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Steinberg's book - details Leaf sabotaged draft to go to SD instea


YoloinOhio

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Listening to Mike & Mike this a.m. and they were talking about Leigh Steinberg's new book The Agent ...

 

http://ftw.usatoday....peyton-manning/

 

He asserts that Leaf did not want to play in Indy because he preferred the lifestyle and weather of SD. They went through with a ruse where Leaf purposely missed a meeting with Polian and Jim Mora so they wouldn't take him and he could go to SD. I started wondering how much this happens and whether there are a lot of guys who tell their agents they don't want to go to a team like Buffalo or Cleveland and the agent tells the team things or the players interview poorly with certain teams to make them not draft him.

 

Personally I don't think the Colts were ever going to take Leaf anyway, but who knows.

Edited by YoloinOhio
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According to then-Chargers-GM Bobby Beathard, the story is total hogwash.

 

He says that San Diego always preferred Manning to Leaf, and thus would never have participated in an elaborate ruse to get Leaf to fall to them.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/21/polian-beathard-dismiss-claim-that-leaf-manipulated-the-colts/

 

Not that an agent would lie...

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Something I'll always remember about EJ on draft day is he genuinely said that he was hoping the Bills would draft him, that was where he really wanted to be. Regardless of what happens with him ultimately (I am a fan of his) I feel like you don't always hear that from guys. While I think it is just Gilmore's normal face, he just looked, um, underwhelmed when he was drafted by the Bills.

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Rust belt cities always face an uphill battle on recruiting player, coaching and front office talent. Why do you think Wissenhunt turned down the chance to coach the most talented receiver in league history with a franchise QB and a top 5 DT.

What team was that?
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Rust belt cities always face an uphill battle on recruiting player, coaching and front office talent. Why do you think Wissenhunt turned down the chance to coach the most talented receiver in league history with a franchise QB and a top 5 DT.

 

Nashville offering a million more a season had nothing to do with it I guess

 

It was an easy decision, a million more to live in Nashville or a million less to live in Detroit which is basically a third world country

 

Indy was always taking Manning but I've read and heard mentioned a lot that it was a lot closer then most ppl think

Edited by Max997
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He's referring to Ken Whisenhunt's choice to coach Tennessee over Detroit...although I'm pretty sure that had more to do with the $1M/year in additional salary that the Titans were offering.

Oh - duh. I already forgot about the Lions job .... yeah he turned down a lot of talent. But he did get a much better offer $ wise and I work with someone who knows his wife well from when they were in Pitt and there was no way she was going to Detroit after being in AZ and SD.
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Nashville offering a million more a season had nothing to do with it I guess

 

It was an easy decision, a million more to live in Nashville or a million less to live in Detroit which is basically a third world country

 

Indy was always taking Manning but I've read and heard mentioned a lot that it was a lot closer then most ppl think

 

I remember reading that Manning told Polian that not drafting him would be the biggest mistake he ever made.

 

Even though Detroit has three great pieces in Calvin, Stafford, and Sun all three were signed under the old rookie cap which artificially inflated their second contracts and has left Detroit with little cap space to add depth or role players. I'm also sure that not living in Detroit played a part as well.

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According to then-Chargers-GM Bobby Beathard, the story is total hogwash.

 

He says that San Diego always preferred Manning to Leaf, and thus would never have participated in an elaborate ruse to get Leaf to fall to them.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/21/polian-beathard-dismiss-claim-that-leaf-manipulated-the-colts/

 

Not that an agent would lie...

The Chargers wouldn't have had anything to do with it.

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It's a non story. I heard Greenie trying to hang Beathard up on this and it was pitiful. Nobody on the planet thought Polian was going to pass on Manning. If Steinberg made that call to SD, he was just worried about falling out of favor with SD and falling further in the draft.

 

SO WHAT??!!

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Rust belt cities always face an uphill battle on recruiting player, coaching and front office talent. Why do you think Wissenhunt turned down the chance to coach the most talented receiver in league history with a franchise QB and a top 5 DT.

 

So that's probably why Miami and San Diego win so many Super Bowls. :nana: I think people overrate how much weather means to most the players. It's about money and the ability to win.

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Nashville offering a million more a season had nothing to do with it I guess

 

It was an easy decision, a million more to live in Nashville or a million less to live in Detroit which is basically a third world country

 

Indy was always taking Manning but I've read and heard mentioned a lot that it was a lot closer then most ppl think

 

I wouldn't move to Nashville for an extra million.

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Nashville offering a million more a season had nothing to do with it I guess

 

It was an easy decision, a million more to live in Nashville or a million less to live in Detroit which is basically a third world country

 

Indy was always taking Manning but I've read and heard mentioned a lot that it was a lot closer then most ppl think

 

FWIW (from MMQB):

5. I think if you wondered why Ken Whisenhunt took the Tennessee job instead of Detroit, remember two things: He might not have gotten the Detroit job, and Tennessee was willing to pay him a premium to accept its job Monday instead of waiting for whatever happened in Detroit. “The Lions were still involved in their process,” Whisenhunt told me, “and they felt strongly about coach [Jim] Caldwell, and Tennessee moved quickly.” That’s code for, “I had better take the job with the offer on the table.” (http://mmqb.si.com/2014/01/20/peyton-manning-richard-sherman-monday-morning-quarterback/7/)

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Something I'll always remember about EJ on draft day is he genuinely said that he was hoping the Bills would draft him, that was where he really wanted to be. Regardless of what happens with him ultimately (I am a fan of his) I feel like you don't always hear that from guys. While I think it is just Gilmore's normal face, he just looked, um, underwhelmed when he was drafted by the Bills.

 

How would you look if you just got drafted by a team that had not made the playoffs in 12 years with Dave Wannstedt as the DC?

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