Did Peyton Manning Sign with Broncos Because of Todd Helton?

I still get ESPN Magazine. Don't ask me why, because the answer is I don't know. I subscribed to it ages ago, I've never renewed and I definitely changed credit cards a few time since then so I don't even think I'm being charged for it. Most issues sit on my kitchen table for a few weeks before being thrown in the trash, never having been read.

This morning I cracked open their "draft preview" issue for no good reason and read an article about Peyton Manning's hectic offseason. The part that surprised me the most was the story about Todd Helton moving in with Peyton (who had been living with their old Tenneessee Volunteers Offensive Coordinator David Cutliffe) when Manning was starting to get stressed about the free agency situation.

The article said that Helton did not openly beg Manning to pick the Broncos, but it did seem to insinuate that Helton (who is in his 16th season with the Colorado Rockies) was hoping that was where the Pro Bowl QB would land.

Here's my question: Why wasn't this more widely-reported? Why wasn't this a huge story? Sure, we got the reports that Helton was playing football with Manning at Duke University, but you think someone would've ran with the "Peyton wants to be in the same town with his buddy!" story. I think it would've made me feel better about Manning landing in the AFC West.