It is not a common occurrence for one of the best players in the history of the National Football League to be cut, but that is exactly what happened to Peyton Manning. The man who provided the organization with nine consecutive winning seasons from 2002 through 2010 and a Super Bowl championship in 2006 is being let go. There will be no storybook ending for Manning and the Colts. Manning won't be given a chance to lead the franchise that he built ever again. He won't be able to take the 2-14 Colts of 2011 and make them a contender once more. Instead Manning is in danger of becoming the next Joe Montana, the next Brett Favre. The next nomad quarterback who was turned away from the organization which he had done so much for and left out to graze on the barren fields of NFL teams who need a one-year quarterback fix to magically reach the "next level." The wildest part about this whole saga is that one can't really blame Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts for what they are doing.
There are few things in sports that I hate more than a superstar player switching teams during their careers. I understand the business of sports and I know it is an illogical thought that a superstar should play for just one team, but there is something special about the guys who do it. There is something special about the players who no matter what devote their entire career to one city, one fan base and one organization. There are a dwindling number of Derek Jeter's out there and I firmly believe that Peyton Manning fully wanted to spend his entire career in Indianapolis and that is what makes this whole situation so tragic. But again, you can't blame Jim Irsay for how this all played out.
What would you do if you had the #1 pick in the draft that holds what most people are calling a "lock" to be the next great quarterback in Andrew Luck? What would you do if you had to pay an almost 36-year-old quarterback $28 million in bonus money?
Manning had four neck surgeries and people are still not sure exactly how healthy he currently is. The choice was simple for Jim Irsay, he had to let Manning go. Now Irsay and the Colts have to hope and pray that Luck is what everyone thinks he will be, and they have to hope and pray that Manning does not take a team like the Dolphins or the Chiefs from mediocrity to contender. While the odds are heavily in favor of the Colt's decision, in the off chance that Luck busts and Manning booms somewhere else, the hatred Colt's fans will feel towards Irsay and the organization would be indescribable.
There are few people who are surprised that the day is finally here where Manning and the Colts are parting ways, myself included, but it still hurts. Even though many of us have known this day was coming for months, as a lifelong and die-hard sports fan today is an incredibly sad one, and this is coming from a Houston Texans fan. I wrote a piece earlier about what the end of Roger Federer's extraordinary career means to me, and the end of the Indianapolis Manning era leaves me with a similar feeling. Another athlete who has been so prominent and so dominant throughout the early years of my love affair with sports is leaving me.
Now it is time to block out the inevitable and excruciating 24/7 coverage ESPN will provide over the next month or so when Manning is deciding what new team he wants to be a part of, because ultimately I don't really care where he ends up. Once that decision is made though, Manning will once again be one of my favorite players to watch, and I will be rooting for him now more than ever. Hopefully the tragic end in Indianapolis leads to a fairytale ending for Peyton somewhere else.
Image curtesy of AP Photo/AJ Mast
Follow Matt on Twitter @matthouston91 and follow Love Boat Sports @LoveBoatSports
great post
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