As he approaches 40 years old, with his “last rodeo” comment to Bill Belichick recorded for history, Super Bowl 50 looks sure to be the last game of Peyton Manning‘s NFL career. A foot issue sidelined him for a significant stretch of this season, and the past neck issues that kept him off the field in 2011 have of course had lingering effects, but Manning revealed another ailment that he may be dealing with.
During his media session on Wednesday, Manning gave details of a conversation he had with one of his doctors a couple years ago. Upon being asked about the finding that Ken Stabler was suffering from CTE at the time of his death, and concerns about his own long-term health, Manning offered the following:
“Certainly when you have injuries, when you have surgeries, the doctors sometimes will mention to you, whether you ask him or not, you’re probably headed for a, you know, a hip replacement at a certain time of your life,” Manning said. “And I said ‘Doc, I didn’t ask you if I had to have a hip replacement, I didn’t need to know that here at age 37, that’s for sure.’ And I look forward to that day when I’m 52 and have a hip replacement. You know, am I going to have some potential neck procedures down the road, I don’t know the answer to that. The hip part was true, this doctor told me that. I’ve seen a lot of doctors and he was nice enough to share that information with me.”
It’s easy to assume Manning is dealing with pain in the afflicted hip, and perhaps has been for quite some time, even if he’s never been listed on an injury report with that specific issue. With all the lower body ailments that have sapped Manning’s arm strength in recent years, the possibility of a lingering hip injury is another mark in the column that says he is about to play the final game of his Hall of Fame career.
