2011 NFL Regular Season: One-man dependence cost Indianapolis Colts 14 games - Part 2
It was for the first time in last 14 years that Indianapolis Colts' quarterback, Peyton Manning, has not played any game in a season.
The player was out due to a neck injury and his absence made it very difficult for the side to pull off a win during the 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season.
Manning had a neck surgery earlier in September of 2011, and has not played a single game or practiced since then, making the Colts unsure whether he is coming back to join them next season or not.
This was Peyton’s third surgery in the last 18 months, and there is no surety whether he will be able to continue playing in the league.
Manning had been with the Indianapolis Colts for the last 14 seasons and there are speculations that his football career might be over.
The veteran player, however, has not spoken of his retirement yet.
Instead, he has hoped to stage a comeback next year according to the latest reports regarding his situation.
Interestingly, the 2011 season was the only season that Peyton Manning sat out and is the only one that Colts have gone down in their performance so miserably.
It was the total dependence on one man that cost the team a whole season and jobs of their managers when it was all over and done with.
Their sacked vice president, Bill Polian, in his post-sacking comments admitted that it was the failure to find and groom a replacement for Manning that resulted in the Colts' collapse past season, costing him his job as well as his son's, Colts' general manager, Chris Polian.
The father and son were fired by Colts' owner, Jim Irsay, right after the end of the NFL regular season, as part of the rebuilding process aimed at next year.
Peyton Manning has been in the on-field and off-field discussions in Colts’ last season, with contradictory statements about his recovery and return.
Manning mattered so much for Indianapolis that they kept him on their active roster despite that there was no confirmed timeline about his recovery and return, with hopes that he might be able to play for them at some point of time in the season.
After the repeated assurance about his comeback by their vice chairman, he was finally confirmed to be unable to return for the 2011 NFL season into week 15, after Colts managed to pull off their first win.
By then, the doctors had allowed the player to intensify his workout and started throwing the ball in the team’s practice sessions along with other players.
He however, had joined his teammates for one practice session despite being reported to be out of the side for the rest of the season for sure.
Furthermore, the team's coach, Jim Caldwell, in a statement, said that the player will not practice with other teammates and will recover through individual workout instead.
The news came despite Peyton had expressed hopes of a possible comeback in the later part of the season.
His hopes were endorsed by his younger brother, Eli Manning, who is a quarterback for the New York Jets.
Eli stated that Peyton was working hard on his recovery and it was likely that his injury would allow him to come back and resume playing later on in the season. Â
There were also a number of reports hinting at the possibility of Peyton preferring any other side over Colts to play football next season.
Irsay, however, refuted those reports, claiming if Manning returns to play football another season, it will be with the Indianapolis Colts, but there is still no confirmation from the player as of yet.
Another controversy that hit the Indianapolis Colts was if Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck could possibly be playing together besides each other, if the rookie is signed and Manning returns next year.
Apparently, there was no final word from either the player or the Colts management about such a difficulty arising at any time.
The only person to speak about this is Peyton Manning’s father, Archie Manning, who commented on the situation, saying that it would be difficult for both players to play side by side as quarterbacks at the same time for Indianapolis.
However, he denied the report the very next day, claiming he meant that it could be possible for both the players to play besides each other at the same time.
Keeping Peyton Manning the focal point of the 2011 season, Indianapolis Colts suffered greatly which might even result in them being unable to recover any time soon.
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