Polian disputes Lombardi report
Bill Polian says Peyton Manning can throw the ball and will return to play at a high level:
"It's marked (improvement) from where he was back in September," Polian said. "He threw it accurately, he threw it with a good, tight spiral, and he threw it with velocity.
"Generally, he looked like a pretty confident quarterback out there."
Polian also indicated that Manning was able to make a variety of throws and throw across his body.
Guess you could say he's not buying into either Bob Kravitz's report that Peyton Manning was sporting a "noodle arm" nor Michael Lombardi's claim that Manning can't throw with velocity nor across his body.
There is absolutely no reconciling Polian's report with anything anyone else has said about this situation. His report is 100% totally the opposite of what I've been told and what others have reported.
@Nate Dunlevy Did Kravitz actually see Manning throw? Because this Polian report is at least first hand, while Lombardi's was a second hand report from sources, and depending who the sources are and who they work for, might not be totally reliable.
@dmstorm22 @Nate Dunlevy Kravitz put in his blog today that the "noodle arm" comment was just his attempt at humor. He said he heard Manning was throwing "OK".
http://blogs.indystar.com/kravitz/2012/02/10/on-noodle-arms-and-noodle-brains/
The noodle arm comment is not what any of this is based on. It's one thing Kravitz said. It's far far far from the only or even the most important piece of information in the puzzle.@kc6624 @dmstorm22
@kc6624@dmstorm22@Nate Dunlevy So we have Kravitz saying he totally made up "noodle arm" to be flip, yet that's the comment everyone has seized on and treated as gospel. And I am curious as to who Nate's sources are. Polian at least has seen Manning throw and all the others seem to be secondhand reports from people saying what they heard. It's only February and Manning still has enough time to get 100% healthy if that is going to happen.
@Nate Dunlevy I keep recalling the report I've linked below where Addai said his short game was good enough to play in the NFL. And that was Dec. 21st. That's another report that is more on the side of Peyton is improving.
http://tracking.si.com/2011/12/21/joseph-addai-peyton-mannings-short-throws-good-enough-to-play/
@EconolineVan I know several people who directly disputed that report and said he was more like 40-60% at best. The workout was so bad the doctors shut him down after it. Polian is talking about a different workout. The Addai report has been pretty thoroughly dismissed.
I take it then that you think Polian is lying? What would his rational be for doing so? Maybe to stick it to Irsay? That's plausable I guess.
1 Like
@JasonLeeJason No I don't think he's lying. I don't know who is lying or why. Someone is not telling the truth though. I don't think you can reconcile all these reports. That's all I'm saying.
I don't know what to believe any more.
It was an interesting interview.
Polian said that the last time he talked to Peyton was 10 days ago.
Does anyone else think it's odd that the old GM knows more about Peyton's progress, and apparently has talked more frequently with Peyton than the new GM?
@kc6624 If you read Kuharsky much on the ESPN AFC South blog, you'll note he has a theory that anytime the media stories are going "against" Peyton, Peyton shows up in some format or another to "reset the conversation." (check his Nov 3rd blog if you want to see what I'm referring to) Sometimes he does this himself. Sometimes, I think he uses his agent (as I suspect in the recent "medically cleared" story. Perhaps Polian is just another evolution in his ability to try and reset the conversation. I think the noodle arm / can't throw left conversation gained steam for a couple of days, and it needed to be "reset." Enter Bill with his comments. I don't think Bill knows any more about his condition than Grigson or Irsay. But, I'm sure there is some residual relationship between Bill and Peyton, and maybe Peyton is calling in some chips here. I'm sure the recently fired Polian wouldn't mind helping him out. ;) Pure conjecture on my part.
2 Like
I believe Polian more than Lombardi and Kravitz combined, but I believe my own belief that there is no point in believing anything anyone is saying until Manning is throwing or not throwing come September 2012.
