Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians, Peyton Manning’s first NFL quarterbacks coach, called Manning a “piranha” when it came to preparation and said Manning’s desire to acquire as much information as possible helped him become one of the best quarterbacks who ever played.
Manning’s retirement was announced Sunday.
“I could never get him enough information, whether it was about our opponent or our game plan or anything else,” Arians said. “We had him in for a pre-draft interview in ’98 and he had a notebook full of questions for us including one about Indiana tax code. I remember thinking, ‘who interviewed who here?’”
Some thoughts on Manning’s career from Arians were tweeted Sunday by Cardinals vice president of media relations Mark Dalton. Arians was the Colts quarterbacks coach from 1998-2000 before leaving for his first NFL offensive coordinator job with the Browns.
“He’s an absolutely tireless worker on the fundamentals and one of the best practical jokers in the world,” Arians said. “I was proud to have him as a quarterback but I’m more proud to have him as a good friend.”
