The NFL Network's Jeff Darlington tweeted this morning that "Peyton Manning personally contacted Dolphins on Thursday to advise them he wouldn't be signing with Miami," according to "multiple sources."
As is the case with so many breaking sports stories, we have no idea who these sources are or if their information will hold up. But if it's true, the glorious sports lobbying effort that is the "Manning to Miami" billboard will be coming down, according to one of the men who put it up.
Stuart businessman Will Casino was one of several people to found ManningToMiami.com last month; he told the Pulp this morning that, while Manning's rejection of the Dolphins is "not official just yet," the group was considering changing the message on the billboard.
"Of course we wanted Manning to come to the Dolphins, but if he didn't, we can't say that it was unexpected," Casino said. "We were actually thinking of just putting up a thank you as well, just to show our appreciation for all the support that's been given."
He said it would have been nice for the struggling South Florida NFL franchise to snag the Pro-Bowl quarterback, but "the whole idea was to give something to the general public to kind of get behind. It was more of an idea or a movement."
He declined to say what he thought about other potential quarterbacks.
"We were kind of all-in with Manning," he said.
