Sportstender: Peyton Manning Falls Victim to ‘WHYDFML’ Syndrome

Written by James Ryan

“Peyton and I love each other. That goes without saying. I humbly serve and protect the Horseshoe. It is bigger than any individual, including me.”—Jim Irsay, Indianapolis Colts Owner

Wow, how very “Joe Paterno” of him.

That particular quote was willfully published via Twitter today, and was in response to Peyton’s recent reaction to his friends and trainers being dismissed from the Colts organization without having been given any apparent notice (or respect).

“I guess it’s the reality of the football world,” said Manning. “Just not something I’ve had to deal with very often. This is so… sudden. Their keys didn’t work the next day. There’s no other way to do it? I don’t know. That’s hard to see, all these people leaving. And I may be behind them. Who knows?”

You know what they say, right? Breaking up is hard to do, and I suspect that there really was no easy way for the Colts organization to end a situation such as this one in a positive way, but at the same time, I do tend to agree with Manning, if only because I feel that based on what Manning has single-handedly done for the Indianapolis organization, that perhaps he and his friends deserved just a little more respect than that. At the very least—a phone call.

“What they are doing to Peyton Manning has me in tears! He has had four surgeries—not three, and he had the fourth done as soon as he felt the third wasn’t taking. Peyton did this to try to play this season. Peyton is a combination of Tony Dungy and a talented Quarterback—an unusual combination. He deserves a chance to play. They fired Peyton’s trainer as he was working with Peyton. That’s cold-hearted in my opinion. Peyton has been getting better every day and wants to play and finish his contract here in Indianapolis and retire. His wife and twins are here. He has brought a legacy to this state and has helped to create many jobs. I’m just sick over this!”—Shelly Mahan, Colts Fan

And what exactly has Manning done to deserve such respect, you may be asking?

Anyone who follows NFL football (and even those who don’t) have likely heard of Indianapolis Colts QB and occasional SNL Super Guest, Peyton Manning, but just in case, please allow me to refresh your memories with a “few” (and I mean that…this is only a very small percentage of Peyton’s athletic accomplishments), which will no doubt solidify Manning as one of, if not ‘the’ greatest quarterback ever to play the game of football, and will guarantee his place in the NFL Hall of Fame immediately following his very first year of eligibility…

Throughout his professional career with the Colts (and only with the Colts after being drafted number one back in 1998), Manning had been honoured with a total of 11 Pro Bowl selections, won the AFC Player of the Year Award a total of six times, had been honoured as both Man of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year by the League, was a Super Bowl Champion and MVP, is the holder of 40 regular season records, 12 playoff records, nine Pro Bowl records, 58 Indianapolis records…[catching breath] and he even had a Children’s Hospital named after him in the Indianapolis area.

Love him or hate him (because that’s just the nature of sports), Peyton Manning is a great man by any standard, and quite obviously, a great quarterback—current, not past tense.

The contentious attitude towards Manning these days is due to the fact that he had to unfortunately miss the entire season this past year as a result of multiple neck surgeries, which initially started with what many had previously perceived to be a successful spinal neck fusion surgery back on September 8, 2011. The reason for the initial surgery was because prior to that, Manning had a less invasive neck surgery back in May, but when the nerve did not regenerate properly, he was later forced to have the fusion surgery.

Hardly his fault, but it was all downhill for Manning and the Colts after that.

Without Manning at the helm, the Colts officially finished the season with a dismal record of 2-14 (same as the St. Louis Rams), which ironically puts the Colts in top position to pick up the highly touted Stanford University QB, Andrew Luck, in the upcoming NFL Draft. Given the current circumstances, the Colts would obviously be crazy not to try and sign him—regardless if Manning continues to play for them or not.

Luck could be the future in much the same way as Manning was. And in much the same way that Aaron Rogers took over from where Brett Favre left off in Green Bay. Then again, this is football. Nothing can be promised, and nothing is ever guaranteed. Holding on to Manning would be a huge risk, but so could letting him go. But at the end of the day, I suppose it all comes down to one thing—money.

The owner of the Colts, Jim Irsay, was quick to point out that it’s the symbol on the jersey that these athletes should be playing for, and not for themselves.

“It’s the name on the front of the jersey that matters most, not the one on the back.”—Coach Joe Paterno, R.I.P.

How very noble of Mr. Irsay to point that out. But if it’s alright, I’d like to point out a few of my own observations:

Many other teams out there lose their starting QB due to injury and don’t finish the season with a worthless record, unless of course, they were projected to go winless from the start of the season anyway, which the Colts most definitely were not. Instead, the Colts were picked as a heavy pre-season favourite to win the Super Bowl this year. I understand that Manning is a key player on the team, but with 52 other players suited up each season in a talent-rich league, what does that say about the quality of the organization as a whole, that they would do so poorly without Manning?

Or that they would bank so much into one single player?

Even if Manning didn’t undergo neck surgery, this is football. There’s nothing to say that Manning wouldn’t have been just as susceptible to being injured on the field as anyone else in this League. And then what? No back-up plan? Whose fault was that?

The consensus seems to be that athletes should just disappear as quickly and as quietly as possible when their best playing days are behind them. Personally, nothing about sports bothers me more than that. It just seems completely ungrateful.

I suppose it’s safe to say that given the number of years that Manning has been playing in the National Football League and after all that he has accomplished, no one should feel sorry for the man—and I don’t. With or without football, Manning will be just fine, and I am confident that his real legacy won’t actually be written until he eventually takes up coaching—hopefully NOT for the Indianapolis Colts.

But don’t believe the owner of the Colts when he tells you things, like he thinks of Manning as a “family” member or that it’s about the team and not the “individual.” What we saw this past season was that the Colts banked on one individual in particular, and due to their own failure to plan better, they now need someone to blame before fan resentment directs back to exactly where it has always belonged—ownership.

And who better to play the scapegoat than the injured and highest paid man on the team?

Personally, I hope Manning recovers and retires. It’s not worth it to his long-term health to risk permanent spinal injury just for the privilege of playing in a non-competitive market. Then again, if Manning can raise a mediocre team like the Colts to the top of the heap, imagine what he could do in a place like Buffalo if he were completely healed and ready to play.

I guess Irsay feels that he needs to point the finger quickly to the one man who had brought him so much success, before the fans clue in to the fact that he was using Manning all along, in much the same way that he will no doubt use Luck if given the chance.

Let’s just hope that if that happens, the Colt’s Luck, doesn’t run out, because that will just leave the fans asking the Colts ownership the exact same thing that the ownership is now asking Manning:

“What have you done for me lately?”

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