Less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville gave Indianapolis the No. 1 pick in April’s draft, Irsay fired the team’s vice chairman and general manager and decided to keep coach Jim Caldwell at least until he finds a replacement for the father-and-son team.

“It was a very tough decision for me,” the Colts owner said Monday. “I had a chance to talk to them both, I had a chance to express to them, and Bill in particular. You know how hard it was and the appreciation the franchise has for all that has been done by Bill, and obviously, him and I go back 30 years. So this is difficult, this is the tough part of this business.”

For more than a decade, the Polians and Irsays seemed to operate in lock step.

Irsay sided with Polian after the 2001 season when the then team president and coach Jim Mora clashed. He thought enough of Chris Polian to begin the transition from father to son and he repeatedly supported Polian publicly even when fans were unhappy with Polian’s decisions and reactions.

But after 13 straight losses, a 2-14 record without Peyton Manning and the second-fewest wins in the franchise’s Indianapolis era, Irsay had no choice.

“I’m grateful for all the support the fans have shown us in good times and bad,” Polian said in a statement issued by the team. “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.”

Nobody ever doubted how much influence the elder Polian had on the game or the Colts.

He helped create the league’s salary cap structure and was a longtime member of the league’s rule-making competition committee.

He was the architect of four Super Bowl teams in Buffalo, the rapid ascension of Carolina’s expansion team and the Colts’ resurgence. Six times, he was named NFL executive of the year by The Sporting News. He drafted the Colts’ career leaders in passing (Manning), rushing (Edgerrin James) and sacks (Dwight Freeney), and the No. 2 receiver in franchise history (Reggie Wayne). His teams won two Grey Cups in the Canadian Football League, played in eight NFL championship games and five Super Bowls, and the 10-game improvement from 1998 to 1999 set a league record. In 2006, Polian finally got his elusive Super Bowl ring.

The cornerstone for all that success in Indy, though, was Manning, and the inability to find an adequate backup proved Polian’s undoing.

Manning missed the entire season with a neck injury after signing a five-year, $90 million deal in July. The Sept. 8 procedure was his third neck surgery in 19 months, and the Colts went through three different quarterbacks before getting their first win.

Players also became increasingly dismayed by the comments Polian made on his weekly radio show. The most vocal critic was Manning, probably the only person in the organization with more leverage than the team’s vice chairman.

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.

INDIANAPOLIS — Colts defensive end Robert Mathis couldn’t care less about the No. 1 draft pick. All he wants is another win.

Some of Indianapolis’ die-hard fans are urging the team’s brain trust to take a different tack, benching starters and losing Sunday’s season finale at Jacksonville so it can get the top pick.

“It’s better not to respond to that at all,” Mathis said when asked about the fans’ plea. “We play to win.”

The stakes are high.

Since moving to Indianapolis in 1984, only the 1991 Colts (1-15) produced fewer than three wins.

The Colts (2-13) have never finished with a losing record in AFC South play, and the last time anybody beat the Colts twice in the same season was 2007 when San Diego won at home in the regular season and in Indianapolis in the second round of the playoffs.

A victory over the Jags (4-11) would keep all of those streaks intact and allow the Colts to take a three-game winning string into next season, something they haven’t done since the 2006 Super Bowl-winning run.

The message coming from the top is simple: Keep on winning.

“We’re not going after anything but a win in Jacksonville, look at the last half century of SupBowl winners — how many had 1st pick,” Jim Irsay wrote on Twitter late Tuesday night.

Fans have a different view.

A win, coupled with a loss by St. Louis (2-13), would drop the Colts from the No. 1 overall slot down to No. 2, and likely out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Most expect the Stanford quarterback to go in that top slot, whether the Colts or Rams have the pick or trade it.

The possibility of losing the No. 1 pick didn’t even seem plausible three weeks ago when the Colts were still winless. Two wins in five days, over division rivals Tennessee and Houston, and an extended break after last Thursday’s win have suddenly created doubts.

It’s not the first time the Colts have faced such a predicament. After going 0-10 in 1997, Indy won three of its next five, then needed a loss at Minnesota in the season finale to secure the No. 1 pick. It worked out with the selection of Peyton Manning, and the die-hards believe it would all work the same way again this year.

The Jags have a hand to play in this, too.

With Maurice Jones-Drew a near lock to win the league’s rushing title and an interim coach running the team, a Jags loss would not just help their draft position but could also prevent the Colts from taking another franchise quarterback they’d have to face twice a year for more than a decade.

“That’s not a part of my thinking at all,” Jaguars interim coach Mel Tucker said.

Indy’s players and coaches are saying the same thing.

Still, Colts fans point to 2009 when the team benched most of its key players early in the second half of Game 15, throwing away a chance at a perfect season. In the regular-season finale, most of the starters were yanked early at Buffalo. Back then, Bill Polian, now the team’s vice chairman, said the perfect season was not a goal but winning the Super Bowl was.

The Colts also lost to New Orleans in the title game.

Now, with seemingly nothing to gain and everything to lose, those who covet the No. 1 pick argue Indy should do the same thing.

Don’t count on it.

“In this locker room, everyone wants to be in there,” said Curtis Painter, who replaced Manning against the Jets in 2009. “Back then, I think the guys wanted to play then, too. Every guy wants to play and there’s certainly no difference this year.”

Notes: The Colts practiced Wednesday without starting quarterback Dan Orlovsky after his wife delivered triplets. That temporarily put Curtis Painter back in the charge of the starting offense, a tradeoff some Colts fans are willing to make given the circumstances. To their dismay, coach Jim Caldwell said Orlovsky, who has won two straight, should return to practice Thursday and should play Sunday.

Even though they won two games in a row, the Indianapolis Colts can still secure the first overall pick in the NFL Draft if they lose their final game. They defeated the Houston Texans 19-16 on Thursday, December 22. However, the team is still on track to earn that first pick. Many expect that pick to be Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck. Over the years, the Colts franchise has had a checkered relationship with the number one pick. Here is a look at the top overall picks in Colts history.

George Shaw

Shaw was drafted first overall in 1955. He spent four seasons with the Colts and another four with various teams. He made 17 starts in his first two seasons with the Colts at quarterback. He only made 12 starts in the rest of his career after that.

Bubba Smith

Smith was chosen first overall in 1967. He was not a Hall of Fame player but he did have a nice career in the NFL. He spent five years with the Colts and reached the Pro Bowl two times. He was also part of a Super Bowl winning team. Smith is remembered as one of the more popular defensive linemen in the NFL.

John Elway

Elway had a Hall of Fame career and is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history. Unfortunately, he never played a down for the Colts. Elway refused to play for the team out of college and was traded to the Denver Broncos.

Jeff George

George came out of college with a lot of hype. When the Colts selected him first overall, the hope was the he would be a franchise quarterback. But in his four seasons with the team, George never quite lived up to the billing. He did have a long NFL career as a journeyman but never really did enough to make his pick warranted.

Steve Emtman

Emtman was a much hyped defensive lineman when the Colts took him first overall. He was chosen after a strong college career in Washington. After three disastrous years with the Colts, his time was done there. He spent three more years in the league. Emtman had just five sacks in his three seasons with the Colts.

Peyton Manning

There is no question that Manning has been a huge hit as the top overall pick. The Colts chose him in 1998 over Ryan Leaf and they have never looked back. He is on track to break passing record and also brought the team a Super Bowl title. Manning will go down as one of the greatest ever.

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The Indianapolis Colts have struggled in 2011. The opened the season 0-13 and looked as if they had a possibility of going winless on the season. Then the team dug in and won two games in a row to move to 2-13 on the season. Through the ups and downs, Reggie Wayne has always been there and has had a very good season.

Indianapolis’ statistics are down across the board on offense from what fans are used to seeing. Peyton Manning has not played this season and the quarterback play has been just awful. Kerry Collins and Curtis Painter were downright awful for the first 11 games of the season. Dan Orlovsky has been a big improvement and has the team playing better football lately.

Even with the poor quarterback play, Reggie Wayne has hung in there and is quietly having a very good season at 33 years old. A lot of talk has been made recently about Wayne’s upcoming free agency and that the December 22 matchup against the Houston Texans could have been his last game at Lucas Oil Stadium. If it was, Wayne didn’t disappoint. He didn’t disappoint this entire season when you factor in what he’s had to play through.

With one game left to play, Wayne has 67 receptions for 887 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Wayne has an average of 13.2 yards per catch which is higher than his averages of the last two seasons. You can’t fault Wayne for the fact that his quarterbacks have been awful and have not been able to get him the ball.

Indianapolis has two wins on the season and both wins were clinched with touchdown catches by Reggie Wayne. This is no coincidence.

Reggie needs 113 yards in the finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars on January 1 to finish off his eighth straight season with over 1,000 yards receiving. This would be an amazing feat when fans look back on this seasons Indianapolis Colt team.

Wide receiver Pierre Garcon currently has one more catch and 37 more yards on the season than Wayne. Garcon has been the beneficiary of several deep balls early in the season and yardage that has been added on late in blowout losses. Wayne has consistently made the big plays and catches in key situations. Anyone who argues that Garcon has become the better player is simply not watching the games.

It’s impossible to say what would have been in Indianapolis if Peyton Manning had not missed the season. What I do know is that Reggie Wayne has not lost a step and deserves to be re-signed in Indianapolis to complete his career there. If anything, he needs to be rewarded for the work he has put in over the last 11 seasons. Fans have to appreciate the work Reggie Wayne has put in all season in 2011.

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and has been a lifelong fan of the Indianapolis Colts. He attended Super Bowl XLIV in Miami and follows the team closely. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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