Pete Carroll Actually Tried to Bring Peyton Manning to the Seahawks in 2012

Before Tom Brady’s free agent frenzy earlier this offseason that saw him end up in Tampa Bay, his adversary Peyton Manning was in a similar situation back in 2012. After being released by a depleted and rebuilding Colts team that doubted his injury recovery, the Manning sweepstakes were underway.

Before he ended up in Denver, it turns out there was a dark horse candidate that tried to bring Manning even further out west.

Per reports, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took a flight out to Denver in order to try to bring in the Sheriff himself. Whether or not he used his old recruiting tactics from his USC days is up for discussion. What is not up for discussion is how the “meeting” went.

Oh, yeah. The meeting never happened.

Manning basically stood up Carroll before eventually choosing the city that the two were supposed to meet in. How did it end for both sides? Relatively well, with all things being considered.

Manning went on to have the most prolific season in NFL history in terms of passing while in Denver, collecting two Super Bowl appearances and one victory. The other Super Bowl that Manning did not win, Denver lost at the hands of Carroll, quarterback Russell Wilson and the Legion of Boom, earning Seattle a Super Bowl XLVIII victory. If Manning ends up in the Pacific Northwest, Wilson is most likely never given a chance to thrive in Seattle, and the fate of the NFL changes forever.