According to Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network, Peyton Manning is expected to be released by the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday.
Manning has become as synonymous with Indianapolis as Joe Montana was with San Francisco or Troy Aikman was with Dallas. It doesn’t matter what Manning does after leaving Indy, he’ll always be remembered as a member of the Colts.
The move will end one of the most prolific runs in the history of the game. With the Colts, Manning threw 54,828 yards and 399 touchdowns. Manning didn’t miss a game from his rookie season in 1998 through 2010.
Despite Manning’s uncanny ability to stay healthy, he missed the entire 2011 season with a lingering neck injury that has required surgery after surgery to repair. News coming out lately has indicated that Manning is finally on the right track to get back to his normal self. If he’s able to do so, there’s a number of teams that Manning could land with, and make no mistake about it, Manning will be a hot commodity.
If this is indeed the end, and it appears that it is, it’s been a pleasure to watch Manning do his thing. I was fortunate enough to see 2 games live while Manning was with the Colts, and he’s every bit as amazing in Indianapolis as he is during ESPN’s top ten segment. Indiana will try to move on from the Manning era with Andrew Luck, but you can’t replace a guy like Peyton Manning, regardless of how great his replacement turns out to be.