Groundhog Day: Will Colts Dwight Freeney See his Shadow on Super Bowl Sunday?

While Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, thus portending a long winter, the real question that Colts fans should be asking is, Will Dwight Freeney suit up for the Super Bowl?

Or will he be merely a shadow on the sidelines?

If you ask Freeney, he is optimistic.

“Hopefully, towards the end of the week it starts to get better,” Freeney said at Tuesday’s media day. “The decision will come later on in the week. It’s kind of early now.”

“The competitor in me says they’ll never stop me from being on the field,” he said with a smile and added, “There’s some pain there definitely with throwing everything at it, all types of techniques to find the best thing to get this thing as good as possible. You name it, I’ve probably done it.”

But look, a sore ankle is one thing: take a pain numbing shot, get the pads on, shut your mouth, and go play.

But a torn ligament is nothing for a millionaire athlete to mess around with, particularly playing a sport without as much guaranteed money as other pro sports. Not to mention that he may not be effective on that ankle.

In case you've been living under a rock, the ankle of the Indianapolis Colts defensive end is injured, and according to ESPN's Adam Schefter , possibly contains torn ligaments. The Colts list Freeney as "questionable" while some sources close to the team consider that optimistic.

I predict he will play. And I don't particularly care for much of what Schefter has to say anyway.

Yet the issue will then be, what kind of production can one expect out of this guy?

If he is playing at 50 percent or less, not only will he be risking his future, he may be hurting his team.

All of this is big news because of how good Freeney is and how important he is to the outcome of Sunday's matchup with the Saints.

While Saints offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod might jump for joy if Freeney can't go on Sunday, they won't be dancing in the streets in Indy.

Now, his backup Raheem Brock , is a decent football player. But at what level of play does Brock become the better option?  20 percent? 40 percent? 60 percent? And how do you really know until he gets out there and gives it a try?

Perhaps we should expect Freeney to play only on obvious passing downs, such as 3rd-and-long situations.

Meanwhile, has any other body part been discussed more during Super Bowl week than Freeney's ankle?

I remember Bears punky QB Jim McMahon's butt and the acupuncture treatments being big news in New Orleans back in January 1986, especially when he decided to moon that helicopter.

Then there was Tom Brady's foot prior to the 2008 game.

But media coverage and the instant gratification of the Internet has combined to make this probably the most tiring of subjects this week. Yet here I am writing about it, because it matters.

How much does it matter? I mean, can't Peyton Manning simply outscore the Saints if they get into a shootout? 

Perhaps, but Drew Brees figures to have a field day playing that soft coverage without a strong pass rush. 

Of course, the conspiracy theorists will say that the injury isn't really that bad and the Colts are simply trying to get the Saints to believe all this.

Oliver Stone, I am not.

If the Saints and Colts only see Freeney's shadow on the sidelines, it may be a long day for Indy. Just like the long winter we're apparently facing.

Gee thanks, Phil.