Peyton Manning visited Packers training camp on Monday, and Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur asked him to address the team for what proved to be an inspiring message.
“It was great,” LaFleur said. “He addressed our team [about] the lessons he learned, especially as a young player, how to respond to adversity, the great teams he was on, his approach to the game. I thought it was super beneficial. You’re talking about one of the all-time greats.”
LaFleur said one of the most painful lessons he has learned in coaching came when he was an assistant on the Texans and sat in the press box and watched Manning and the Colts beat them in a dramatic comeback.
“I’ve had the experience as a coach going against him,” LaFleur said. “The lessons I’ve learned as a coach when you go against him you never forget. I told the team this: In 2008, I was with the Houston Texans, and we’re playing Indy, we’re up 17 late in the fourth quarter and we watch this guy bring his team back and beat us in a two-minute drive. They scored 21 points, basically, in about a five-minute span. it was a great lesson early in my coaching career that you’ve got to play until that clock says zero. I’ll never forget sitting in that press box when we’re up 27-10, thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to beat the Indianapolis Colts’ only to see it evaporate quickly. It was a tough lesson to learn but it was one of those things we all have to go through.”
There was no official word on why Manning was in Green Bay, but it appeared to be in his capacity as the owner of Omaha Productions, the production company behind a number of popular programs including the Netflix documentary Quarterback. Perhaps Manning wants Packers quarterback Jordan Love on the show for the upcoming season.
