"Come Home Peyton"

As many of you probably have seen by now, there's a noisy movement of people calling themselves fans of the Titans that want Peyton Manning to come to Tennessee.

Everybody is entitled to their opinions, and here's mine...

Peyton Manning is the greatest QB of all time. I can respect that. He took an otherwise winless team and won ten games for them every year for a very long time.

He's also the same Manning that has tortured us for years. He has been playing for the Indianapolis Colts, our Titans' hated divisional rivals. He has torn up our secondary, made us suffer through divisional loss after loss...

Now when he's been out for a year and may not be on the Colts anymore... There are fans of the Titans that want Peyton to come here after what could have certainly been a career-ending injury, and is certainly a career-altering injury.

I believe these are the types that love UT more than the Titans, and you know what? That's not a problem, until you start wanting your NFL team's divisional rival QB to play for your NFL team because he went to your favorite college football program. That's called being selfish. If you're rooting for him to come back to UT and coach, then go right ahead. That actually makes sense.

But the way I have seen some of those that support the 'Come Home Peyton' movement toss Locker under the bus because he couldn't close games against the eventual divisional round playoff contender Saints and the playoff-bound Falcons, it feels more like they're just trying to bend reality in a way that leaves no argument against PM coming to the Titans.

And for those that argue that bringing in Manning to teach Locker would be a reason to get PM in here... First of all, Locker and Manning's QB styles are completely different. Apples and oranges. Secondly, Matt Hasselbeck has already fit into the mentor role, with Hass and Locker commonly standing next to each other on the sidelines discussing the offensive and defensive schemes on the field. That's a relationship between a veteran West Coast QB and a rookie QB that I don't want to get screwed up, for the sake of Jake's development. Look at what breaking up an already effective mentor role did to Alex Smith in San Fran for so long.

We are going to be a playoff contender for years to come. Our last draft class has been amazing. There are so many positives going into next season that we didn't have in 2011, and we still got nine wins that year.

I believe in the Titans, I believe in Jake Locker, and I believe in our youthful defense. I'd love to see Manning on the sidelines in Knoxville coaching up the Vols, but I don't want to see him on the sidelines at LP wearing two-tone blue.

We don't need Peyton Manning. Yes, I said it. We DON'T NEED Peyton Manning.

We already have a bright future.