Heat stars turn Dolphins recruiters for Manning
MIAMI — One has made an impromptu plea on television. One has taken to Twitter.
LeBron James might be a Dallas Cowboys fan, and Dwyane Wade a Chicago Bears man. But the Heat’s two biggest stars are working to get free agent quarterback Peyton Manning to join them in Miami by signing with the Dolphins.
James was involved in a routine postgame interview with Sun Sports after Wednesday’s 89-86 win over Atlanta. Just as it was breaking up, he brought up Manning on his own to make a pitch.
“Speaking of Peyton Manning …, I heard the Dolphins need a quarterback and Peyton is available," James said.
That occurred after Wade had tweeted earlier in the day he wants Manning in Miami.
“That No. 18 would look good in a Dolphins uniform," Wade said after his tweet in an interview with FOX Sports Florida. “Steve Ross (the Dolphins owner), let’s go and let’s do it. So I think they need to recruit him heavily, and they need to show him why he needs to be here."
If Manning, released Wednesday by Indianapolis, were to join the Dolphins, Wade only can imagine the star power there would be in South Florida sports.
“This would be really turning into a media mecca in a sense in which Miami hasn’t been until the last couple of years," Wade said.
Miami’s sports scene soared after James and Chris Bosh joined forces on the Heat with Wade in the summer of 2010. It might explode if Manning shows up.
But that’s all right with James. He’d be happy to share the city with another future Hall of Famer.
“I gave my one and only pitch," James told reporters after his on-air endorsement. “I’m a Miami Heat player, and I want Miami sports to be great. … Peyton Manning is a great player no matter what happened this past year (with Manning sitting out because of a neck injury). His resume speaks for itself, and it would be great to have him down here."
Other Heat players are getting into the recruiting act, even if they don’t have the clout of James and Wade. The two most vocal are Miami natives Udonis Haslem and James Jones, both big Dolphins fans.
“I’m already working on that," Haslem said of his efforts to get Manning to sign with Miami. “Think of Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne (a former University of Miami star receiver who also is a free agent). … If you hear me, Peyton and Reggie, wink, wink, it can happen."
“Just in case Manning is paying attention," Haslem added, “For what it’s worth, I always thought he was the better Manning (over brother Eli)."
Haslem has talked about running for mayor of Miami one day with Jones helping him in the campaign. But they’ve already started a campaign of another sort to get Manning.
“It would be great," Jones said. “If you have a player of that caliber come into the market, it will be crazy …. I don’t think there would be another city that could parallel it with star power."
Heat players insist it wouldn’t bother them having more competition in town from the Dolphins.
“I think it’s exciting for South Florida," said Wade, a Chicago native. “Obviously, I’m a Bears fan, but my second team is the Dolphins, because they’ve showed me a lot of love over the years. … So I would love for them to get back to their winning ways. (Manning) would be huge in that other (players) would want to come and be a part of it."
How huge might it be?
“It’s definitely a football town, and people are basketball crazy with those two," said Bosh, a Cowboys fan. “But I know a lot of Dolphins fans, old (Dan) Marino ones who would be putting their jerseys back on and heading for the game on Sunday. So I know for sure that it would be exciting if it happens."
Bosh apparently had not yet gone to television or Twitter by Thursday afternoon to offer any Manning pleas. But there’s still time.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson