Peyton Manning: Why Colts Must Sever Ties with Legendary QB

Loyalty in sports will ruin a team. That’s why the Colts need to cast their love and appreciation for Peyton Manning aside and do whats right for their organization. 

It’s time for Manning to head out of Indy. 

The loyalty of a sports fan is iron clad. It never bends, and even in times of doubt, there is still no question that they’ll tune in again tomorrow and invest all they have in their team with the hopes that things will be different. 

The owners, the players, the general managers do not have this same luxury. The stakes are different, the outcome must be better, the fallout to disappointment can alter lives. 

Manning continues to work out to recover from an injury, but as the days and weeks go by and the March 8 date gets closer, it’s clear that Manning isn’t where he wants to be, and for the Colts, that’s reason enough to say goodbye. 

The upside to keeping Manning is plenty in a perfect world. He’d come back and tutor the young rookie Andrew Luck. He’d regain his incredible ability to play the position and before passing the torch to the Stanford standout, he’d find a way bring back another Lombardi trophy. 

The downside, however, paints a much different reality. This one features a broken down Manning that collects his $28 million, which is more than Indy can afford for most players, and never takes the field again. The money lost. The damage. 

Or he arrives and plays but as a shell of his former self and the Colts are in the same position with Luck they would have been in had they never drafted Manning, yet in this scenario, Luck has had no training camp with the first team and the Colts must scramble to get him acclimated.

Oh, and Manning is still $28 million richer. 

It’s a sore spot to bring up in the name of a legend, but money matters when it’s money that big. What it can bring you in the form of a talented QB, it can also bring you in pieces that you can build for the future with. The Colts are in desperate need of help on both sides of the line, and not being able to stop the run or protect the quarterback is a fate that is grim, no matter the QB. 

Of course, fandom in Indy has differing opinions on the Manning situation, and my feeling is that Jim Irsay is wrestling with the decision as well. After all, how do you give the heave ho to a man that has turned your franchise from a laughing stock to a legit powerhouse in the league?

Do you shut off his big payday and leave him for dead? Do you wish him the best and turn on him while he rehabs an injury that he got while playing for your team for all those years? 

How do you give Manning the proper respect he deserves while keeping the best interests of your team at heart? 

The short answer is you show Manning the respect for all that he has helped build by not running it into the ground in the name of loyalty. There are no guarantees that Luck will be half the QB that Petyon was, but there is a better chance Luck thrives and survives if you surround him with the pieces he needs to operate. These pieces can be bought for the tidy sum of $28 million. 

Loyalty ruins the fabric of fandom. As fans, the want is to keep the old guard out of respect, but often times the best thing to do is move on when a player, manager or team is no longer of its usefulness.

Loyalty likely hasn’t helped many teams in the past. However, the ability to stare down loyalty and make the best decision possible allowed the Packers to move on from Brett Favre. It allowed the 49ers to move on from Joe Montana and it can allow the Colts the opportunity to build for a new era. 

Manning has been paid well in his NFL career, and if he turns out to be healthy, he’ll be paid well by another team and still have a chance at greatness somewhere else. 

The Colts must sever ties with what will become the Manning soap opera and prepare for the future with Luck. They owe it to all they have created, and the fans that have supported them through thick and then. The fans are the only thing Colts brass, or any sports owner for that matter, should be loyal to.