Here we are! Super Bowl week has finally arrived. The last week before the most boring time in sports arrives. A greatly anticipated rematch of Super Bowl 42 is at our hands between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. In the middle of the big game discussion is the progression and take on Giant quarterback; Eli Manning. Could this man(ning) be considered one of the elite quarterbacks in the league with a win on Sunday? No his stats aren't the prettiest, no he isn't Mr. GQ, and no, he doesn't own a regular season MVP title nor break fabulous records. But Eli Manning sure can throw with the best of them. A win on Sunday would give him a second Super Bowl ring, being the 11th of all time to have at least two occupied fingers. One of those other ones will be across the field from Manning during the game, Tom Brady who has three, who Manning beat to win his first. Funny how the person in the most important position, in the most popular sport in the country, in the biggest media market in the world, can have such a laid back, goofy attitude. I don't think I've ever seen Eli mad! Nothing seems to bother him. Seems like he has the great clutch gene? Well with the most 4th Quarter comebacks in the league he certainly does possess it. That is mainly why they are in the position in the first place. He is simply a winner and you cant knock him on that. Lets be clear, if I can pick to have any quarterback in the league to lead my team down the field running a 2 minute drill down in the fourth, no I'm not picking Eli, no offense. There are a few better quarterbacks in the league in my opinion than Eli Manning but he doesn't need to be better than the others to get the job done. Win or lose on Sunday he'd still end up with more Super Bowl victories with Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, and Fran Tarkenton to name a few. All of them Hall of Famers and on Sunday you can very well see one in a number ten jersey, grow before our eyes.
In the midst of all the Super Bowl hooplah, another famous Manning is in the news. Eli's older brother Peyton certainly has made his mark in the league having won one Super Bowl. Peyton contrary to Eli, has marvelous stats, a record 4 MVP awards and is a bonafide Hall of Famer and could, if healthy break more passing records. Yet right now Peyton is encountering what could be the most difficult time of his life. While his brother is about to play in the biggest game of life, in his own building, Peyton is stuck in a "He say - Irsay" feud with Colts owner Jim Irsay. Peyton is coming off a season of inactivity from a neck injury he suffered the previous season. He also so happens to be owed $28 million dollars if the Colts accept his option to stay with the team. If they chose not to, Manning, the greatest quarterback in franchise history will become a free agent. The Colts also do plan on taking very much hyped quarterback of the future, Andrew Luck as the first overall pick in the upcoming draft. With indecision at point, a small war of words is going back and forth between Manning and Irsay. Manning seeing a complete change in staff around the franchise is in doubt that he will remain a Colt throughout the off season although he states he clearly wants to remain there the rest of his career. What do you do if you are Irsay? Accept a questionable Manning's $28 million option or let the the greatest quarterback in franchise history go, draft Luck and move on, or keep both? Well the first thing I would do if I were Irsay, is keep my mouth shut and as the great Herm Edwards says "Don't press Send!" as in stop tweeting. He has acted so unprofessional in this situation is ridiculous. Keep the comments behind closed doors between staff and not the media. Let Peyton do the talking. Now i know the emotional connection Peyton has to this franchise and fans, but $28 million is a hefty price. Peyton has done wonders to this franchise taking it from nothing to an annual contender. He showed how valuable he is to this team seeing this past year, the Colts went an NFL worst 2-14. Now even with Manning, I'm not too sure the Colts can contend with/beat the Texans looking to take the reins in the AFC South. That is why I think the right decision is to let Manning go to the dog pit of free agency where you will probably see main AFC rivals and other NFL teams go after him. I mean you just don't know how he's going to be after this injury along with accepting that expensive option. Green Bay moved on with their future Hall of Fame quarterback just finely, granted it was under different circumstances, but the fans moved on from Favre. Same will happen with Manning. The fans understand what's at the table here. They're not stupid. (Well at least most of them)(Hopefully). I kind of didn't agree with the firing of Caldwell being that it wasn't really fair what he had to deal with this season. By signing Manning, they would basically pay for Manning to be a teacher to Luck and that way too expensive when you have about 3 coaches that should be doing that for him. Manning will forever be known as a Colt and nothing would change that. Not even a Super Bowl with another team, even though that would be a huge hit to the hearts of Indy, but that's highly unlikely to happen. It's time to think for the future of this organization and although it is unfair to Manning, you are running a sports organization and a business. It's unfortunate but it's time to move on. Sorry Peyton I know it's been ugly but my advice for you if either find another team sign a small contract get a little time in and then call it quits. It's Eli's time now.
