As has been widely reported, free agent quarterback Peyton Manning met with Denver Broncos brass this afternoon at Duke's football facilities.
Manning has regularly worked out and rehabbed at Duke since his neck surgery, working with Blue Devil head football coach David Cutcliffe who was Manning's offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Tennessee.
Those meeting with Manning today included Bronco executives John Elway and head coach John Fox.
Chronicle reporters staked out the practice facilities this afternoon, tweeting updates from the account @ChronicleSports. At 4:01 p.m. we wrote on the account, "Elway, Fox, Manning and Co are leaving now. Manning did not throw a pass today. Odd development."
Only minutes later, at 4:34 p.m., Elway tweeted on his account @johnelway, "We enjoyed visiting with Peyton today in N.C. He threw the ball great and looked very comfortable out there."
Since then, Cutcliffe has appeared on ESPN's NFL32 saying Manning threw about 60 balls today after throwing around 95 yesterday. Cutcliffe said he has been monitoring Manning's progress closely, saying he has kept him on a "pitch count" and agreed with Elway's tweet about how well Manning is throwing the ball.
Although the Chronicle regrets erroneously tweeting that Manning did not throw a pass, below is the Chronicle's official timeline of today's events. We originally had believed that he did not work out because of the way the timeline unfolded, given the short period of time he was at the actual workout facility with Fox and Elway. According to our account of today's events, that was only about 16 minutes--from 1:49 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.
All times are approximate, give or take a few minutes on either end, according to our three reporters on the scene.
1:15 p.m.: Private plane carrying Fox and Elway arrives at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
1:25 p.m.: Cutcliffe and two athletes arrive at the practice facility. The players appeared to be Cooper Helfet and Austin Kelly. Helfet, a tight end, was a senior on this year's Duke team while Kelly was a senior wide receiver on last year's squad.
1:49 p.m.: A white van and Cadillac Escalade entered the facilities. This caravan marked the arrival of Fox, Elway and the Broncos brass.
2:05 p.m.: Manning and others moved from the indoor practice facility to another building across the practice field in which he continued to meet with members of the Broncos. Inside this building, however, there is not a practice field and Manning was not with the receivers.
2:14 p.m.: The players believed to be Helfet and Kelly gathered around at the outdoor practice field. They had been in the adjacent indoor practice field, presumably with Manning.
2:22 p.m.: Cutcliffe drives out of the practice facility, driving three others, none of whom were Manning.
4:00 p.m.: The white van leaves the practice facility, presumably with Manning, Fox and Elway.
4:34 p.m.: Elway tweets about Manning throwing.
6:20 p.m.: Cutcliffe appears on NFL32 discussing Manning's progress and the workout.
According to all the parties involved--Cutcliffe and Elway--Manning threw today, refuting our earlier tweet. Our instincts, however, stemmed from the fact that there was a small window of time in which all of Manning, Cutcliffe, the receivers and the Broncos brass were inside the practice facility together.
It is possible the Bronco staff did not observe his entire workout and not all 60 throws. But anything that did occur in terms of Manning performing in front of them was brief in time based on a knowledge of where they were and when.
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