Ever since the Rams returned to Los Angeles there have been rumors about the team acquiring a star or stars in order to win the all important front page battle. At one point the Rams were going to bring in Adrian Peterson to play alongside Todd Gurley and Peyton Manning was going to play one more season after winning his second Super Bowl.
The Rams were going to trade for Coach Sean Payton and when that failed they were going to drive a dump truck full of money to whatever Hooters Jon Gruden was hanging out in so he can coach the team. Tony Romo was going to be traded to Los Angeles even though Houston and Denver were more likely Super Bowl teams, he couldn’t ignore the appeal of playing with a first year head coach and throwing bubble screens to Tavon Austin.
Considering the Rams don’t have an honest to goodness star on their roster unless Todd Gurley’s Carl’s Jr commercials matter, its understandable that rumors will fly and people will convince themselves that by virtue of the Rams being in Los Angeles they will attract whoever they want. Peyton Manning is yet the subject of another rumor this time concerning a possible front office role.
On the surface there’s a lot of smoke to this fire. Manning has openly expressed a desire to follow in the footsteps of his hero John Elway and have a prominent role in the front office of an NFL team.
Elway successfully built a team that won a Super Bowl despite the fact that Peyton Manning’s arm was amputated during the season. John Lynch was hired by the 49ers to be their GM despite having zero experience in the front office and Manning would be the next step in that trend.
Its possible that if he were to join the front office that he wouldn’t be given the keys all at once as Manning is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know and would want time to immerse himself before making a Phil Jackson level blunder of things.
The 49ers hiring Lynch is still the canary in the coal mine as far as how little experience a player needs to succeed in an executive role so Manning might want to see how it plays out. Elway didn’t just call Pat Bowlen on the the phone and ask for the job. He had to prove he was serious about it and had to own an Arena Football team in order to get a feel for the day to day tasks of management.
Give it Time. I'm told Rams Owner Stan Kroenke very interested in Peyton Manning taking on John Elway type role in LA.
— Chad Forbes (@NFLDraftBites) April 14, 2017
Lynch was seen as a great by virtue of both having played the game and because he went to Stanford and therefore is inherently smart. That could all blow up in his face if he whiffs on the draft or makes some colossally stupid free agent signings so he’s still in the honeymoon period. Peyton did visit the team earlier this year presumably to check out Jared Goff and ask the Rams if his selection wasn’t a prank.
But seriously, its possible that Kroenke wanted to gauge Peyton’s interest and while that doesn’t mean Les Snead should start posting his resume on Indeed, it could just mean Manning will have a role in the player personnel department. Manning has always been regarded as being highly intelligent and puts a lot of thought into the game of football.
It isn’t clear yet if that would translate to talent evaluation because greatness as a player doesn’t necessarily lend itself to knowing how to actually build a great team, just ask Michael Jordan. In a perfect world Manning would want to run and even be a part owner of the Tennessee Titans because that’s the state he calls home.
Until then, if Peyton Manning wants to work in the player personnel department with the Rams and eventually take on a more substantial role that’s perfectly fine. He might help build an offense that will put fans in seats and maybe even a banner on the ceiling. If nothing else it would definitely win the headline war.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
