Manning recalls then-49ers coach Harbaugh secretly watching the practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Peyton Manning had a hilarious 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 worked for a disguised Harbaugh.
“When the [Indianapolis] Colts let me go as a free agent, Eli, I told you this story, I worked at Duke and Jim Harbaugh and [Greg] Roman was with the 49ers and they came down to work me out,” 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 49ers head coach Harbaugh wanted to see if Manning had fully recovered from his injury.
“But they wouldn’t tell anyone they were chasing me,” Manning said. “So Harbaugh watched the entire practice from his car in a Bill Belichick hoodie. I was there throwing and he said, ‘I want to see you come back to the left. I want to see you run.”
‘The reason he didn’t want to be seen is because he wasn’t sure if that was the case [ESPN NFL insider Adam] Schefter was supposed to be hiding in the trees, which he easily could have been…
“I had a great training. We were playing burnout after practice and Jim wanted to show me how well he was still throwing the ball, but that was in 2012 at Duke University. He was wearing the hoodie and looked like Belichick.
While Harbaugh successfully revived 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. However, Manning eventually signed with the Denver Broncos and Colin Kaepernick eventually took over as the 49ers under center and led them to Super Bowl XLVII.
Considering how close San Francisco came to winning that Super Bowl, it’s enough to wonder what could have happened 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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