Peyton Manning refused to dress like Tiger Woods during The Match for SEC reasons

Peyton Manning was NOT about to wear Red and Black like Tiger Woods at The Match.

Even though Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson are wearing matching colors during “The Match”, Peyton Manning was not about to don the Sunday Red and Black of his golfing partner Tiger Woods. It’s a look that Woods made iconic, while those are two colors Manning hasn’t been on board with his SEC college football days in the mid-1990s.

During the telecast of the live golfing event, Manning was talking to Charles Barkley back in the Turner studios. They were talking about their SEC roots, as Barkley starred on the hardwood for the Auburn Tigers, while Manning became a legend on the gridiron for the Tennessee Volunteers.

While both schools share a common arch rival in the Alabama Crimson Tide, they also are rivals with the Georgia Bulldogs. Manning pointed out he wasn’t about to wear Red and Black to match Tiger in “The Match” because those are Georgia’s colors. He “didn’t want to get sick on the first hole.”

Peyton Manning on why he’s not dressing in his Tiger Woods Sunday best.

The last thing Manning wants is for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart to nab a picture of him golfing in Red and Black and blast in on social media. Manning and Smart played in the SEC at the same time in the mid-1990s, with Manning quarterbacking the Vols and Smart trying to pick him off in the Dawgs defensive backfield.

The rivalry between Georgia and Tennessee is intensifying in recent years. Much of this has to do with former Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt taking over the lead job in Rocky Top. Interestingly enough, Pruitt was picked to replace Smart as Alabama’s defensive coordinator when he left to coach his alma mater in 2016. Pruitt and Smart are already rivals on the recruiting trail.

As of now, Manning is the biggest brand when it comes to Tennessee recruitment. If he were to foolishly wear Red and Black, it would be like Herschel Walker wearing a bright orange polo shirt at a bowling event for charity. So you can understand for SEC East reasons why Manning wouldn’t put on a red polo and some black golfing slacks to match his partner Tiger in “The Match.”

It just means more down south, as Manning’s colors don’t run, not even in the Floridian rain.

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