Fitzgerald: ‘I don’t know anything’ on Manning front

TEMPE – There was certainly a lot of buzz about Peyton Manning at
the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility Saturday.

But there was no Peyton Manning.

Manning, the free agent quarterback cut earlier this week by the
Indianapolis Colts, visited the Denver Broncos for approximately six
hours on Friday and reportedly spent the night in the Mile High
City. There are rumblings that Manning will next visit the Arizona
Cardinals, but nobody knows or is willing to talk about when that
pow-wow will occur.

And nobody includes Cardinals’ Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry
Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was one of several NFL players at the Cardinals’ facility
for 9th Annual Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience flag
football tournament, and either #11 is tight-lipped or doesn’t have
any knowledge of the Cards’ planned itinerary for Manning.

“I haven’t heard anything about it,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ll be
interested to see (what happens). I’m kind of picking up everything
on the ticker on ESPN and the different sports affiliations in the
country just like you guys are.”

Could it be that the Cardinals’ brass would keep their chief
recruiting tool in the dark about a possible franchise-shifting free
agent signing?

“If there is, I haven’t gotten an invite yet,” Fitzgerald said when
asked about a possible dinner meeting with Manning and team
officials. “As of this point right now, 12:08 on Saturday, I don’t
know anything.”

Fitzgerald and Manning have combined to play in three Super Bowls
and 17 Pro Bowls, so one would think the duo would have more
than a casual acquaintance. Maybe not.

“I just know him in passing. It’s not like I have his phone number or
anything like that,” he said. “If I saw him and he walked by, I’d
know who he is, and he’d probably know who I was.”

Speculation around the facility is that Manning would probably be
in for a visit Saturday after the crowd filed out from Warner’s event,
or Sunday.

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