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TORONTO - 

Who knew that Peyton Manning’s pain in the neck was contagious? It’s turned into an injury that took down the big players in the Indianapolis Colts’ front office.

It’s been hardly a secret for the past decade that Manning’s brilliance as a quarterback was central to the Colts’ steady string of successes, including a Super Bowl title.

Nobody realized, though, how quickly the house of cards constructed by vice-chairman Bill Polian and his son Chris, the club GM, would fall apart without Manning. Both were dismissed Monday.

“It’s a new era,” said owner Jim Irsay during a late-afternoon press conference.

“We’re moving into exciting times by my estimation. The search for a GM begins immediately. We have not talked to any teams or potential GMs yet. This is not like ’97 where we replaced the GM in matter of hours. It will be a matter of time, possibly a couple of weeks.”

After a season without Manning, who has had three neck surgeries in the last year, produced two victories and a chance at the Next Big Thing — Andrew Luck — Irsay came to the conclusion that maybe it was time for some new blood in the Colts’ executive suite.

“It was time,” said Irsay. “It was the right decision to make. Fourteen years is a long time in this league. It’s an intuitive decision. A lot goes into it.”

And, once Irsay gets rolling on this franchise renewal process, the broom could get even broader. He said Monday that head coach Jim Caldwell’s status is still under review.

So, less than 24 hours after the Colts put the capper on a 2-14 season with a loss in Jacksonville, Irsay sent the Polians packing, with the potential for vets like Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday, Ryan Diem and Robert Mathis, (all free agents) to follow in the not-too-distant future.

You might even be able to add Manning’s name to that list. The Colts have to decide whether to pick up Manning’s $28-million option in March and if this turns into a total rebuild, then what would Irsay want with a 36-year-old superstar quarterback with health concerns?

That becomes especially problematic if he has Luck waiting in the wings to be the centrepiece of the next generation of Colt excellence.

As far as Bill Polian is concerned, he was the architect of many moves in the late ’90s and into the new century that created the framework around which Manning could work his magic. His hiring of Tony Dungy was a coup, along with the trading of Marshall Faulk and the subsequent draft of Edgerrin James. The Colts won at least 10 games in every season but one from 1999 through 2010.

Unfortunately, the last five Indianapolis drafts have not produced many impact players as the core of the team got older. Still, Polian can be proud of his record that has earned him NFL Executive of the Year honours six times.

He built Super Bowl teams in both Buffalo and Indianapiolis, with a stop in Carolina in between where he constructed a team that went to the NFC title game.

The Colts were a broken franchise when Polian arrived in 1997 but he ended up with the No. 1 draft pick that he used to select Manning, an immediate star, over Ryan Leaf, a massive bust.

It is difficult to predict how the Manning/Luck situation is going to play out. If Irsay, or his new GM, is able to confidently judge that Manning is going to be able to stand the rigors of regular NFL play again, then there is no reason why Luck couldn’t take a backup role for a season or two before growing into the role as Manning fades into the sunset.

Manning has suggested that he could work with a young quarterback.

“I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning told reporters on Sunday. “I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.”

The elephant in the room is not so much Luck but the $28 million that must be paid to Manning early in March as part of his contract. There has been talk of a renegotiation — but not by Manning.

The alternative would be to cut Manning but it would be a very sad way to part company with somebody who was, and remains, an Indianapolis icon.

The futures of Wayne, Saturday and Mathis, as well as several other high-priced veterans, probably rest with Manning.

If he is back and ready to play, then the expectation will be there to contend. But if he’s not in the picture, then many of those veterans will not be there, either, as the rebuild begins.

Team owner Jim Irsay fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris, the Colts’ general manager on Monday. He said there was a good chance coach Jim Caldwell will be back next season, but his evaluation was not over.

He also must still decide whether a healthy Peyton Manning and a new quarterback can co-exist in the same locker room, and which veteran free agents come back next year, if any.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a year in the NFL where a team went 2-14 and there’s not been changes,” defensive captain Gary Brackett said Monday, less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

Outsiders had expected the first order of business to be the firing of Caldwell, who won 14 straight games and advanced to the Super Bowl in his first season as Colts coach. Caldwell said he simply went about his business Monday, speaking with Irsay following the 19-13 loss at Jacksonville and with both Polians on Monday, part of his usual routine.

“You lose as many games as we lost in a year, there’s a problem, there’s an issue,” Caldwell said. “But when we were 14-2, the way you guys put it, my job was in limbo then, right?”

The elder Polian had constructed Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and Indy, and an NFC title contender at Carolina.

But troubling signs emerged this season as the Colts lost time and time again — 13 straight at one point — with Manning sidelined to recover from Sept. 8 neck surgery. And it was Manning who suggested he and Bill Polian were not on the same page.

Polian said on one of his weekly radio shows that he and the four-time league MVP had discussed the possibility of establishing a transition plan at quarterback and that Manning was OK with it. Manning later said the two had never discussed the 2012 draft plans, which include the No. 1 pick amid speculation that the Colts will take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to groom as Manning’s successor.

Then, just before Christmas, Polian told local reporters that Manning would fail his exit physical, a move that would actually help the Colts because it would allow him to continue working out at the team complex during the offseason.

“That was kind of news to me,” Manning told reporters Sunday, then said he probably could pass the physical.

Fans have been clamoring for the ouster of Caldwell and both Polians. Irsay, a frequent poster on Twitter, has been listening.

“I want 2 thank all ColtsFans..here,throughout the country n abroad,4ur tremendous,loyal support all year long. Ur feedback is heard n noted,” he tweeted Monday morning.

For their part, players offered support for Caldwell, who just wrapped his third year as head coach in Indy.

“One thing about Jim is that he’s a stand-up guy, and guys respect that,” cornerback Jerraud Powers said. “He’s a great coach, a good guy, and it was unfortunate situation this year. But he never lost the locker room.”

The longer and, perhaps, more critical debate is how to rebuild this team and what to do at quarterback.

Manning never played after undergoing his third neck surgery in 19 months, a fusion of two vertebrae.

He did, however, start throwing to teammates in mid-December and received good reviews from both Bill Polian, who was watching, and running back Joseph Addai, who was catching balls. Doctors familiar with the procedure who did not treat Manning say he should return to a high level of play now that the fusion has healed.

If he is healthy, Irsay has promised to bring back Manning regardless of the $28 million bonus he is owed in March.

But after posting the NFL’s worst record without Manning, the Colts also have won the Luck sweepstakes, potentially putting two franchise quarterbacks on the same roster.

“I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning said Sunday. “I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.”

If Manning returns, Irsay might be more likely to bring back former Pro Bowlers Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne, all of whom are now in their 30s, and keep other key high-priced cogs in the Colts’ success such as Brackett and safety Melvin Bullitt.

“I think when you’re playing, you’re so entrenched with the people you go to work with every day,” Saturday said. “It’s different for us to go out and think like an owner. But whatever decisions, we’ve got to take it as a community and move on.”

He’d clearly had enough of the Polians, though.

Bill Polian drew the wrath of fans in 2009 when he pulled the starters in the third quarter against the New York Jets, costing the Colts a chance at a perfect season after going 14-0. At the time, Polian told listeners that the team’s goal was to win the Super Bowl, not go undefeated. Indy wound up losing the Super Bowl, too.

When Manning went down this season, Polian came under fire for not having a capable backup in place, signing Kerry Collins out of retirement and fueling speculation that the team was interested in Brett Favre. He told radio listeners that he accepted the blame.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)

Bill Polian used his first draft pick in Indianapolis on Peyton Manning.

Not getting an adequate backup for Manning at some point over the next 13 years cost Polian and his son, Chris, their jobs.

Less than 24 hours after finishing a 2-14 season with Manning on the bench, team owner Jim Irsay started the housecleaning by firing the architect of the Colts’ success and his hand-picked successor. Coach Jim Caldwell is safe, for now, though the evaluation continues.

The moves caught Colts players off-guard.

”Shock, man, just shock,” safety Antoine Bethea said after finding out the Polians were gone. ”I knew there were going to be some things happening, but I didn’t expect them to come so soon.”

While swift moves are common right after the season for struggling NFL teams, stability has been a key part of the Polian regime.

Since making Manning the top overall pick in 1998, the Colts have celebrated 141 regular-season wins, 11 playoff appearances, six division titles, two AFC championships and one Super Bowl title. During that span, there have been only three head coaches, two offensive coordinators and one family making the personnel moves.

The problem in Indianapolis was losing, which came in bunches this season.

”I felt that it was time for a change, that there was a need for a change,” Irsay said, flanked by his three daughters. ”Bill had entered a role where he was less involved, but still quite a bit involved because of the lockout and Peyton’s injury and the losing streak. He was around a lot more than he probably anticipated or I did. But it really was a question about both situations. I thought that it was time to change the personnel department on the football side of things that wasn’t involved with the coaching.”

Bill Polian declined to comment when The Associated Press contacted him by phone, but did issue a statement through the team.

”I’m grateful for all the support the fans have shown us in good times and bad,” Polian said. ”Indianapolis has been a wonderful place to live and work. Most of all, I would like to thank the players coaches and staff who have played the pivotal role in this magnificent journey. I will miss them all.”

Those players became increasingly dismayed with Polian’s comments, particularly those made on his weekly radio show. And the most vocal critic was Manning, probably the only person in the organization with more leverage than the team’s vice chairman.

Manning missed the entire season with a neck injury after signing a five-year, $90 million deal in July, about six weeks before he needed his third neck surgery in 19 months.

When Polian told listeners to his show that he and Manning had discussed drafting his eventual successor and that Manning was ”OK” with it, the four-time league MVP later said he and Polian had never discussed the 2012 draft and it would be inappropriate for him to have those discussions. And just before Christmas, Polian told reporters that Manning would fail his season-ending physical. Following Sunday’s 19-13 loss at Jacksonville, Manning said: ”That’s news to me.”

An even bigger problem was that the lack of a backup plan.

With Manning struggling to come back from May surgery on his neck, Indy brought 17-year veteran Kerry Collins out of retirement in late August with a $4 million contract. He didn’t last a month.

Collins was replaced by Curtis Painter, who started well but struggled badly after Bill Polian said he felt ”vindicated” by Painter’s success.

The Colts lost their first 13 games, finished with the second-fewest victories since the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and wound up with the No. 1 draft pick.

Bill Polian repeatedly said he should be blamed if there was a talent deficiency.

Chris Polian, who was named the team’s GM four years ago but didn’t start making the day-to-day decisions until this season, got caught in the crossfire. He was seen leaving the team complex Monday afternoon, just about the time word leaked of the firings.

”To think that just less than less than two years ago we were getting ready to go to Miami and play in a Super Bowl, and we were cleaning off the confetti from the turf in Lucas Oil Stadium, it has been a very sharp decline,” Irsay said. ”Even after going 10-6 last year, if people had said you would have the No. 1 draft pick and go 2-14, nobody would have believed it.”

Irsay has not established a timeline for finding a new general manager, though he said he would start contacting other GMs and teams Monday night.

No decision on Caldwell is expected to be made until after the GM is hired, though players have overwhelmingly supported him.

”One thing about Jim is that he’s a stand-up guy, and guys respect that,” cornerback Jerraud Powers said. ”He’s a great coach, a good guy, and it was unfortunate situation this year. But he never lost the locker room.”

In fact, Irsay said, there’s a good chance Caldwell will be back.

Whoever replaces Polian faces an abundance of decisions in a major rebuilding effort.

Manning never played after undergoing his third neck surgery in 19 months, a fusion of two vertebrae to fix a damaged nerve that was causing weakness in his throwing arm.

He did, however, start throwing to teammates in mid-December and received good reviews from both Bill Polian, who was watching, and running back Joseph Addai, who was catching balls. Doctors familiar with the procedure who did not treat Manning say he should return to a high level of play now that the fusion has healed.

If he is healthy, Irsay has promised to bring back Manning regardless of the $28 million bonus he is owed in March, potentially putting two franchise quarterbacks — Manning and Andrew Luck — on the same roster.

”I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning said Sunday. ”I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.”

If Manning returns, Irsay might be more likely to bring back former Pro Bowlers Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne, all of whom are now in their 30s, and keep other key high-priced cogs in the Colts’ success such as Brackett and safety Melvin Bullitt.

But the Polians will no longer be making those decisions.

”Bill and I had a chance to have a second meeting and to have some tears and a hug, and that was good,” Irsay said. ”It’s extremely difficult. Walking out of the locker room in Jacksonville that was a hard walk, and it’s hard because my affection for them is deep.”

The career backup has an expiring contract, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be back with the Colts or another team next season. For Orlovsky, and all those other potential free agents, the season finale Sunday at Jacksonville is about more than draft position. It’s one last chance to make an impression.

“Every week is an audition in this league,” Orlovsky said Thursday, one day after the arrival of his three sons. “There are 32 teams that watch, so it’s important to have a good body of work and Sunday’s game is the last piece of that body of work for this season.”

Things might be looking up for the seven-year veteran, who was unemployed until re-signing with the Colts on Sept. 29.

After losing his first nine NFL starts, Orlovsky helped Indianapolis (2-13) avoid a winless season by winning twice in five days. Another victory would give Indy its first season-ending, three-game winning streak since the Super Bowl-title season of 2006.

Orvlosky isn’t the only one facing an uncertain future in Indy.

More than a dozen players are set to become restricted or unrestricted free agents in March, including a small cadre of 30-something former Pro Bowl players — Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne.

The Colts also must decide whether to pay four-time league MVP Peyton Manning a $28 million bonus, let him become a free agent or work out a new deal with the franchise quarterback. Team owner Jim Irsay has said that if Manning recovers from neck surgery, he will be back in Indy, no matter the cost.

Questions also surround coach Jim Caldwell, team vice chairman Bill Polian and general manager Chris Polian.

Caldwell went 24-8, won two division titles and an AFC championship in his first two seasons with the Colts but without these last two wins, he could have seen his record slip to .500 this weekend.

After an 0-13 start, some fans openly criticized Caldwell for everything from his style to game management and called for a change. Finishing strong would be evidence that Caldwell did not quit on the season and that the players, who are in his corner, did not quit on him.

“I think Coach Caldwell has done a very good job this season. He has gotten the most out of his players,” Saturday said. “There have just been times that we haven’t played well, so from that standpoint that will be up to Mr. Irsay and whatever he decides to do. But I think Coach Caldwell did a good job, and you’ve just got to keep battling and playing. You just go in, play as hard as you can and hope you get a win.”

Caldwell, who was fired in 2000 at Wake Forest and lost his job again the next season when the Buccaneers got rid of Tony Dungy, already has seen defensive coordinator Larry Coyer fired. More changes could be coming in the offseason or Irsay could bring in a whole new staff.

“Whether you are coaching or playing, it is always the same, and that doesn’t matter if it is in Week 10 and you’re 9-1 or whatever it might be,” Caldwell said. “Nothing is promised to you and there are no guarantees. So I think everybody that has played the game understands that, particularly at this level, and everybody that has coached it, we all coach on one-year contracts for (our) entire career.”

The Polians aren’t entirely safe, either, not with concerns about the inability to groom an adequate backup to Manning. On his weekly radio show, Bill Polian acknowledged the front office was to blame for the lack of talent.

“Should we have done a better job? You bet,” Polian said in October. “But we have to make sure we do a better job going forward.”

Who will be around for the rebuilding project? Nobody knows..

Some contend the Colts should lose Sunday, thereby winning the Andrew Luck sweepstakes rather than winning the game and losing the No. 1 overall pick to St. Louis.

But for players and coaches fighting for their jobs, that’s not the issue.

Playing well enough to win Sunday could make all the difference between getting a job, keeping a job or being out of work in 2012.

“Honestly, I think you’re fighting for your job every single week in this league and it should be that way,” Orlovsky said. “It’s a very privileged job. But you can’t think about it that way. You just have to go out and prepare for each game and do the best you can.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NFL

From Our Press Services

INDIANAPOLIS — It doesn’t look as if Peyton Manning will go anywhere next season — unless he’s not healthy.

On Thursday, Colts owner Jim Irsay told NFL Network he couldn’t foresee a scenario in which Manning would play anywhere but Indianapolis unless he can’t play at all.

Manning his missed the entire season and has not participated in full team practices since having the third and most invasive surgery on his neck Sept. 8.

“I think the situation is if he’s back and he’s healthy, I see him coming back and playing here,” Irsay said in a 10-minute interview before the game with Houston began. “I think the hope is that his health is in the position where he could return again. That remains uncertain and that’s something that’s first and foremost on my mind.”

The signs are encouraging.

On Dec. 1, surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins issued a statement saying the fusion between two vertebrae had healed firmly and that Manning could increase the intensity of his workouts.

Last Wednesday, for the first time since having the surgery, Manning put on pads and a helmet and threw with teammates. He took snaps from center Jeff Saturday and worked with running back Joseph Addai, receiver Anthony Gonzalez and an unnamed receiver from the practice squad.

Colts vice chairman Bill Polian and coach Jim Caldwell both watched the session. Polian and Addai have given Manning good reviews.

Manning was inactive Thursday night and has already been ruled out of next week’s season-finale at Jacksonville. Caldwell also said this week that Manning would continue to do individual work but would not participate in team work the rest of the season.

The only four-time MVP in league history also is due a $28 million bonus in early March — a prospect that had some thinking Thursday night could be the final time Manning would be on the home team’s sideline at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Irsay also said the Colts would take a quarterback, Manning’s successor, if the right one is available in April’s draft. The Colts (1-13) are the front-runners for the No. 1 overall pick, a slot that most analysts believe will be filled by Stanford’s Andrew Luck. Another possible candidate, Southern California’s Matt Barkley said Thursday that he would return to school for his senior season.

Thursday’s game

Colts 19, Texans 16 at Indianapolis: Reggie Wayne caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Dan Orlovsky with 19 seconds left and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans.

The Colts (2-13) have now won two straight, both against division foes, behind Orlovsky, the former Texans quarterback who lost his first nine NFL starts.

AFC South champion Houston hardly looked playoff-ready. It settled for two red-zone field goals, didn’t convert a third down until getting a lucky bounce late in the fourth quarter, its running game was stymied late and the defense helped the Colts with three penalties on the decisive drive.

Other DEVELOPMENTS

Ex-players blame league for brain injuries: Jamal Lewis, Dorsey Levens and two other former NFL players have sued the league over brain injuries that they say left them struggling with medical problems years after their playing days ended.

Lewis and Levens, along with Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart, filed the lawsuit against the National Football League and NFL Properties LLC this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

Miami’s Fasano questionable: Miami Dolphins interim coach Todd Bowles says tight end Anthony Fasano is questionable for Saturday’s game at New England because of a low-grade concussion.

Fasano didn’t practice Thursday. He has missed only three games in the past four seasons.

Samuel misses 2nd practice for Eagles: Four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel has missed a second consecutive practice Thursday with a hamstring injury.