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Chad Pemberton: Colts are on verge of discarding most valuable of players
Peyton Manning's three neck surgeries within a year and a half, those that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season, didn't help cement his future with the Colts. Neither did the fact that he was getting paid $26 million to hold a clipboard during that time. The uncertainty of his health, attached to the looming $26 million that he's due to make in 2012, doesn't make for the most compelling reason to keep him around.
But, it's crazy to think someone such as Andrew Luck could end the Manning era in Indianapolis.
Two things have become astonishingly clear from the Indianapolis Colts 2-14 season. The first is a tribute to how much this team relied on Manning over the course of his career. His four most valuable player trophies seem incredibly well deserved; in fact, he should probably retroactively receive at least two more, given his value to the team from the vantage point of now.
The second lesson from this season is a much gloomier one. It's that this team is a patchwork of poor drafting and past-their-prime stars and textbook mediocrity. Even a healthy Manning couldn't be the life support for this dying team for seasons to come.
Jim Irsay, owner of the team, knows that, which is why he has already started the process of changing his organization. He fired the personnel architects responsible for the past decade (Bill and Chris Polian), the head coach (Jim Caldwell), all the way down to the strength and conditioning coach (Jon Torine). He hired a new head coach in former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. And, in this year's NFL Draft, he will take quarterback Andrew Luck with the first overall pick.
With so many key figures leaving, Manning had this to say in an interview, "I don't recognize our building right now." Those are words of change.
Change. Maybe it would be easier to handle if it was just a word -- but, it's not. Change is a crucifixion of sorts. It's a wooden cross, heavy and awkward and lacquered with a complicated finish. Run your fingertips across it. Feel its weight. Sure, it doesn't feel right, but it certainly seems capable enough to carry out the painful job of moving on.
Soon, I imagine, Irsay will sit down with Manning and tell him all about change. He probably won't explain it how I have -- it will be more heartfelt -- I'm sure-but the essence will be the same. That Manning's future can't be with Indianapolis. That Manning's cross is the last one to be carried for this Colts team to move on from what has been a decade of so many wins (and too few championships).
From there, Manning can tromp down an uncomfortable free agency road to another team in a different city. Or, he can (fittingly) place himself on his cross in Indianapolis, the city that he saved when he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, and nail in the spikes of retirement.
Manning's pending decision will be the buzz of the league for weeks to come. But, if he's tipped us off to anything yet, it's that the end is nigh for this NFL legend -- and I can't help but ponder about what a shame that is.
Chad Pemberton is a Marshall University graduate who follows the NFL and is writing about it for The Herald-Dispatch. Email him at pemberton@herald-dispatch.com.
