The Colts Make The Move Of The Century

Manning fought back tears at his final press conference as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

Today the Colts will officially make what will be called one of the most controversial moves in the history of the NFL. They will be releasing probably the greatest player in the history of their franchise, who brought them a Super Bowl, two AFC Championships and 9 straight playoff appearances. Manning is undoubtedly a first-ballot hall of famer, but at the age 36 and after his potential career ending neck surgery, it's unsure if #18 can still play at a high level. Indianapolis, excited about the prospects of drafting Luck, decided that the risk associated with their former star quarterback far outweighed the reward.

Let's be serious, no matter which way the Colts went in this situation there would be scrutiny, scrutiny from the media, from the their fans, and definitely their locker room. If they kept Manning and then drafted Luck, they'd be owing 50+ million dollars for two quarterbacks; a thought of absurd proportions. But then again cutting a proven veteran like Peyton Manning for a inexperienced rookie QB is also a shot in the dark. The Colts decided to take the latter, sending the face of their franchise packing. Usually situations like this are ugly, a la Lebron James and Danny Briere, but it looks like this divorce wasn't so. At least this morning's Manning press conference seemed peaceful. But who knows what happened behind the scenes? What tables were flipped, choice words were exchanged and how many times Peyton may have let the Colts know the regret they'll face in the future? Manning might have taken the high road, choosing to save his face publicly and leaving the lashings for the back alleys of Lucas Oil Stadium. His tears might not have been of sadness for his departure, but driven out of anger and fear for his career, for his perception, for what the hell happened in one year. Watching a man fall from a building is scary, watching a man fall from a mountain is downright frightening.

Jim Irsay and the Colts had to have drafted Luck, that was a no brainer. And yet, I still believe that the Colts wanted to retain Manning, but they realized it just wasn't fathomable to spend that kind of money on two quarterbacks. Also maybe Manning wasn't so ready to lend his secrets to the Stanford grad. Or maybe #18 simply thought Luck was such a threat to his starting job, even in year one, that he decided free agency was his best bet. Either way the Colts and Peyton Manning have broken up, a move that will certainly go down in history with loads of controversy.

The two sides will go their separate ways. The Colts will trudge on with what they hope is the next Peyton Manning. April 26th they'll throw a big celebration in Indianapolis to welcome one of the finest college quarterbacks of our generation. On the outside everything will look festive. A new generation will be born in Indianapolis with great excitement. They'll hoot and holler about what the future holds, but at the end of the day the Colts organization, along with their fans will return to their offices and homes and tremble in fear. To the outside world, Indianapolis will look like the center of the NFL universe. But inside Indiana's capital city, anxiety will swallow everything in its path as the Colts anxiously await the day they can finally breathe easy thanks to Andrew Luck.

For Peyton Manning the next couple months will be a whirlwind. NFL teams from Arizona to Washington to Miami to New York will court him, ironically, just like they did for Lebron two summers ago. #18 won't turn his free agency into a reality show like Mr. South Beach did, but it'll still be a spectacle. He'll sign a contract with some organization and he'll be heralded as the savior. Peyton Manning will have one grand old day, smiling, holding up a Redskins or Dolphins or Jets jersey, but then he'll return to doing what he loves, playing football. As we watched him hold back his tears in this latest press conference we realized one thing, this man loves the game of football. He deserves every moment of praise he gets in the coming weeks because he's down to earth, because he's a legend, because he did things the rights way. How could you not sit there during his press conference and wants this guy to continue his success? If you're a fan of the NFL, then you probably fought a tear or two watching a legend in his weakest moment. But Peyton will bounce back and he'll take some franchise to a place they haven't been in years, it doesn't necessarily have to be the promise land, it just has to be filled with optimism and excitement.

Understand that the NFL is a business, and business is ruthless. Fans everywhere will disagree over this issue for weeks to come. But if there is one thing we can agree on, it's that March 7th, 2012 will go down as the most important days in the history of the NFL.