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Caught up with Peyton Manning at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux – I asked him about new #Saints QB Derek Carr. pic.twitter.com/NsM4YgZaiu
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) June 23, 2023
It’s not every day you get to hear from a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, so when Peyton Manning steps in front of reporters it’s wise to listen. Local media had an opportunity to interview the two-time Super Bowl champ, who would have won three titles if the New Orleans Saints hadn’t taken him down in Super Bowl XLIV, at last week’s Manning Passing Academy.
And some of the questions centered on Saints quarterback Derek Carr, a fit Manning described as “a great marriage.” Manning recalled a conversation with Carr at Raiders training camp that made a strong impression on the Hall of Famer. Carr’s first question centered on a play he witnessed when his older brother David dueled Manning more than a decade earlier.
“We had this game against Houston where I had a play-action where the backside linebacker blitzed and hit me in the back. That was on me,” Manning recounted. “I should have known he was unblocked. And Derek said, ‘Oh, I remember that play. It was on the right hash. It was going in about the 25-yard line, going toward Houston’s locker room.’ I thought, ‘Why would he remember that?’ I remember that. But it tells you he’s got a special memory. He’s got great recall, which I think’s a good sign for a quarterback. He had some good questions for me.”
Manning went on to say that he’s made himself available to Carr as a resource, whether that’s taking him out to his first steak dinner in New Orleans, sharing input on the process of settling in with a new team, or offering advice on how to connect with the community. Manning added, “I get excited for these quarterbacks when they have a chance for a second chapter. It’s rejuvenating for him.”
That’s an experience Manning knows well — he finished the second leg of his pro career with the Denver Broncos, where he eventually won his long-awaited second Super Bowl ring. Maybe Carr has what it takes to bring the Saints their second title now that he’s entering that second chapter of his own.
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