From 1984-97, the Indianapolis Colts were cellar of the National Football League (NFL) with a .345 winning percentage, just 3 playoff appearances, no Super Bowl appearances and they had 16 starting quarterbacks. That all changed in the 1998 NFL Draft when they selected Peyton Manning out of Tennessee University with the No. 1 overall selection. In the 14 years that followed, the Colts were a perennial playoff participant; a .678 winning percentage and Manning played every game in the regular season and postseason until this past one where he missed the entire year because of an injury to his neck. Without the future Hall of Famer at the controls the Colts fell from the NFL’s elite going 2-14 and the question now was, what would happen next? The answer came this past Wednesday.
The Colts formally announced that they would cut Peyton Manning. The reason, the team did not want to pay the $28 million dollar bonus, which would have happened this past Thursday, to the 35-year-old QB who has had 4 procedures done on his neck in 19 months, which has rendered his neck almost bionic.
When Manning and Colts owner and Chief Executive Officer Jim Irsay arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday night by private jet a reporter asked them, “Are you both happy though?”
Manning said, “We’re good. We’re good. We’re going to talk tomorrow. We’re gonna do it… the right way tomorrow.”
When tomorrow came in front of many of the media, the parting of ways was done the right way, but it happen in a very tearful way when they both spoke.
“For 14 wonderful years, the only professional football I’ve known is Colts football,” Manning said on Wednesday. “Our team won a lot of games here. I’ve played with so many great teammates here and I’ve been part of a great organization here; an organization and an owner who I respect and continue to respect.”
He also said about his departure from the Colts, “Times change, circumstances change and that’s the reality of playing in the NFL.”
The other reality is that in his 227 starts, regular season and playoffs combined, the Colts made 11 postseason appearances, which includes nine straight which ended this season. For seven consecutive seasons, the Colts won 12 games or more, an NFL record, which includes two 14 win seasons in 2005 and 2009. They captured the ultimate prize in 2006 when they defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Manning who threw for 247 yards and a touchdown was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Individually Manning put up numbers that will surely guarantee him induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
In a 14-year career, Manning has thrown for 54,828 yards, 399 touchdowns and 198 interceptions. He has 63 career 300-yard passing games, which is tied for most all-time in NFL history. In 14 seasons, he has thrown for 4,000 yards 11 times. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times and has won four regular season MVP awards, an NFL record. His 141 career wins as a starter are the 4th most by a starting signal caller in NFL history.
Besides the statistics, Manning did something even more remarkable. He turned a town that has been known for basketball into a town that is also known for having a great football team.
“As difficult as this is I know that our journey together hasn’t ended,” the Colts owner said on Wednesday.
“When I look down the road and see the many decades going forward that we’ll share together and how he’s always part of the horse shoe. I can’t thank him enough. The 18 jersey will never be worn again by a Colt on the field.”
The question now is where will Peyton Manning play next? A number of early contenders for his services are the New York Jets, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and a few others.
As far as his neck injury is concerned, he has been cleared by doctors to resume playing. According to ESPN’s senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that Manning was seen throwing at Duke University a week ago. His sources who saw Manning throw said he looked like his old self.
When he decides to continue his career with another team, Manning will not be the only player who made his name with one organization to move on and continue making that legend in another place.
Hall of Famer Joe Montana who helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl titles was traded in 1993 to the Kansas City Chiefs. In 1993, Montana helped lead the Chiefs to a franchise best 13 wins. They defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the American Football Conference (AFC) Wild Card round 27-24. They won the Divisional Round at the Houston Oilers 28-20. They lost in the AFC Championship Game at the Buffalo Bills 30-13.
Montana led the Chiefs back to the playoffs the next season, but they lost at the Dolphins 27-17. Montana in his last ever game threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns.
Wayne Gretzky who led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cups and individually won eight consecutive MVPs in nine seasons was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.
The most recent stars to take their talents to another team are LeBron James, who helped the Cleveland Cavaliers to five straight playoff appearances while capturing back-to-back MVP awards in 2009 and 2010 took his talents to South Beach and joined the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010. The other star who changed teams is Albert Pujols who after helping the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series in 2006 and 2011 signed this offseason with the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim for 10 years and $240 million.
If Manning should sign with the Dolphins, he might have a former teammate come with him. On Wednesday, free agent wide receiver and former teammate of Manning’s Reggie Wayne said to WQAM Radio, “I can see it. I am definitely not opposed to it. He’s a great worker and I consider myself a great worker and when you put great workers together good things happen. Me being in his trail onto Miami I would love it. I would definitely love it. I am totally available. It can definitely be dangerous. It can truly be dangerous if they put us all together.”
Manning, who will be turning 36 years of age soon understands what is ahead of him, but he also understands what he has done and knows that he would not be in this position today.
“I haven’t thought yet about where I will play, but I’ve thought a lot about where I’ve been,” Manning said.
“I’ve been truly blessed to play here. I’ve been truly blessed to play in the NFL. As I go, I go with just a few words left to say. A few words I want to address to Colts fans everywhere. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. I’ve truly enjoyed being your quarterback.”
As for the Colts, their attention will turn now to the NFL Draft where the speculation is that they will draft with the No. overall pick Stanford QB Andrew Luck who is consider by many to be a can’t miss pick as Manning was when he was drafted in the same place 14 years ago.
“I think it would be a complete honor to be drafted first by the Colts and have the opportunity to play for them,” Luck told ESPN Monday Night Football color analyst Jon Gruden.
He also said as far as replacing Peyton Manning if he is drafted by the Colts, “I think that’s impossible You don’t replace a guy like that…I think you have to chart you own path because what he’s done is remarkable.”
It is something that we all have to do. Chart out own path and that is what Peyton Manning did in his stint of 14 seasons with the Colts.
It was a stint that included a 21 point comeback in the fourth quarter comeback at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 6, 2003 on Monday Night Football with the Colts winning 38-35; a career-best six touchdown passing performance at the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 28, 2003; a 377 yards passing 5 touchdown performance in his first career playoff win after three setbacks over the Denver Broncos 41-10, while also having his second perfect passer rating of that season and the fourth of his career; He and former teammate Marvin Harrison becoming the all-time leading touchdown combination of quarterback-wide receiver with 86 passing 49ers Hall of Fame tandem of Steve Young and Jerry Rice on Monday Night versus the St. Louis Rams; Becoming the single-season touchdown thrower with his 49th pass in the end zone to Brandon Stokley on Dec. 26, 2004 in a 34-31 victory versus the San Diego Chargers, though the record would be broken by Tom Brady of the Patriots in 2007 with 50 touchdown passes, throwing the 50 to Randy Moss in a 38-35 victory at the New York Giants where they completed the first undefeated regular season (16-0) since the 1972 Dolphins; the 18-point comeback (21-3) in the AFC Championship Game versus the Patriots that was capped by a 3-yard rushing touchdown by then rookie running back Joseph Addai and an interception on the fourth play of the Pats final drive by cornerback Marlon Jackson; The 29-17 win over the NFC champion Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, FL where Manning threw for 247 yards and a touchdown claiming Super Bowl MVP honors and making then head coach Tony Dungy the first African American in the modern era of the NFL to win a Super Bowl.
While his career may not be over and who know where he will end up, I think ABC’s “Good Morning America” news anchor Josh Elliott put it best when he said, “He may not have the championships that which all great quarterbacks are judged, he was as fine a quarterback as we have ever seen.”
Information and statistics are courtesy of 3/7/12 7 a.m. edition of ABC News’s “Good Morning America” with Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Josh Elliott; 3/7/12 7 a.m. edition of “CBS This Morning” with Erica Hill, Gayle King and Charlie Rose, report from Whit Johnson; 3/7/12 6:30 p.m. edition of “CBS Evening News” with Scott Pelley; 3/7/12 6:30 p.m. edition of “ABC World News” with Diane Sawyer, report from Josh Elliott; 3/7/12 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter with Jay Harris and John Anderson; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Manning; en.wikipedi.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Colts
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