INDIANAPOLIS -
Peyton Manning woke up to an interesting surprise to start his Wednesday morning.
"It's pretty funny to me," said the quarterback of seeing Jeff Fisher with his blue No. 18 jersey at the Rally for Rocketown at Lipscomb University in Nashville as he introduced former Colts coach Tony Dungy.
Other haven't felt the same, as the coach has come under fire from some fans and media for the Tuesday night stunt.
Fisher said that he did it so "I could feel like a winner" while also paying tribute to longtime coaching rival Dungy as well.
See: Tennessee Reaction to Fisher Peyton Manning Jersey Stunt
"If he's catching any heat for that its pretty ridiculous," said Manning of the reaction to Fisher's jesture. "That's the problem with giving speeches now, or introducing somebody, if you try to be the least bit humerous, it always comes back to make a story of it. I guess they really want you to be boring, be a boring speaker or a boring introducer."
"I guarantee the crowd got a pretty big laugh out of it, I'm sure Coach Dungy did too. It's pretty funny to me, but I don't think he should have to be apologizing for it."
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell had similar sentiments about his AFC South rival.
"He's done a tremendous job with his team and I think he was just adding a little levity to a situation that people took the wrong way," said Caldwell of Fisher. "But the guys is as a good as they come in doing what he does, it just one of those unfortunate things that people look at things a little bit differently at certain times of the year."
See: Bob Sanders May Play For Colts
Fisher, however, bent to pressure and did offer a "mea culpa" for the act on his radio show Wednesday morning.
"It was for a very, very worthwhile cause, charity," Fisher said. "I was introducing Tony, just having fun with it and I really apologize if I offended anybody, but if you're offended over the nature of that type of thing, then I think you need to rethink things."
"This is a very worthwhile and needy benefit and I was honored to be there. I'm sorry if I offended anybody but if I had to do it again, I would do it again."
One question it has raised is whether the Colts would ever return the favor to one of their opponents if a situation like Tuesday's would arise the other way.
"Everybody has their own style, so they have to lean how their best suited, and I'll kinda leave it at that," said Caldwell when asked if he would ever do such a thing.
See: Colts' Kelvin Hayden Will Play Against Rams
Manning, however, answered more definitively for his coach.
"I don't know if Caldwell would be introducing (Patriots Coach Bill) Belichek any time soon," said Manning when asked if Caldwell would wear a Patriots jersey, wh I'm not sure it would come up.
"It's pretty funny to me," said the quarterback of seeing Jeff Fisher with his blue No. 18 jersey at the Rally for Rocketown at Lipscomb University in Nashville as he introduced former Colts coach Tony Dungy.
Other haven't felt the same, as the coach has come under fire from some fans and media for the Tuesday night stunt.
Fisher said that he did it so "I could feel like a winner" while also paying tribute to longtime coaching rival Dungy as well.
See: Tennessee Reaction to Fisher Peyton Manning Jersey Stunt
"If he's catching any heat for that its pretty ridiculous," said Manning of the reaction to Fisher's jesture. "That's the problem with giving speeches now, or introducing somebody, if you try to be the least bit humerous, it always comes back to make a story of it. I guess they really want you to be boring, be a boring speaker or a boring introducer."
"I guarantee the crowd got a pretty big laugh out of it, I'm sure Coach Dungy did too. It's pretty funny to me, but I don't think he should have to be apologizing for it."
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell had similar sentiments about his AFC South rival.
"He's done a tremendous job with his team and I think he was just adding a little levity to a situation that people took the wrong way," said Caldwell of Fisher. "But the guys is as a good as they come in doing what he does, it just one of those unfortunate things that people look at things a little bit differently at certain times of the year."
See: Bob Sanders May Play For Colts
Fisher, however, bent to pressure and did offer a "mea culpa" for the act on his radio show Wednesday morning.
"It was for a very, very worthwhile cause, charity," Fisher said. "I was introducing Tony, just having fun with it and I really apologize if I offended anybody, but if you're offended over the nature of that type of thing, then I think you need to rethink things."
"This is a very worthwhile and needy benefit and I was honored to be there. I'm sorry if I offended anybody but if I had to do it again, I would do it again."
One question it has raised is whether the Colts would ever return the favor to one of their opponents if a situation like Tuesday's would arise the other way.
"Everybody has their own style, so they have to lean how their best suited, and I'll kinda leave it at that," said Caldwell when asked if he would ever do such a thing.
See: Colts' Kelvin Hayden Will Play Against Rams
Manning, however, answered more definitively for his coach.
"I don't know if Caldwell would be introducing (Patriots Coach Bill) Belichek any time soon," said Manning when asked if Caldwell would wear a Patriots jersey, wh I'm not sure it would come up.
