[For Those Who Are Optimistic]

http://www.nfl.com/n..._headline_stack

This gives me comfort as I'm surrounded by all of the infectious negativity.

I am optimistic about the Colts future mainly because of the "new direction" surrounding the defense and the fact that we have the number 1 pick. I wish that new defense (it's not actually here yet and may never really be) was around during Peyton's years. Your post must either be about Peyton being a Colt next year or about Peyton playing at all next year. I don't think Peyton will be a Colt next year but I will certainly be looking forward to watching him play again. Will he play again ... don't know. If he doesn't, he will be fine as he has passed all previous challenges.

As for the Colts ... I am looking forward to the combines, the draft, the 2012 pre-season, the 2012 season and oh yes .. the 2012 post-season. Now if I can just get that 2 and 12 season out of my head. GO COLTS!

[How You Became A Fan?]

How I became a fan is probably pretty obvious from my site name TennEngr. I became a Colts fan when Peyton was selected to be a member of the Colts in 1998.

I have been a fan of many teams over my many many years and my earliest memories are of being a fan of the "Purple People Eaters" and Fran Tarkington as a boy rooting for the Minnesota Vikings. I was a Miami Dolphin fan when Dan Marino was there and I thought he was the greatest quarterback (at that time).

Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee made me a die hard Volunteer fan. I became a Peyton Manning fan when he was recruited to Tennessee and solidified being a fan of his when he decided to stay for his senior year.

Most in my family root for the Titans and give me a hard time for rooting for the Colts. Many have asked me if I will still be a Colt fan when Peyton retires or plays for somebody else. I can't see myself being anything but a Colt fan now. Peyton has made me a life long Colt fan but I am sure that I have to prove it to many in the coming months and years. GO COLTS!

P.S. Funny how my favorite QB's kept breaking each others records.

[Just Say No To Peyton!]

I'm to the point now where I don't even want Peyton back on this team next year. The biggest reason I say that is because I want us as a franchise to prove we are more than just one man. I want us to succeed beyond Peyton to SHUT all these ESPN analysts up when they continue to keep bashing the Colts as of late. I want us to start anew with Luck and have the money we save from not signing Peyton to go out and get very good players in FA to help turn this team around soon.

Your thoughts on my take on this?

Your post seems a little strong about Peyton but I understand what you are saying. I don't think the analysts are necessarily wrong about the Colts .. can't believe I just said that ...I just get tired of hearing it over and over. The Colts chose to put all their eggs in the Peyton basket when there was probably opportunity to get him some help. I dread starting anew with Luck because of so many first round busts over the years. Hopefully, the Colts will put other pieces in place in the event that Luck is a bust. Let's hope this coaching staff actually coaches up a team and does not sit back and rely on a gifted QB all the time. I don't know that our past coaches were actually poor coaches but after 2011, I sure wonder. I never want to see a year 2011 again. GO COLTS!

[Colts Can Be A Good Football Team In 2012 And Beyond]

I believe our Colts are in need of around 10 players to be competive and build for our the future. I also believe it is possible for the Colts to obtain 8-10 of those players this year. The Colts need a good draft this year that will produce 5 contributors now or in the near future. We also need to find 1 or 2 UDFA to contribute. Finally we need to sign 2 or 3 or free agents.

I will start with the O and the linemen which I believe are the most important. We may have 3 of the 5 linemen we need in place to be solid in the near furure. The book ends are young and capable I believe (Castonzo,Iguana, lol). Reitz has potentia at guard. I believe we need 2 good offensive linemen and we can be solid up front. Thats 2 players we need.

We need a wide receiver.............a young,fast,big,solid wide receiver. We have talent with Reggie, Garcon, Collie and Gozalez but we need a new #1 Wide receiver. Thats 3 players we need.

Running back is questionable........I would love to have a Edge in our back field but we have the talent needed to be solid at RB.

Tight End as RB could be upgraded to a bigger stronger guy but we have Dallas, Tamme n Brode............could be worse.

QB............we need a QB to start or back up.

Thats 4 players we need.

Defensive line..............we need another DT to go along with Nevis, Johnson etc. We also need another Frathis like DE. The D-Line has talent and I am not sure what direction we r going but 2 new beasts on the d-line should solidify weather we go 3-4 or 4-3.

Thats 6 players we need.

The secondary is questionable. We have to get a safety and probably another corner but who knows we have young guys who may step up.

Thats 8 players at the most we need.

I like the lbs but we could use a game changer inserted there.

I just do not think the Colts are far from being a good football team.

Please elaborate.

I believe that we are much farther away from being a good football team than you think. Peyton won't be back (hope I'm wrong) so we have to get a QB for the future. Perhaps 2012 is the year that we finally "coach" defense. We play in a Division that usually runs all over us 6 games out of the year so shoring up our run defense is what we need. We have been trying to find that big DT and if we are going to a 3 - 4 then it is imperative that we get one quickly. You are quite optimistic and I can always dream. I suspect that we are 4 or 5 years away from being a perrenial post season team again. I just don't want another 2011 season ever again. GO COLTS!

[Mayock On Luck]

I hope that either Payton shuts it down or we go ahead and cut him because I beleive that we will win more rings with Andrew Luck than we did with Manning. I do think that Peyton is a great regular season QB but he is an average playoff QB. I mean look at how many rings Big Ben got and Brady and even Rogers got a ring way faster than Peyton. No disrespect but it's true.

Can't argue about your Big Ben, Brady and Rogers comment because it's factually a true statement. It is certainly concievable that Luck will win more rings than Peyton and I hope its true but probably won't happen unless the Colts TEAM is better than it has been for Peyton. Remember defense and run game! In my opinion Peyton has never been average anything. Oh and your statement "no disprespect but it's true" ... leave that some where else, it makes you look like a Peyton hater as many people are. Peyton is great PERIOD! Oh I forgot about your comment that Peyton should shut it down or we should go ahead and cut him. What was that all about? Oh perhaps you really are a Peyton hater. I wish I had not read the post now.

[1St Pick In The Draft Should Be Cb]

If we get a top 3 pick, I would trade it to get multiple picks. Andrew Luck is not a sure thing and how do you pay a 1st round pick AND Peyton Manning. You'll take a serious hit on paying anybody else unless you dump Peyton. I'll take Peyton Manning's knowledge of the game (assuming he is healthy enough to play) for several more years than take a chance on a 1st round QB. I bet San Francisco would be itching to get Andrew Luck and won't have a chance because Alex Smith has decided to play a little better. I bet San Francisco does not want Seattle to get Luck.

As always, we need to stop the run and be able to run the ball. I think our defense needs an overhaul with both coaches and players. We need to get bigger, bigger, bigger! The Tampa 2 has not been good to the Colts and should be scrapped. We have got to get a BIG BODY to get penetration which would be devastating with Mathis and Freeney. A shutdown corner would be great but will there be one available in the draft? I would prefer to trade and get a proven CB.

If we are not sure about Delone Carter then we should get another running back (1st or 2nd round). Brown in the 1st round was just crazy and a waste of a 1st round pick. I guess I don't know what I would do right now with multiple picks. GO COLTS!

[Houston Isnt Going To Run Away]

The Texans looked pretty darn good to me today. The analysts are probably beating them up for losing a winnable game but that doesn't mean they are lousy. I don't like our chances at winning the Division. We still have to play against Ben Tate/Arian Foster again; Chris Johnson (twice) and Maurice Jones-Drew (twice). These teams have a history of running all over us but we could always score more points and that's not going to happen this year.

Now if we could stop Rashard Mendenhall tonight, I might rethink my position. GO COLTS!