Peyton Manning Using Neon-Green Ball At OTAs?

The latest news tidbit out of Dove Valley is an interesting morsel. Not only is Peyton Manning not wearing his customary glove on his throwing hand, but he’s been seen throwing around a bright green ball, covered in Lycra.

Why?

Head Coach, John Fox, had this to say about it:

“We’re making an emphasis from Day 1 on ball security,” Fox said, per the Denver Post. “We started with two of our better players in Demaryius and Peyton. What better guys to start with?”

The Denver Broncos have been plagued over the last 2 seasons by the old football bug, “fumblitis”. In 2013, the team put the ball on the ground a whopping 27 times, losing a league high 16 of them, not to mention the egregious fumble to lead off the Super Bowl in Met-Life Stadium.

When asked by the media, Peyton responded:

“Like I said, that’s official Denver Broncos offensive business, right? It’s kind of an A and B conversation and you can C your way out of it,” Manning said.

The coaching staff is taking a proactive approach to this issue and it’s great to see for Broncos fans. In 2013, the Broncos set a new NFL record with 606 points. 5 different players had at least 10 TDs. Can you imagine what they could have accomplished, had they taken better care of the ball?

Hopefully we’ll find out what that looks like in 2014.