Peyton Manning to retire? Rob Lowe says so

Speculation has swirled about the future of Peyton Manning since the future Hall of Fame quarterback had neck surgery and missed an entire NFL season. The Indianapolis Colts posted a 2-14 record in his absence, followed by the firing of the coach and the general manager at the end of the season . Throughout the season fans waged a Twitter campaign, #SuckforLuck, hoping to make the best out of a bad situation by winning the No1 pick in the NFL draft and choose Stanford QB Andrew Luck. And then came today's latest instalment, again via Twitter, and from a most unexpected source, movie star Rob Lowe. The West Wing actor tweeted : "Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow. #Colts" Cue many jokes about Lowe 's special sports knowledge and what sources ESPN would be quoting on the story. The actor – who starred in St Elmo's Fire, which last week had its own NFL moment on the internet – then decided to check some more sources himself and tweeted : "@richeisen My people are saying Manning will retire today. What do you hear? #NFL" NFL podcaster Eisen replied : "@RobLowe get out." ESPN's Chris Mortensen added to the doubts by speaking to Peyton's father, Archie Manning, and tweeted : "Archie Manning laughed when he heard @RobLowe said Peyton will retire, "Noooo…he ain't retiring. I think he would've told me." All most curious. Not least because Lowe is known to be friendly with both Manning and Colts owner Jim Irsay. More updates as we have them. In the meantime, here are some laughs courtesy of Manning's career in TV advertising: .