NFL Odds – Which Sunset Will Manning Ride Into?

In a tear-filled press conference on Monday, Peyton Manning confirmed what we all expected ever since he trotted off the field in Santa Clara in search of Budweiser: his playing days have finally come to an end. Since his announcement, an endless parade of players have paid their respects to one of the game’s greatest. (One angry DeAngelo Williams also got in on the action.)

I’d feel left out if I didn’t get to wax poetic on Manning, especially since I got to see his mastery in person once. Back in 2009, a group of us travelled to Indy to see what we thought might be one of the last Manning-Brady battles. (Little did we know there would be six more.) But this one was special. As you may remember, the Patriots held a 34-21 lead late in that game and, after a Manning interception, the fair weather Colt fans headed for the exits.

Thankfully, we were of the mindset that watching Manning live was a privilege, and we would squeeze every last second out of the experience. And we were lucky we did. Manning rallied the Colts back to win, 35-34, thanks to an infamous call to go for it on 4th-and-2 from Bill Belichick (a call he would’ve never made if he were playing any other quarterback).

Thank you, Peyton Manning, for treating me to the best game I’ve ever seen live and for the years of unbelievable quarterback play that came before and after.

What will you do for an encore? Well here are some early odds on what retirement might hold for “the Sheriff.”

Peyton Manning Retirement Odds

Where will Peyton Manning be in Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season?

• Broadcast booth: 6/5
• Broadcast studio: 7/4
• The NY Giants game: 9/1
• Working for a non-media company: 16/1
• Assistant coach for an NFL team: 25/1
• Hunting or fishing: 60/1
• FIELD: 40/1

Manning’s charisma is a big reason he’s been the NFL’s darling for so long. Having studied the game of football perhaps more than anyone else who ever laced up cleats, Manning would be able to give unique insights as a color commentator. The one thing that seems pretty consensus is that Manning was such a hands-on guy, he wouldn’t be able to sit back and be a coach at this level.

Should Peyton Manning go into broadcasting in 2016, for which network will he work?

• CBS: 3/1
• ESPN/ABC: 7/2
• Fox: 13/3
• NBC: 11/2
• NFL Network: 8/1
• Field: 12/1

It seems like an open race for who will court Manning’s services as a broadcaster, but CBS might provide the cushiest option. After Phil Simms was almost universally panned this year, is it really so crazy to think Manning could join the CBS lead pair and do a better job in his first year? Of course, Jim Nantz has such a man-crush on Manning, he might not be able to focus on his part of the job.

(Photo Credit: Arnie Papp (Originally uploaded to Flickr)[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/].)