Manning’s the man on the Letterman show

Broncos star QB Peyton Manning is two years removed from his 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, but talk-show host David Letterman remains a die-hard Manning fan even though the quarterback has left Letterman’s hometown.

After a year off the gridiron because of a potential career-ending neck injury, the Colts released Manning in 2012. Indianapolis’ loss was Denver’s gain.

On Monday, Manning made his fourth appearance on the “Late Show With David Letterman” where he talked about his 3-year-old twins (a boy and girl), the ESPN special on the football-famed Manning family, the “Omaha” signal at the line of scrimmage and the career-threatening injury.

Here are some snippets of the conversation, according to a transcript synopsis at www.cbs.com/shows/late_show/wahoo_gazette/.

Dave raves about the ESPN special on the Manning family. (Peyton’s) dad Archie was an All-American and a legendary college and pro football player. The Manning boys, Cooper, Peyton, and Eli and were just normal rambunctious kids. The special included a lot of home movies. Peyton says he wishes there was a bit less footage of Peyton crying.

Dave asked about Peyton’s career-threatening injury that required neck surgery which resulted in nerve damage in his throwing arm. Peyton lost “awareness” of his arm. When he “wanted to throw a football here, the ball went over there.”

Manning admitted there are some throws he can longer do, but has developed other parts of his game. He likens himself to an aging, crafty baseball pitcher who can no longer throw the fastball past the hitter so has to learn other ways to get the batter out.

“What’s with the ‘Omaha Omaha!?” Letterman asks. Fans can hear Peyton bark out ‘Omaha’ when at the line of scrimmage. It is his way of signaling a new play at the line.
Manning admitted he hates how the sideline microphones can pick up what he’s yelling because other teams can pick that up and learn from it. “I’m thinking of barking out some derogatory comments about the NFL Commissioner (Roger Goodell) for everyone to hear instead of ‘Omaha Omaha.’…

Letterman and Manning finished their segments on Broadway to participate in the Late Show Quarterback Challenge (Monday night’s challenge: throw a football through an open window of a passing yellow taxi. Peyton completes two out of three, just like his NFL average. Dave was 0-for-3.

Peyton Manning got plenty of laughs and told several stories on David Letterman’s ‘The Late Show’ Monday night on CBS. (CBS/The Late Show photo)