Sometimes I think Rick Reilly is too easy of a target for the blogosphere.  Reilly epitomizes much of what is unappealing with the old school media to much of the new school crowd.  He collects a huge paycheck and puts out intermittent columns of irrelevance, living on the reputation he built at Sports Illustrated.  The guy has been mailing it in for quite some time now.  In one of those columns, Reilly wrote these words about Peyton Manning on August 30th in some sort of all-encompassing NFL and college football preview…

“If you think he’s going to miss a start because of a neck problem, you’ve been chugging paint thinner. This guy hasn’t missed a start since 1994 at Tennessee. Do you know how long ago it was when Manning didn’t start for the Colts? Google was two days old. Kim Kardashian was 17. Russell Crowe was skinny! If Manning doesn’t start Game 1, I will come to your house and eat things that are stuck in your carpet.”

Rick should have thrown in that he was last relevant in 1994 (rimshot), but that would be beside the point.  Of course, any keen observer knew Manning’s streak was in huge jeopardy, so it came as a bit of an odd prediction.  (And yes, I don’t know why he has to throw Russell Crowe under the bus either.)  Well, when Manning didn’t start in Week 1, Reilly manned up on his proclamation.  Somewhat.  He ate popcorn off the carpet in Sun Life Stadium.  I’m a little disappointed though, couldn’t he have gone to a floor featured on Hoarders instead of a pristine stadium carpet?  Watch this video, but don’t feel too bad for Reilly – each kernel of popcorn earned him $75,000.

[ESPN

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