thing: “Controversy sells.”