Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported Thursday night that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been cleared to return to football.
After dealing with a series of neck problems which shelved him for the entire 2011 season, Dr. Robert Watkins (who performed Manning’s neck surgery) said that the veteran quarterback neck has progressed to the point where if the Colts were playing in the Super Bowl Manning could play.
According to one source familiar with Manning’s medical review, “It’s not a safety issue; it’s a performance issue.” This source added that Manning is “making progress.”
Manning will enter a very interesting offseason for himself since it’s not a given that the Colts bring him back. The Colts have been very vocal about drafting Stanford’s Andrew Luck with the first overall pick in April’s NFL Draft and Manning’s $28 million dollar payday in 2012 may force Indianapolis to cut ties with their franchise QB.
Ref: ESPN, CBS Sports (image)
