Peyton Manning Rumors: Is Indy a Colts Town or a Peyton Manning Town?

This is the question that’s going to be asked on March 8th: Are you an Indianapolis Colts fan or a fan of Peyton Manning?

Lets face reality here, folks.

Peyton Manning is 100 percent going to be cut on or before March 8th. If you believe or think otherwise, you may need to get your head examined. The signs are all there.

I know news came around last Thursday that Manning was cleared by two doctors and made it look like he would be able to resume his illustrious career. That was great news for every Colts fan and Peyton Manning worshipers.

The only person that didn’t think it was good news was Colts owner Jim Irsay.

I honestly believe Irsay has planned on Manning being gone and never thought in his wildest dreams he’d be cleared before March 8th. Now that Manning has been cleared, he’s trying to cover his backside.

Instead of saying something along the lines of, "we’re happy Manning was cleared by his two doctors and can’t wait for him to get checked out here by our doctors and help this team," he fired off a tweet saying Manning wasn’t cleared by our team of doctors, and isn’t ready to play yet.

Why even open your mouth and say something like that?

The answer is because he’s already made up his mind that the Colts will move on without Manning, and doesn’t want to be hated like his dad was in Baltimore.

The signs are all there. Irsay has openly said that he values his image and doesn’t want to be looked upon in a negative light as an owner. He openly said on the Lexus Pre-Game Show on NFL Network’s coverage of the Texans/Colts game in Week 16 that if Manning was healthy, then there was no question he’d sign him back in March.

Well, Manning has been cleared and Irsay isn’t happy. He’s making it perfectly clear that the Colts and Manning will part ways without coming out and telling us now.

Once he’s released, are fans going to be mad at Irsay and the Colts, or Peyton Manning for leaving?

That’s the biggest factor to why all these rumors are going around. Don’t you think when arguably the best player to ever put on a uniform in the National Football League becomes healthy and single-handedly led this Colts franchise to greatness they’d resign him immediately?

What more speculation needs to be said?

It’s all about image right now for both parties. Both guys—Irsay and Manning—don’t want to look bad in Indianapolis. Both are ultra competitive and have a big love of the city. Both have made it extremely clear they don’t want to be looked on in a negative light.

Heck, Manning is even saying he’d take less money and get paid by performance.

Prior to 1998, finding true Colts fans was like finding a Clippers fan prior to this year. They were few and far between. The old dome would be filled with opposing teams fans instead of Colts fans.

Once Peyton Manning hit his stride after a couple of seasons, this state quickly started becoming a football state. Manning led the Colts to two Super Bowls—winning one, a decade record for most wins, endless division titles and he broke every Colts passing record.

Heck if it wasn’t for Manning, the Colts would probably be in Los Angeles right now.

The man built Lucas Oil Stadium by leading the Colts to this success, and he deserves a statue outside the gates of the stadium.

With all of that said, it’s funny how many people acted like they were Colts fans since 1984 when the Colts found success. I only believe maybe 25 percent of folks that say that. The majority of people didn’t care about the Colts until they became good, and piggy-backed Peyton Manning on the ride of success.

Once Manning is gone are you gone too?

People need to evaluate their allegiance to the Colts. As stated above, many people didn’t care about the Colts prior to Manning.

Don’t you think Jim Irsay sees that?

Most fans were angry with what transpired this season without him. They knew a long time ago that Manning wasn’t going to be healthy for the season. They just didn’t trust you fans to put him on IR and risk the loss at the gates. Funny how they win two straight games and then say he won’t be back at the end of the year isn’t it?

Irsay and Bill Polian saw Manning as the insurance factor that if they paraded him on the field and at the games on Sundays that fans would think he would be back and we’d be okay. They used him as a calming effect.

Manning used it as a sign—if they did let him go, he would still be loved and it wouldn't be his fault he got cut.

Well, the calming effect will soon be gone.

The Colts are going to be horrendous the next few seasons. Once Manning is gone, so is Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Jeff Saturday, Dallas Clark, Gary Brackett and most likely Robert Mathis.

Why resign all these guys if the team is starting a “new era” in Colts football?

The defense is going to be a 3-4 or some variation of it. Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney aren’t those type of defenders. Why keep them either?

The reality is that this team is rebuilding and the once historical bid of success is gone. My question to Colts fans is: Are you going to stay around or jump ship until they become good once again?

The signs are already out there that this team is going in a new direction.

Are fans on board with it or is the decision on March 8th decide their loyalty? There’s going to be plenty of talk going around from now until then about whether Peyton is staying or going. My advice to you is start preparing yourself now, because the decision is already made about Manning.

It’s not their fault you just don’t want to believe it.