Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Los Angeles Rams and all other NFL teams are forced to hold their offseason workouts virtually.
While that can be difficult and boring for the players, Rams head coach Sean McVay has been actively looking for ways to add excitement to the virtual meetings.
The main way he is doing that is by inviting guests to speak to the players, such as Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
It appears he was able to get an even-bigger name as former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos and quarterback NFL legend Peyton Manning spoke to the Rams on Thursday morning. Linebacker Micah Kiser and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day both took to social media to express appreciation to Manning for taking the time to speak to them:
As an aspiring ball guy and young player, getting to hear a raw and unfiltered Peyton Manning talk ball was absolutely incredible.
— Micah Kiser (@kiser_rollin) May 14, 2020
It was so dope hearing Peyton Manning talk about ball and his experiences as a player! Huge S/O to the 🐐!
— Sebastian Joseph-Day (@SJD_51) May 14, 2020
In 17 NFL seasons, Manning won two Super Bowls while being named a Pro Bowler 14 times, All-Pro seven times and MVP five times. He is widely considered to be one of the best football minds of all-time, so the Rams players definitely could benefit from hearing him say a few words during this difficult time.
McVay is also one of the bright young minds in all of football, and according to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com, his relationship with Manning dates back to 2017:
First connection I can find between the Rams and Peyton Manning is Manning spent “several days” w/ Rams coach Sean McVay “talking football, talking philosophy” in the spring of 2017, per this story by Peter King when he was with Sports Illustrated:https://t.co/fbp0RcGSTh
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) May 14, 2020
It’s definitely good to see McVay bringing excitement to these virtual meetings with cool guests to keep his team engaged. Every team is dealing with the same circumstances right now, but the ones that can make it a positive instead of a negative will likely be the teams that have success in 2020.
