Peyton left off list?

[csmopar]

[Nate!]

Can’t imagine anybody cares.  It’s a dumb, no meaning list.  

[The Old Crow]

Bad selections. Both Unitas and Manning better than Elway. 

[Lifetime Colt]

Hopefully the girls will take away his phone, replace it with a tv remote and let him go to town. Payton was much better than Elway, who shot the big middle finger to the Colts when they drafted him #1, saying he would just play baseball rather than sign with the team. That's the Elway the old man has in "his" top 5, break out the coloring books.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, The Old Crow said:

Bad selections. Both Unitas and Manning better than Elway. 

So was Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

[Tsarquise]

I have defended Irsay in the past,  but this is the straw for me; Jim Irsay is embarrassing and this did nothing but undermine him and his franchise. All he had to say was Jim Brown was one of the greatest players ever.  That's it. 

 

And, yes, Peyton is better than Brady. You would never hear Dungy say otherwise. 

 

Irsay definitely deserves all the flack he is getting and then some. 

[chrisfarley]

10 hours ago, w87r said:

Haven't seen anything on the site in regards to this. Curious of the thoughts regarding the situation?

 

 

Irsay is catching major flack about this, as he should be, in my opinion.

 

 

I just find it curious, there has to be some behind the scene beef.

 

I know personally, I get tired of seeing Peyton always repping Denver and rarely Indianapolis.

 

Now it just seems that there is something else going on to cause that. If not, I'm sure there is more now.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally have Elway as my 2nd rated QB(Manning #1) of all time, so I can't even be mad at him being listed there. 

 

 

I just really feel like this was a little out of pocket by Irsay, and really unnecessary. 

 

 

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

 

Are we sure he did this? If so, this list and reasoning for #3 are bizzaro squared, wth? If he wants to alienate someone even more, then he succeeded. Elon, make him stop.

[Tsarquise]

30 minutes ago, chrisfarley said:

Are we sure he did this? If so, this list and reasoning for #3 are bizzaro squared, wth? If he wants to alienate someone even more, then he succeeded. Elon, make him stop.

Really wouldn't mind a different owner. 

[NFLfan]

11 hours ago, w87r said:

Haven't seen anything on the site in regards to this. Curious of the thoughts regarding the situation?

 

 

Irsay is catching major flack about this, as he should be, in my opinion.

 

 

I just find it curious, there has to be some behind the scene beef.

 

I know personally, I get tired of seeing Peyton always repping Denver and rarely Indianapolis.

 

Now it just seems that there is something else going on to cause that. If not, I'm sure there is more now.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally have Elway as my 2nd rated QB(Manning #1) of all time, so I can't even be mad at him being listed there. 

 

 

I just really feel like this was a little out of pocket by Irsay, and really unnecessary. 

 

 

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

 

 

Good thread. At first I thought it was a fake account. But then I thought his list was "Best Non-Colts Players to Play in the NFL"

 

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubts.

 

Judging from some of these comments, Colts fans are so tough on the guy.

[Smoke317]

I love it.  This was Irsay letting Peyton know that, while he’s sucking up to the Broncos, Elway will ALWAYS be their greatest QB.  Not him.  But since Peyton is so attached to the Broncos, Jim put the greatest Broncos QB in his top 5 over the greatest Colts QB to show him that he can suck up to the Broncos too.  Lol. I love it. 
 

And note the Elway never had great weapons until the end of his career and won 2 rings with those weapons. While Peyton had great weapons his entire career…  Tell him Jim.  If you’re gonna be down with us, be all the way down with us or get from around us…  Peyton made his choice. 

 

He has chosen the Denver Broncos. Cool. Deuces.  I’ll always have love for the #18 that rocked The Shoe.  That guy is mostly gone now though and only makes rare appearances these days.  When he shows up, I’ll give him love.  When he’s repoing the Broncos, I could care less.

[CR91]

10 hours ago, JackWV said:

Very obvious Mr. Irsay and many others have never seen Otto Graham play or checked his bio....

 

Otto Graham won 10 championships, but that was before the merger.

[crazycolt1]

As a Colts fan I dispized Elway but as a NFL football fan, I have to give him his dues as a player.  

[w87r]

5 hours ago, NFLfan said:

 

Good thread. At first I thought it was a fake account. But then I thought his list was "Best Non-Colts Players to Play in the NFL"

 

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubts.

 

Judging from some of these comments, Colts fans are so tough on the guy.

To be fair, he has brought a lot of it on himself the last 9-10 month.

 

 

Meddling to much, while doing and saying questionable things.

 

 

This incident just had me thinking about the bigger picture and trying to see if puzzle pieces fit. Sure seem to be lining up.

 

 

Seems to be a direct passive aggressive way to let Peyton know he is tired of him not being more involved with the Colts, instead of the Broncos.

 

Which bugs me to, but don't feel this is the best way to go about it.

[jbaron04]

18 hours ago, w87r said:

Haven't seen anything on the site in regards to this. Curious of the thoughts regarding the situation?

 

 

Irsay is catching major flack about this, as he should be, in my opinion.

 

 

I just find it curious, there has to be some behind the scene beef.

 

I know personally, I get tired of seeing Peyton always repping Denver and rarely Indianapolis.

 

Now it just seems that there is something else going on to cause that. If not, I'm sure there is more now.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally have Elway as my 2nd rated QB(Manning #1) of all time, so I can't even be mad at him being listed there. 

 

 

I just really feel like this was a little out of pocket by Irsay, and really unnecessary. 

 

 

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

 

You are right I have noticed Peyton reps Denver more than Indy and has been bitter since the luck situation , 

[2006Coltsbestever]

18 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

He probably made the list so he could omit Peyton lol..  ....and if the list is after Jim Brown passed its to honor him. 

 

Imo, the biggest error is having a known chronic cheater on the list AND not having the greatest QB ever on it, Johnny Unitas! .....who by the way put the Colts & NFL on the map.

It is all opinion and how different people use different measures to rank players. Unitas is on my Mt Rushmore of QB's list in which you can only have 4. He would also make my top 10 players list. Like I said it is all opinion but I look at stuff even like what ERA a player played in. Realistically trying to put a QB on a top 10 list like Otto Graham is impossible because of the ERA he played in. When he played the forward pass was rarely used and QB's back then statistically just don't measure up to QB's from the 1980's to now. Unitas is really the only one that does, even Terry Bradshaw's stats were average at best. To me League MVP's are very important because that is an individual award generally won by the best/or most important player in football - Peyton has 5. Championships are factored in but Football is a team game so it isn't the only factor. Stats, how dominant a QB/player was, and Clutch factor are huge factors for me when ranking players.

 

My top 10 list to stretch it out more would be:

1. Tom Brady - Many call him a cheat, but he when he won that SB in Tampa Bay that was 100% legit. IMO Belichick was the cheater for the most part. Brady could have won without any of the nonsense that went on. He proved it in Tampa. 7-time SB winner as a starter, and 3 League MVP's.

 

2. Lawrence Taylor - He actually won a League MVP in 1986 and to me was the greatest Pass Rusher of all-time. Was a 2-time SB winner.

 

3. Joe Montana - Mr Clutch, 4-0 in SB's with 0 INT's in those 4 games. He also won League MVP twice in his career.

 

4. Jim Brown - Set the tone for all runners = RB's/FB's. He won 3 League MVP's, no RB has ever done that.

 

5. Peyton Manning - Won 5 League MVP's, won 2 SB's as a starter for 2 different franchises. 1 man wrecking crew!

 

6. Jerry Rice - Holds all the major records for WR's. No brainer that he is a top 10 player ever.

 

7. Ray Lewis - Was a QB on defense and was the Ravens heart and soul for 2 decades. 2-time SB winner.

 

8. Emmitt Smith - Say what you want about Smith, (that he had a great O.Line blah blah). He is the all-time leading Rusher, 3-time SB winner, and even won a League MVP in 1993.

 

9. Johnny Unitas - 1st great QB that put up big numbers, he helped change the game. He won 2 NFL Championships, and a SB as a starter + multiple League MVP's.

 

10. Deion Sanders - Greatest Cover Corner ever, he took away half the field. There is nobody now or in the past that has been anywhere near as great as he was coverage wise. He was also a dangerous Punt Returner.

 

-This is just my top 10 and all 10 of these guys dominated their position for a long time, won multiple championships, and all the offensive players I have listed at least won 1 League MVP.

[John Hammonds]

I don't read anything into this besides Irsay trying to be objective, and not being a homer.

 

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if he listed his top 5 NFL players of All Time:

1 - Peyton Manning

2 - Marvin Harrison

3 - Edgerrin James

4 - Reggie Wayne

5 - Dwight Freeney

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

I don't read anything into this besides Irsay trying to be objective, and not being a homer.

 

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if he listed his top 5 NFL players of All Time:

1 - Peyton Manning

2 - Marvin Harrison

3 - Edgerrin James

4 - Reggie Wayne

5 - Dwight Freeney

I would replace Edge and put Robert Mathis in my top 5 - I would, but I am also just messing with you being sarcastic because I get your point.

 

Your other 4 are spot on = Indianapolis players only 

[BlackTiger]

19 hours ago, w87r said:

Go check the feedback he received from Colts nation in response to that tweet. 

Meh i think people got too worked up over nothing.  Its a tweet ranking players, im not going to get fuming mad like a lot of others did

 

There are people that got SUPER salty over this on FB and reddit.  Id rather just move on myself 

[Pelt]

Just a simple case of hair dye adversely influencing the man's cognitive function...

[rockywoj]

Johnny Unitas, another Colt, left off the list of all-timers.  I EXPECT the Colts owner to be biased, so the fact that Irsay puts two QBs ahead of both Manning and Unitas, I find it troubling.  I mean, whatever, just Irsay’s opinion, but wow, talk about riling up your fan base. Big thumbs down, Irsay.

[rockywoj]

49 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is all opinion and how different people use different measures to rank players. Unitas is on my Mt Rushmore of QB's list in which you can only have 4. He would also make my top 10 players list. Like I said it is all opinion but I look at stuff even like what ERA a player played in. Realistically trying to put a QB on a top 10 list like Otto Graham is impossible because of the ERA he played in. When he played the forward pass was rarely used and QB's back then statistically just don't measure up to QB's from the 1980's to now. Unitas is really the only one that does, even Terry Bradshaw's stats were average at best. To me League MVP's are very important because that is an individual award generally won by the best/or most important player in football - Peyton has 5. Championships are factored in but Football is a team game so it isn't the only factor. Stats, how dominant a QB/player was, and Clutch factor are huge factors for me when ranking players.

 

My top 10 list to stretch it out more would be:

1. Tom Brady - Many call him a cheat, but he when he won that SB in Tampa Bay that was 100% legit. IMO Belichick was the cheater for the most part. Brady could have won without any of the nonsense that went on. He proved it in Tampa. 7-time SB winner as a starter, and 3 League MVP's.

 

2. Lawrence Taylor - He actually won a League MVP in 1986 and to me was the greatest Pass Rusher of all-time. Was a 2-time SB winner.

 

3. Joe Montana - Mr Clutch, 4-0 in SB's with 0 INT's in those 4 games. He also won League MVP twice in his career.

 

4. Jim Brown - Set the tone for all runners = RB's/FB's. He won 3 League MVP's, no RB has ever done that.

 

5. Peyton Manning - Won 5 League MVP's, won 2 SB's as a starter for 2 different franchises. 1 man wrecking crew!

 

6. Jerry Rice - Holds all the major records for WR's. No brainer that he is a top 10 player ever.

 

7. Ray Lewis - Was a QB on defense and was the Ravens heart and soul for 2 decades. 2-time SB winner.

 

8. Emmitt Smith - Say what you want about Smith, (that he had a great O.Line blah blah). He is the all-time leading Rusher, 3-time SB winner, and even won a League MVP in 1993.

 

9. Johnny Unitas - 1st great QB that put up big numbers, he helped change the game. He won 2 NFL Championships, and a SB as a starter + multiple League MVP's.

 

10. Deion Sanders - Greatest Cover Corner ever, he took away half the field. There is nobody now or in the past that has been anywhere near as great as he was coverage wise. He was also a dangerous Punt Returner.

 

-This is just my top 10 and all 10 of these guys dominated their position for a long time, won multiple championships, and all the offensive players I have listed at least won 1 League MVP.

I really liked Emmitt Smith, but Walter Payton was better and so was Barry Sanders, whom was imho the best RB I ever laid eyes upon.  For me, the top QBs I watched were Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Bert Jones, Johnny Unitas (just fleeting memory), and Tom Brady.  Oh, I might now put Mahomes on this list, if he can bring longevity.  Different position, but I’d put Reggie White ahead of Ray Lewis 7 days a week.  Also notice, similarly, Elway makes neither mine nor your list. 

[Fluke_33]

8 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

I love it.  This was Irsay letting Peyton know that, while he’s sucking up to the Broncos, Elway will ALWAYS be their greatest QB.  Not him.  But since Peyton is so attached to the Broncos, Jim put the greatest Broncos QB in his top 5 over the greatest Colts QB to show him that he can suck up to the Broncos too.  Lol. I love it. 
 

And note the Elway never had great weapons until the end of his career and won 2 rings with those weapons. While Peyton had great weapons his entire career…  Tell him Jim.  If you’re gonna be down with us, be all the way down with us or get from around us…  Peyton made his choice. 

 

He has chosen the Denver Broncos. Cool. Deuces.  I’ll always have love for the #18 that rocked The Shoe.  That guy is mostly gone now though and only makes rare appearances these days.  When he shows up, I’ll give him love.  When he’s repoing the Broncos, I could care less.

I think this is spot on.  I do not love it though.  I think it is petty.   

 

I think manning is still bothered/hurt by being let go and i think he is also petty about it.   However, the guy got a statue.  He should get over it.  

 

Of course this is all speculation, and if true then they are both being childish.

[2006Coltsbestever]

23 minutes ago, rockywoj said:

I really liked Emmitt Smith, but Walter Payton was better and so was Barry Sanders, whom was imho the best RB I ever laid eyes upon.  For me, the top QBs I watched were Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Bert Jones, Johnny Unitas (just fleeting memory), and Tom Brady.  Oh, I might now put Mahomes on this list, if he can bring longevity.  Different position, but I’d put Reggie White ahead of Ray Lewis 7 days a week.  Also notice, similarly, Elway makes neither mine nor your list. 

Barry had more talent than Smith did but just not the career he had. Pure talent wise Barry was better, Like Dan Marino was better than Tom Brady talent wise. The game that defined Emmitt Smith's career is when he beat Lawrence Taylor with 1 arm at NY with HFA on the line (1993). Emmitt just had the heart of a lion = (no pun intended towards Barry lol).

[2006Coltsbestever]

24 minutes ago, rockywoj said:

I really liked Emmitt Smith, but Walter Payton was better and so was Barry Sanders, whom was imho the best RB I ever laid eyes upon.  For me, the top QBs I watched were Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Bert Jones, Johnny Unitas (just fleeting memory), and Tom Brady.  Oh, I might now put Mahomes on this list, if he can bring longevity.  Different position, but I’d put Reggie White ahead of Ray Lewis 7 days a week.  Also notice, similarly, Elway makes neither mine nor your list. 

Yeah Reggie White is probably a top 10 player, I left him off but fair points on all aspects.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Elway would make my top 15 overall. Not top 10 though. Great QB so to me top 15 isn't a dis, and I think he has a great argument to being a top 5 QB of all-time but Peyton and Unitas both were better.

[Colt.45]

Irsay loves to connect with the fans and it's great.....I'm struggling to see the value of partaking in an action like this though...

Gotta know when to hold em, when to fold em....etc. 

My single big issue with Jim Irsay, he doesnt know when to lock it up

[bluephantom87]

9 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

I love it.  This was Irsay letting Peyton know that, while he’s sucking up to the Broncos, Elway will ALWAYS be their greatest QB.  Not him.  But since Peyton is so attached to the Broncos, Jim put the greatest Broncos QB in his top 5 over the greatest Colts QB to show him that he can suck up to the Broncos too.  Lol. I love it. 
 

And note the Elway never had great weapons until the end of his career and won 2 rings with those weapons. While Peyton had great weapons his entire career…  Tell him Jim.  If you’re gonna be down with us, be all the way down with us or get from around us…  Peyton made his choice. 

 

He has chosen the Denver Broncos. Cool. Deuces.  I’ll always have love for the #18 that rocked The Shoe.  That guy is mostly gone now though and only makes rare appearances these days.  When he shows up, I’ll give him love.  When he’s repoing the Broncos, I could care less.

 

Me personally I don't care one way or the other and don't get all the uproar because Peyton has chosen to distance HIMSELF from the franchise and I'm quite sure that Irsay is taking notice so I'm NOT surprised by his POINTED ranking of Elway over Peyton which I'll get to. Yes it's a little weird to see Peyton be ALL Bronco post football as far as speaking to what the team needs in a "we" fashion (more so than Elway at this point) and to see him be highly visible for a lot of Denver city functions including Nugget games, golfing and charity events. Peyton also has a whole children's hospital here in the city named after him that he rarely visits now but at the end of the day that's HIS prerogative.

 

The man became an all time NFL great donning the shoe and I believe his ego took a hit when the Colts made a BUSINESS decision to let him go due to injury with the option to draft his replacement in Luck. Remember at the time Peyton wouldn't restructure his contract (don't blame him) due to the uncertainty of the neck injury AND made it clear (by some "inside" reports) that he wasn't mentoring Luck. Now with that being said...

 

I DO believe that Irsay MADE it a point to name ELWAY over Peyton. I think most polls would have Brady, Montana and Manning over Elway. I even see some make a case for Mahomes NOW or Marino back then also. Think about it Irsay CHOSE the guy who COULD’VE changed the fortunes of a bad Colts team in Elway who REFUSED to play for the franchise and THREATENED to walk away from football entirely to go play baseball instead of even being associated with the team OVER arguably the greatest Colt (outside Unitas) of all time in Manning who DID morph the team into a regular season juggernaut.

 

Call it petty on Irsay but I don't think he takes Peyton's rear view mirror approach to the Colts lightly. I truly believe that Irsay sees this as a snub to the franchise as time goes on. All of this is unfortunate because Peyton should be KNOWN for the blue and white that finished elsewhere BUT over time the narrative is starting to appear that he's a Bronco great who played for the Colts early and that's sad.

[ADnum1]

22 hours ago, w87r said:

Haven't seen anything on the site in regards to this. Curious of the thoughts regarding the situation?

 

 

Irsay's list is not terrible.

 

As much as we can't stand Brady he is the GOAT.

 

Jim Brown is great.  You can tell Irsay likes dominant defensive players like Deacon and Reggie White.

 

The only real debate is Elway vs Manning.

 

I think the discussion around Elway is was he surrounded by a much poorer team than Manning who's Colts superbowl team was loaded.  Also in Mannings second superbowl, his arm was shot and only threw for 132 yards or something like that.

 

I tend to agree with 2006, I would put Montana on the list, maybe even ahead both of them.

 

So maybe thats why Irsay put Elway so far up on the list.  The Elway superbowl teams were bad and were carried by Elway.

[coltsblue1844]

18 hours ago, w87r said:

I don't know.

 

First off I think amicable isn't sufficient for how their relationship should be. That's neither here nor there though. I think Irsay has infinite love for Peyton, I feel the resistance is coming from Manning's side.? 

 

Agree, neither care what the fans think about it, but I would love to hear Peyton's honest take on it. Won't ever happen, but can't imagine he is happy about it.

 

On a separate note,

 

I think it seems to be the opposite.

 

1. Manning's bias to Denver over Indy.

* Will note that Denver clearly a better overall location, but his lack of presence here just screams, some other issues on going.

2. If Irsay has this, we will go with amicable, relationship. Why does he need Saturday here because of his "proximity to Peyton". Wouldn't his relationship be enough. Those were Irsay's words.

3. Again, I don't really care who is on his top 5, bottom line is it was unsolicited and it just feels like a shot at Manning. Unnecessary one at that.

 

 

 

Even agreed with a Dan Dakich post today about the situation, and that never happens.

 

 

Something just seems off with the whole thing to me.

what did Dan Dakich say about it?  I hadnt heard...

 

In my opinion, Peyton never wanted to leave, but Jim forced him out...we had the #1 pick, there was uncertainty with Peyton etc... but Peyton begged to stay, willing to re-work his deal in any way needed, so that he could complete his entire career in one place, for one team...  looking back now, knowing that Luck barely played longer than Peyton and knowing how well Peyton played for 3 years following this... I feel we should have kept Peyton and traded that #1 pick for probably the biggest draft haul ever at that time.

 

Then Irsay went a step further, referring to the "star wars numbers that only won one super bowl" and downplayed the previous decade... yet ever since Andrew retired, Jim has been trying to get back to that 2000s decade in any way that he can.

 

I do think that Irsay has done several things that would "irk" Peyton, and none of them were things that Irsay needed to do or say.

 

And me, personally... I think Tom has more rings, but Peyton was the far better player.  Tom blows out his knee week 1 and his back up steps in and the Pats still win 11 games that year... Peyton misses a season and we drop 8 more games than the previous year.

 

Put Peyton on all of those Pats teams and they would have won just as many if not more Super Bowls... put Tom on the Colts teams and they would be lucky to have won ONE Super Bowl.

 

 

[Shaolin06]

I don't see anything wrong with his list it's his opinion. I like Peyton just as much as the next colt fan but he was great in the regular season and mediocre in the playoffs. He shouldn't even have a superbowl mvp that should have went to Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai. I think as colts fans we have rose colored glasses when it comes to Peyton. 

[Superman]

Overall, I don't care. I saw the list when Irsay first posted it, and my first thought was 'wow, he left Peyton off, that's gonna be interesting.' But it doesn't really matter to me.

 

But I do agree there's some distance between Irsay/Colts and Manning, and there might be some beef. It could also just be the result of Irsay's desire to have a contender without Manning, which along with other circumstances has led to Manning being more involved with the Broncos than with the Colts in recent years. He even did the Broncos schedule release video. All of this isn't a big deal IMO, but it doesn't help bridge whatever gap there is between the Colts and Manning.

 

If Irsay was really worried about perception, he probably wouldn't have shared this list. Or he could have just said 'this is purposely non Colts.' But Irsay isn't a guy who worries about perception, for better or worse.

 

And I guess, even though Irsay doesn't worry about this stuff, it is disappointing to the fans on some level that the greatest Colts player of all time isn't closely connected with the organization anymore. And it's probably fair to say that Irsay, as the chairman of the franchise, should be making it his goal to bring Manning more into the fold, not doing things that could further alienate him. In that way, I guess I'd agree that this is a miss on Irsay's part.

[2006Coltsbestever]

47 minutes ago, Shaolin06 said:

I don't see anything wrong with his list it's his opinion. I like Peyton just as much as the next colt fan but he was great in the regular season and mediocre in the playoffs. He shouldn't even have a superbowl mvp that should have went to Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai. I think as colts fans we have rose colored glasses when it comes to Peyton. 

- without Peyton we would not have sniffed a SB run. You are naive if you think otherwise. Had we drafted Ryan Leaf instead we would not even have a team here in Indianapolis either. Irsay rode his coattails for years and everyone knows it and I love Irsay as an owner, he is a cool guy and wants to win but facts are facts though. Look at our record with Peyton and without him.

[2006Coltsbestever]

39 minutes ago, Superman said:

Overall, I don't care. I saw the list when Irsay first posted it, and my first thought was 'wow, he left Peyton off, that's gonna be interesting.' But it doesn't really matter to me.

 

But I do agree there's some distance between Irsay/Colts and Manning, and there might be some beef. It could also just be the result of Irsay's desire to have a contender without Manning, which along with other circumstances has led to Manning being more involved with the Broncos than with the Colts in recent years. He even did the Broncos schedule release video. All of this isn't a big deal IMO, but it doesn't help bridge whatever gap there is between the Colts and Manning.

 

If Irsay was really worried about perception, he probably wouldn't have shared this list. Or he could have just said 'this is purposely non Colts.' But Irsay isn't a guy who worries about perception, for better or worse.

 

And I guess, even though Irsay doesn't worry about this stuff, it is disappointing to the fans on some level that the greatest Colts player of all time isn't closely connected with the organization anymore. And it's probably fair to say that Irsay, as the chairman of the franchise, should be making it his goal to bring Manning more into the fold, not doing things that could further alienate him. In that way, I guess I'd agree that this is a miss on Irsay's part.

Lets see Irsay win a SB without Peyton, then he can say whatever he wants. We probably won't at the rate we are going. With Peyton we went to 2 SB's and won 1 and had 7 straight 12 win seasons from 2003-2009. Peyton has an argument to being the best player and QB of all-time in reality and his owner left him out of the top 5 

[chrisfarley]

While Irsay is burning down the bridge, Manning knows deep down that Colts fans love him and have deep-rooted feelings about what he meant / means to this franchise.  That's really what matters.  It doesn't help that when people like Pat McAfee interview him (Manning), Pat says things like, "That's the team that fired you", blah blah.  Including Irsay tweets, those are little pinpricks that keep the wounds festering. 

[Shaolin06]

Clearly I'm not being naive about Peyton when I said he was great in the regular season and mediocre in the playoffs. The defense is what took us to the first superbowl. We beat the ravens that year in the playoffs with just field goals and good defense. He had up and down games in that playoff run. Peyton is a great qb and he has did a lot for our franchise but people get to emotional over someone's opinion. Your top 5 doesn't have to match his and vice versa. 

[ADnum1]

I thought Peyton was involved with the Colts.  Isn't he a consultant ?  I thought he signed off on the Jeff Saturday hiring and was hanging out with Levis and gave Levis his blessing.

[Superman]

46 minutes ago, PRnum1 said:

I thought Peyton was involved with the Colts.  Isn't he a consultant ?  I thought he signed off on the Jeff Saturday hiring and was hanging out with Levis and gave Levis his blessing.

 

Are you being sarcastic?

[Superman]

1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Lets see Irsay win a SB without Peyton, then he can say whatever he wants. We probably won't at the rate we are going. With Peyton we went to 2 SB's and won 1 and had 7 straight 12 win seasons from 2003-2009. Peyton has an argument to being the best player and QB of all-time in reality and his owner left him out of the top 5 

 

He can already say whatever he wants. It doesn't really matter. A hundred people could post their top five lists, and you'd probably get 100 different lists. Anyone can have their opinions, it's totally subjective, and ultimately irrelevant.

 

Also, I say this as a huge Manning fan, and a long time Brady/Patriot hater: I don't think there's an objective argument for anyone other than Brady being the best QB of all time. Manning is absolutely my favorite, and I think he was a better player at his peak than Brady ever was, but Brady's overall career and resume make this a dead argument. It's really been that way since SB51, and Brady has another two SB wins and an MVP since then.

 

I don't agree with the Elway thing, though. In fact, I'd probably put Marino ahead of Elway.

[sb41champs]

Let's keep things in perspective.

 

Irsay was listing his Top 5 ALL-TIME - NOT Top 5 Colts.

 

Personally - I would have put Peyton Manning on the list - in place of John Elway.

 

But - I don't have a real problem with any of the other members of his list.

 

The NFL is 100+ years old - and - there is literally "a cast of thousands" to choose from.  

 

So regardless of who Jim Irsay - or - any other NFL fan chooses as the Top 5 All-Time - there will ALWAYS be room for discussion.

[Dingus McGirt]

5 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is all opinion and how different people use different measures to rank players. Unitas is on my Mt Rushmore of QB's list in which you can only have 4. He would also make my top 10 players list. Like I said it is all opinion but I look at stuff even like what ERA a player played in. Realistically trying to put a QB on a top 10 list like Otto Graham is impossible because of the ERA he played in. When he played the forward pass was rarely used and QB's back then statistically just don't measure up to QB's from the 1980's to now. Unitas is really the only one that does, even Terry Bradshaw's stats were average at best. To me League MVP's are very important because that is an individual award generally won by the best/or most important player in football - Peyton has 5. Championships are factored in but Football is a team game so it isn't the only factor. Stats, how dominant a QB/player was, and Clutch factor are huge factors for me when ranking players.

 

My top 10 list to stretch it out more would be:

1. Tom Brady - Many call him a cheat, but he when he won that SB in Tampa Bay that was 100% legit. IMO Belichick was the cheater for the most part. Brady could have won without any of the nonsense that went on. He proved it in Tampa. 7-time SB winner as a starter, and 3 League MVP's.

 

2. Lawrence Taylor - He actually won a League MVP in 1986 and to me was the greatest Pass Rusher of all-time. Was a 2-time SB winner.

 

3. Joe Montana - Mr Clutch, 4-0 in SB's with 0 INT's in those 4 games. He also won League MVP twice in his career.

 

4. Jim Brown - Set the tone for all runners = RB's/FB's. He won 3 League MVP's, no RB has ever done that.

 

5. Peyton Manning - Won 5 League MVP's, won 2 SB's as a starter for 2 different franchises. 1 man wrecking crew!

 

6. Jerry Rice - Holds all the major records for WR's. No brainer that he is a top 10 player ever.

 

7. Ray Lewis - Was a QB on defense and was the Ravens heart and soul for 2 decades. 2-time SB winner.

 

8. Emmitt Smith - Say what you want about Smith, (that he had a great O.Line blah blah). He is the all-time leading Rusher, 3-time SB winner, and even won a League MVP in 1993.

 

9. Johnny Unitas - 1st great QB that put up big numbers, he helped change the game. He won 2 NFL Championships, and a SB as a starter + multiple League MVP's.

 

10. Deion Sanders - Greatest Cover Corner ever, he took away half the field. There is nobody now or in the past that has been anywhere near as great as he was coverage wise. He was also a dangerous Punt Returner.

 

-This is just my top 10 and all 10 of these guys dominated their position for a long time, won multiple championships, and all the offensive players I have listed at least won 1 League MVP.

Well done.