Unsaddled
Still unsigned Manning ponders start of Colts career
Posted: Tuesday July 21, 1998 02:27 AM
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Manning plans to live in Tennessee when he's not playing football, and he will be a commercial spokesman for First Tennessee Bank Craig Melvin/Allsport |
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Peyton Manning said Monday he doesn't know yet
when he will be playing for the Indianapolis Colts since
there is a chance he won't reach a deal before training camp opens
Thursday.
"Obviously I would like to [have a contract by then]," Manning said after
announcing an endorsement deal with Tennessee's largest bank. "But there is
a chance [there won't be]. No question about it."
He said the Colts have made an offer and he and his agent Tom Conlon have
made a counteroffer. He wouldn't reveal details.
"Like I said all along, I hope it gets done. But it is an important
decision and it is one that needs to be done right," the former University
of Tennessee quarterback said.
"People don't understand. It is not a one-year deal. It is a long-term
deal. ... I have waited 22 years to get to this point."
Delays raise the specter of a holdout and possible repercussions for a
rookie quarterback pegged as the next starter.
"That is something that you just can't worry about," he said. "Once the
deal is completed, you go in there and you pick up where you left off and
work really hard. And I think I will be ready when the time comes."
Manning said he has absorbed as much as the Colts have thrown at him.
"Everything they have taught me I feel like I know it well."
What he does know is where he'll be in the offseason.
Manning said he will live in Tennessee when he's not playing football, and
he will be a commercial spokesman for First Tennessee Bank, Tennessee's
largest bank.
The New Orleans native said he will make Tennessee his "principal
residence" in the off-season. Specifically, he has a lot picked out in the
planned "Thunder Farms" development in Ooltewah near Chattanooga.
Chattanooga businessman John "Thunder" Thornton is behind the venture. A
big Tennessee booster, Thornton once paid $1 million to run with the
players through the "T" formed by the marching band in Neyland Stadium.
First Tennessee, a Memphis-based bank with $16 billion in assets, tabbed
Manning to promote its products and public service activities, including a
"Lesson Line" service for schools that lets students get their homework
assignments by phone.
Manning said he has banked with First Tennessee ever since he arrived on
campus as a freshman.
"First Tennessee really treated me with respect and consideration then and
continues to do that," he said. "Obviously, things have changed financially
for me now, and I will need a lot more advice and a lot more products."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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