Manning Had Fourth Neck Surgery, Clandestine Practice

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If you like football, conspiracy theories, and/or public urination matches, then the unfolding saga of Peyton Manning’s neck is right up your alley.  We all know that three neck surgeries robbed one of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks of his 2011 season, and we’re finding out that owner Jim Irsay may just be a real pip, but SI.com today dropped a Blue and White bombshell.   According to their “NFL sources,”  the spinal fusion surgery that Manning underwent in September was his fourth procedure, not his third.   Apparently, between May and the opening bell of the season, he had some bone spurs cleaned out, and he may be in line for more surgeries down the road.

Undaunted by his physical problems, SI tells us, Manning pushed hard, really hard, to get back on the field in the final weeks of the season.   He even staged an accelerated walk-through practice that saw him lining up with the likes of Jeff Saturday and Joseph Addai, among others.  In the end, team physician Hand Feuer wouldn’t clear him to play, and Manning had to continue watching from the sidelines.   Complicit in the workout were Jim Caldwell, Bill Polian, and Clyde Christensen.

I’ll bet that Irsay wasn’t too upset by Feuer’s pronouncement.