Luck(y) Horseshoe: Peyton's Gone

Peyton Manning is no longer a Colt. Let that sink in. Can you even name the last quarterback that was number 1 in Indianapolis? I'll save you the google search and tell you that it was Jim Harbaugh, the same Jim Harbaugh who is now coaching the 49ers. I can't even imagine what Peyton Manning will look like with a different logo on his helmet, it just seems wrong. Much like Joe Montana with the Chiefs, Michael Jordan with the Wizards, and Willie Mays with the Mets, Peyton will just look out of place in another teams uniform.

I'm a Patriots fan. I think Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the league and that the Patriots have been the best franchise of the past 11 years. But I also have all the respect in the world for Peyton Manning. I've tried to hate him, I really have. I don't want to like a guy that routinely is said to be better than Tom Brady and plays for a team that can be argued as the greatest of the 2000's, but I just can't help it. He's a great player, from all accounts an extremely quality human being, and an extraordinarily funny guy. There's something about Archie and Eli Manning that is innately "hateable" but Peyton didn't inherit that quality.

March 7th will go down as the day that Peyton Manning, the best quarterback in Colts history was released. It wasn't cold or emotionless, both Peyton and Colts owner Jim Irsay shed tears at the press conference, and there was the insinuation that Peyton will always be a part of the Colts organization and the city of Indianapolis. But it happened, the Colts told Peyton Manning that they didn't want him anymore, choosing instead to go with unproven rookie quarterback Andrew Luck.

I'm going to miss the battles between the Patriots and Colts, featuring Manning and Brady. They always seemed to be epic and were as big a part of my childhood sports fandom as anything. He was a player that I always feared having the ball with the game on the line against my team but he became more than that. Peyton Manning grew into a player that I respected more than any other in the NFL, including Tom Brady. Peyton doesn't hob knob in Hollywood, change his hairstyle by the week, or ditch Indianapolis as soon as the season is over, he's a football player who put his heart and soul into a small market city and turned them into a Superbowl champion.

I like to think of Peyton as the classy Brett Favre. I guarantee that you'll never hear "BREAKING NEWS PEYTON SEXTS INTERN" or see him retire only to repeatedly come back. He's like Brett Favre though when it comes to being a great quarterback in a small market that formed a bond with the fans of that city closer than any other quarterback could have. Unlike Green Bay, Indianapolis does have another major sports team, the Indiana Pacers. Unfortunately for the Pacers they haven't had an iconic player since Reggie Miller retired, so Peyton has been the sole king of Indiana for the last 5+ years. He means more to that city than any other athlete means to their city.

I know I've rambled and I know that I probably repeated myself a bunch, but these are just my off the cuff feelings on what happened today. All I know after today is that I'd HATE to be Andrew Luck. He's going to be paid a kings ransom as the number 1 pick in the draft to try and replace a legend. Good luck to him, it's not going to be easy to escape the enormous shadow of Peyton Manning, especially if he goes somewhere else and wins a Superbowl.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment, become a fan of this blog, and follow me on twitter @joshviola19.

-Josh