Manning remembers then-49ers coach Harbaugh sneakily watching practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Peyton Manning had a fun interaction with Jim Harbaugh in the spring of 2012.
On Monday’s “Manningcast,” the former NFL quarterback told his brother Eli and Bill Belichick about the time he trained for a costumed Harbaugh.
“When the (Indianapolis) Colts let me go as a free agent, Eli, I told you this story, I was training at Duke and Jim Harbaugh and (Greg) Roman were with the 49ers, and they came to train me,” Manning explained.
After missing the entire 2011 NFL season due to a neck injury, Manning was a hot commodity on the free agent market in the spring of 2012. Then, Chief 49ers coach, Harbaugh wanted to see if Manning had fully recovered from his injury.
“But they didn’t want to tell anyone they were after me,” Manning said. “So, Harbaugh watched the entire workout from his car wearing a Bill Belichick hoodie. I was pitching and he was telling me, ‘I want to see you go back to left.’ I want to see you run away.
“The reason I didn’t want to be seen is because I wasn’t sure if (Adam) Schefter, a member of ESPN NFL, was going to be hiding in the trees, which he easily could have been…
“I had a great workout. We played exhaustion after practice and Jim wanted me to see how well he still threw the ball, but that was in 2012 at Duke University. “He was wearing a hoodie and looked like Belichick.”
While Harbaugh successfully resurrected Alex Smith’s career after arriving in San Francisco in 2011, the coach was open to the idea of replacing him with a more dynamic quarterback. Manning eventually signed with the Denver Broncos, however, and Colin Kaepernick He eventually replaced the 49ers under center and led them to Super Bowl XLVII.
Given how close san francisco wine Before winning that Super Bowl, just ask yourself what would have been if Manning had decided to sign with the 49ers.
While with Denver, the legendary signal-caller won his fifth NFL MVP award and Super Bowl 50, so he still had plenty left in the tank.
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