Unfortunately, there was a problem. Manning missed the entire 2011-12 season. Indianapolis finished with a 2-14 record without him. In the previous nine seasons, Peyton led the Colts to the playoffs each year including a Super Bowl victory in 2006-07 and another Super Bowl appearance in 2009-10. There were three things which lead to this separation, injury, age, and money.
The Colts had the worst record in the National Football League this season because their best player was literally on the sidelines. Manning had a surgical procedure done on his neck in May 2011 while the NFL was in a lockout. According to reports, Peyton was suffering from a bulging disc. He could do rehab work on his own but could not go to the Colts team facility for further examination. This was true for any player on any team, not just Manning.
However, it did set up a peculiar situation regarding his physical rebuilding. He and the team could not get the best estimate on whether he could play in 2011-12. After the lockout ended in late July, Manning could have formal conversations with Indianapolis again since League owners and players had signed a new CBA contract. All 30 teams conducted training camps but Manning was not on the field for any of the Colts practices.
His healing was slower than expected and the team had no legitimate replacement at quarterback. Indianapolis went into the regular season with no Manning and lost to Houston. The Colts announced right after the game that Manning had gone under the knife again. Peyton had surgery this time to fill in the gaps in his vertebrae.
According to Stephania Bell, a licensed physical therapist and health analyst at ESPN, doctors took the fractured disc material out of Manning’s body and put in a bone graft and metal plate in its place. It’s difficult to write and explain as a non-expert in health. However, it was easy to understand as a football fan, one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks was off the field for continuing neck problems.
Manning and the Colts faced another problem, age. Peyton will be 36 years old later in March. The old is the most important part. He had started every game for the prior 13 seasons before 2011. That was a streak of 208 consecutive contests from 1998-2010. Indianapolis won 150 of those ballgames, that is a astronomical 72 percent clip. Nevertheless, the large amount of games over more than a decade had its consequences.
Constantly, defensive linemen would hit Manning to the ground when he would drop back to pass. Unlike the New Orleans Saints alleged bounty-hunting hits, most times Manning was drilled hard but cleanly. Also, he threw the ball at least 30 times per game on most weeks. Manning has thrown for nearly 55,00 yards in terms of completed passes, 54,828 yards to be exact. He has also completed nearly 4,700 passes. That is a lot of strain on the shoulder and neck from throwing the football.
Finally, the biggest problem in this conflict is money. It was ironic that neither Manning nor Colts owner Jim Irsay mentioned it during their joint news conference on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Indianapolis Colts saved at least $28 million dollars and maybe more depending upon the specific contract details. What we know outside the roster bonus is the Colts did away with a five-year deal that they signed last season.
It was a dumb deal by both sides considering Manning was going to have surgery before he would play in 2011. They should have worked out a smaller set of years and money for a still effective but aging QB. It’s sad that Peyton Manning can’t finish his NFL career as an Indianapolis Colt. Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Super Bowl was played last month, is the Colts new football home because of Peyton and the team’s success.
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