RealClearSports: Manning's Presence Defines the Colts

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

This is similar to the way it started for Joe Montana, an injury that didn't seem like much, an elbow injury in August 1991 that didn't heal for two years.

An elbow injury that stopped his career with the San Francisco 49ers, who were fortunate enough to have Steve Young in reserve and after those two years grudgingly traded Montana to Kansas City.

Maybe the neck problem for Peyton Manning isn't that serious ...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

Newsday (N.Y.): Saints beat Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

MIAMI -- The team from New Orleans beat the man from New Orleans. The Super Bowl that was going to validate the greatness of Peyton Manning instead verified the heart and hustle of his hometown Saints.

Peyton was supposed to lead the Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLIV. Instead, on a night of surprises, it was the other quarterback, Drew Brees, who led the team Peyton cheered for as a kid to a 31-17 victory before 74,059 fans at Sun Life Stadium.

Brees and a defense which did what couldn't be done against Manning.

The Saints kept the ball out of his hands, and then late in the game, when it was in his hands, turned an interception by Tracy Porter into a touchdown as stunning as it was crushing.

A franchise that for so long was so appallingly bad that its fans wore bags on their heads and nicknamed it the "Aints'' reached the summit of pro football. In their 43rd year of existence, the Saints finally have gone marching in.

Whether the championship in any way eases the pain of Hurricane Katrina's destruction 4 1/2 years ago is open for discussion. But moments after the final gun on that most famous of party thoroughfares, Bourbon Street, the city was already wild.

"Four years ago we were under water,'' Brees said, "and now look what's happened. I feel so good for the people there.''

Brees completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns and was named MVP. Maybe because the Colts' Dwight Freeney was slowed by that sore ankle. Maybe not.

"I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time,'' said Brees, signed as a free agent four years ago when Chargers wouldn't bring him back. "It's better than I imagined.''

It's hard to imagine what the favored Colts were thinking. They held a 10-0 first-quarter lead, and the game almost seemed over then. But it turned like that. The Saints had the ball for all but 2:34 of the second quarter, and even though they failed to score a touchdown on two plays from the 1-yard line, there was a sense the Colts could be stopped.

"We didn't care if they got 200 yards rushing,'' Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said.

"We had to try to eliminate the bad plays and the big plays. It was a battle of wills, and we got it done.''

The Colts, the worst rushing team in the NFL, ran for 99 yards, and Manning passed for 333 and a touchdown. But he didn't come up with many big completions, as Williams had planned.

The Saints used three field goals by Garrett Hartley, who set a Super Bowl record for that number beyond 40 yards, and an onside kickoff to start the second half to make their presence felt. It was typically aggressive and gutty move by coach Sean Payton. Whatever works.

What didn't work for Manning was the fourth-quarter pass intended for Reggie Wayne with the Colts trailing, 24-17 and the ball on the Saints' 31, third-and-5. Porter grabbed it on the run and went 74 yards for the clincher.

"It was great film study,'' Porter said. "We knew on third- and-short they stack. It was great film study by me, a great jump and a great play.''

Manning used the word disappointment several times, but also said, "I know from us winning three years ago how exciting it was, and the Saints have the same feeling now. I'm excited for them.'' Manning's father, Archie, of course, was a quarterback for the Saints in their awful days. Peyton's brother Eli is the quarterback for the Giants.

It was a former Giant, tight end Jeremy Shockey, who caught the key touchdown pass with 5:42 left. Shockey's 2-yard catch, along with a two-point conversion pass to Lance Moore, first judged no good but overruled after a Payton challenge, gave New Orleans the lead for good at 24-17.

"I don't care about the catch,'' said Shockey, who didn't play in the Giants' Super Bowl win two years ago because of an injury. "I just care about the team.''

That team is the best in football.

"And it's not only for city,'' Saints owner Tom Benson said. "It's for the state. New Orleans is back.''

Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Garçon, Collie have been a revelation for Colts

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

MIAMI -- The good teams find them. That's why they're good teams. Somewhere in the draft are players who can meet a need, fill a void. For the Indianapolis Colts, those players were Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie.

Marvin Harrison was leaving. Marvin Harrison, for so long Peyton Manning's favorite target, was finished with the Colts at the end of 2008. Sure, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark would catch what Manning threw, but who would take over for Harrison?

As we've learned, it was Garçon, in his second season, and Collie, in his first. The Jets learned that, too.

In the AFC Championship Game, Garçon made 11 catches for 153 yards, the best numbers of his brief career. Collie had seven catches for 123 yards and a touchdown, the best numbers of his even briefer career.

What we know about Garçon, the sixth-round pick in the 2008 draft from Division III Mount Union (Ohio), is this: He was born in New York after his parents emigrated from Haiti, the country he honored by wearing a headscarf illustrated with a portion of the Haitian flag during interviews.

What we know about Collie, the fourth-round pick in the 2009 draft, is this: He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, while his father was playing in the Canadian Football League and grew up in northern California. What we also know was he spent 2005 and 2006 on a Mormon mission in Buenos Aires before returning to play two seasons at BYU and turning pro.

What we didn't know about either, as Manning said, is this: "You just don't know those guys are going to respond during the course of a season, during the playoffs . . . Those guys just have had a really calm look in their eyes throughout the year. That has been very comforting.

"We have counted on those young guys to make a lot of plays for us this year. I think it's unusual for two guys like that.''

Garçon was more kick returner than receiver as a rookie, but now he's more star than anything, with 16 catches for 185 yards in two postseason games.

"Losing Marvin and Anthony Gonzalez [with a knee injury] was very tough to deal with,'' Garçon said. "But as a team, we're always at the next man up. This is what you get paid to do . . . I always thought I had potential. And I have been working hard and getting ready for this time to come.''

Collie's work has been a bit unusual. Early on, he had trouble memorizing the Colts' complex playbook. "My wife would help,'' Collie said, "by giving me a play and then read the script from the previous day or the script about to be used. I teach her what I am doing, and if I got the play wrong, she would make me do it again.''

Judging by what's occurred, Collie's been getting most of them right. As few would have guessed in July, he and Garçon have become major parts of a team still playing in February.

Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Addai focused on wins, not his rushing stats

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

MIAMI -- He is the running back on a passing team. Joseph Addai doesn't get a lot of yards and gets even less respect, which is what happens when Peyton Manning is your teammate.

But as the Jets forlornly will concur, Addai helped get the Indianapolis Colts into Sunday's Super Bowl against the Saints.

There they are, at the bottom of the NFL stats in rushing. There they are, one victory from the trophy named for Vince Lombardi, who most likely would be appalled at the Colts' inability to pound the ball.

Except when, against the Jets in the AFC Championship Game, they pounded it when needed. Addai ran through seams that were unclosed because the Jets understandably had to be worried about Manning and his passing ability.

"The main focus,'' Addai said, "has been getting that 'W,' and that's what we've been doing. I think when we get the opportunity [to run], we make something happen.

"It's really how you look at it. If you just watch a game, you say, 'That's a nice run, that's a nice run,' but you look on paper and see something different. It's how you look at it, and what we have to work with. You have a great player in Peyton Manning, so you want him to make a lot of decisions, and he does a great job.''

The Colts averaged a paltry 80.9 yards a game on the ground in the regular season (and 282.2 passing). But Indianapolis did pick up 101 yards against the Jets, 80 of those by Addai at key times.

"It's an area we know needs improving,'' Colts coach Jim Caldwell said about his team's rushing attack. "But I do think there are certain times in certain ballgames, like the last one we played [against the Jets], where we have been effective.''

Nitpicking is a favorite activity in sports. It's not so much what you have but what you don't have that leads to discussions. So when the accolades about Manning ebb, the doubts about Addai begin. Perhaps unfairly.

Three years ago, when the Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Addai gained 143 yards rushing, the second-highest total for a rookie in Super Bowl history. He also had 10 receptions for 66 yards, the most catches by a running back in a Super Bowl game.

But this year he was bothered by a partially torn hamstring, so the Colts went to the infrequently used legs of rookie Donald Brown and the very frequently used arm of Manning.

Now Addai, who was a first-round pick out of LSU in 2006, is forced to defend himself to the media after the other team defends him on the turf.

"I always say I'm a human first,'' he said when asked if he's bothered when the Colts' running game is disparaged, "but when coaches call our number, we answer well. It comes down to being a team player and getting those 'Ws', and we've been doing that.''

Especially in the postseason, when it matters most.

Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: Miami’s been a good city to the 49er faithful

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

MIAMI — The years disappear. The memories remain.

Another Super Bowl in South Florida, this one between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. Thoughts, however, turn toward other days and another team, the 49ers.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company