Former Broncos QB Peyton Manning has disappointed an entire nation, telling media Thursday that he will not be running for Congress in Tennessee (or his adopted home state of Colorado) anytime soon.
Tennessee’s Bob Corker says he won’t run for re-election, and Manning’s name immediately came up as a suitable replacement. After all, how could Tennessee turn down the popular, wholesome, future NFL Hall-of-Famer as their representative in Congress? He’s even somewhat Republican; Manning has attended Republican fundraisers in the past, and took in a round of golf with President Donald Trump just last summer.
But, sadly, the Bronco told a radio station this morning that he’s just not interested.
“Zero consideration. It’s funny. I said this a while back. Somebody said I was going to go run a team,” Manning said on WGFX’s morning program. “Somebody said I was going to go be a broadcaster. Now they’re saying I might be a senator. Next week I’m going to be an astronaut.”
“Look, I certainly have an interest in politics and in our country. I just have zero interest in being a politician.”
In fairness, Manning would probably make a much better Senator than astronaut, but both are out of the question, he says, so long as he’s making money in the private sector, as the pitch man for Nationwide insurance, and operating a chain of Papa John’s pizza restaurants across Colorado (which he opened, conveniently, just as the state legalized recreational marijuana).
He also lives far from where he went to college, and his family is mostly in Louisiana.
“I really enjoy right now selling pizza and insurance,’’ he said. “I am a volunteer assistant on my son’s … football team. I’m trying to get a few pass plays in our offense right now … we only have running plays. I told the coach I cannot be involved with a team that has no pass plays.’’
But he did leave the “political option” open for when things slow down in his personal life, and ESPN guessed Thursday morning that Corker’s retirement wouldn’t be the last opportunity for Manning to enter the game, so to speak. In fact, he and Corker regularly text each other, according to an interview the Senator gave to the Washington Post, and Corker promised to keep pushing Manning to serve his state in ways other than winning Super Bowls.
“Is there a chance down the road that he can be enticed to run for the United States Senate or something like that? I hope so,” Corker said.
