Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has been famous over the years for pranking teammates in various ways. Why should his current teammates get any slack when faced with his prank prowess?
On Wednesday night, after working out with his revamped wide receiver corps that received an infusion of Wes Welker in the slot, Manning targeted Eric Decker at a dinner with an elaborate scheme that had the wide-out scratching his head at first.
Decker was handed a Duke football invoice for the complete bill for the workout of Broncos players as he tweeted on Wednesday:
Nice little practical joke Peyton drew up … making me think I have to pay for workouts in Duke t/week @mortreport twitter.com/EricDecker87/s…
— Eric Decker (@EricDecker87) April 11, 2013
This was a great prank, but leaves a lot to be desired about the way Manning has forgotten basic math, as the bill was $100 short of what the tally actually states. The bill even included a comp for airport shuttle and $20 a session for equipment cleaning.
It is good to see Manning, Welker, Decker, Demaryius Thomas and the others able to get along and have a little fun in the process. Manning is a stickler for detail, and takes his job very seriously, but one thing you can never say is that he does not have balance in his life. Pranking Decker will go a long way to bringing this team together when the season begins.
What Manning has to remember, though, is as the season progresses, he might want to edge away from becoming the machine he typically is. Maybe bring this type of lightheartedness into the mix in order to relax and make a solid run in 2013.
The 2012 Broncos looked rigid, to say the least, and could have used something such as this to break the cycle of repetition and monotony of a grinding NFL season.
Craig Moir is a Denver Broncos writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmoir727. “Like” him on Facebook at CraigMoirRants and add him to your network on Google+