Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Peyton Manning’s former teammate Brandon Stokley on Monday moved to erase doubts about the four-time MVP’s health, saying Manning is throwing like he did six years ago.
Manning threw about 50 passes to Stokley, a wideout on the Colts from 2003 to 2006, Saturday morning in Castle Rock, Colo.
“I’ll put whatever reputation I have on the line behind that guy right now. He looks great,” Stokley told The Denver Post.
Stokley said he also was impressed when he saw Manning throw at Duke University earlier this month.
“I saw him for three days at Duke and he was the only quarterback [throwing to four or five receivers], and he threw a ton of balls for three straight practices and the guy looked to me like he did when I was there [at the Colts] six years ago,” Stokley said.
Manning held meetings with the Denver Broncos andArizona Cardinals over the weekend and is set to talk with the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans this week.
The Broncos and other teams have received criticism for not watching him work out as they pursue the soon-to-be 36-year-old, given that he missed the entire 2011 season after undergoing four neck procedures in a 19-month span.
Stokley said the criticism was unfounded.
“People who say, ‘The Broncos are crazy for not watching his balls fly,’ or ‘What are they doing?’ — those people are dead wrong,” Stokley said.
The Colts released Manning earlier this month after 14 seasons in Indianapolis, opting to roll the dice on a new quarterback of the future.
The Colts, who finished a league-worst 2-14 last season in Manning’s absence, hold the first pick in April’s NFL Draft and are expected to select Stanford star quarterback Andrew Luck for the task of filling his enormous shoes.
