No Luck in Carolina - Andrew Luck following in Peyton Manning's Footsteps

by nopuntintended on Jan 6, 2011 8:11 PM EST

The Panthers are officially sh*t out of Luck.

While the Playoffs are the news of the hour, Andrew Luck's plucky decision to return to Stanford for his Junior year should cause us to take a step back and reflect on another fine young quarterback who put his college experience, his degree (Peyton had actually already completed his coursework over the summer) and another year's worth of invaluable experience ahead of jumping early and taking the money.

It important to lead off with Luck's decision because a little more than a decade before, Peyton was faced with the very same decision. He too chose to stay for his senior season and enjoy college...The rest is history. Peyton Manning stays, the Colts get the number one pick the following year and draft the Tennessee quarterback over the more explosive and strong armed Ryan Leaf. 13 years later - as it often does - the decision and its ripple effects came full circle (again) with Peyton Manning and the Colts hosting a playoff game against the team that would have picked Peyton had he come out a year earlier - The New York Jets.

Before we continue, a quick side note/diatribe. When will GM's ever realize that having a strong arm is not the most important quality when selecting a quarterback. How many, Ryan Leaf's, Akili Smith's, Kyle Boller's, Jamarcus Russell's and Brady Quinn's to name a few, have to crash and burn before GM's - like Polian did - realize that smarts, work ethic, accuracy and leadership are far more important.

Anyway...

It is crazy to think how one decision changed the course of two franchises for more than a decade. Had Peyton left Tennessee early, the Colts - like the Jets ended up doing until recently - would have floundered in mediocrity. Or worse.

Since Peyton Manning entered the league, the Jets have gone 111-97 (a .533 winning percentage) making the playoffs 6 times with a 5-6 playoff record (which does include a 41-0 blowout win over the Colts back in 2002). In these past 13 years the Jets have also cycled through 5 coaches with the amusing Herm Edwards serving the longest and the brazen (ahem, loud mouthed) Rex Ryan being the current and most recent man to roam the sidelines.

Meanwhile, the Colts have served as the model of consistency and professionalism for the past 13 years.

With Peyton Manning at the helm, the Colts won the most regular season games over the span of a decade in league history and played in 2 super bowls, winning one.

The biggest difference between the Colts and the Jets was of course Quarterback. While the Jets have used 9 starting QB's (actually fairly low by league standards) including the great Quincy Carter and Brooks Bollinger, no other player other than Peyton Manning started a game for the Colts.

Ultimately, looking back, no single decision shaped the outcome of a franchise or of the NFL more in the past decade and beyond than Peyton's.

Had Peyton taken the money, the Colts would have taken years to right the ship and in the mean time the sports fans and the NFL would have lost out on the decade's (and one of the best ever) greatest rivalry. Plus Peyton Manning would have looked terrible in green.

So as Colts fans, we must thank our lucky stars that Peyton chose to stay and pity those that are suffering in Carolina. For what its worth, and from what I have seen and read, I think Andrew Luck made the right decision and will turn out to be a phenomenal pro. Maybe not as good as Peyton, but certainly a pro-bowl caliber player. I applaud his decision to return to school and hope that he and Peyton will share the field at least once before Peyton calls it quits.

For now though, its back to focusing on the task at hand of beating the Jets.

Go Colts.

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Comments

To start

it’s always nice to reflect back on both the luck and success the Colts have had….It’s a nicely put together read.

1.) Brady Quinn was a very successful QB at Notre Dame, and despite what people might think, the kid never had a chance in hell of being successful in the NFL due to the team he landed with. Say what you want about his potential NFL career, but often times where you go is more a cause of how you succeed.

2.) The Jets actually landed a franchise QB in Chad Pennington in 2000, who to be quite honest, was a much better version of Drew Brees. The only problem: injuries. He just took too many shots to a bum shoulder that basically tanked his career.

3.) At the time of Manning joining the NFL, Vinny Testaverde was the QB of the Jets who would go 12-4, and get beaten by the Elway Broncos on his way to his final SB win/appearance. The Jets were a quality team with Curtis Martin at RB and a pretty damn good Parcells defense.

4.) The Jets struggles as a team came primarily from the lack of a quality backup QB (Miami Dolphins or Arizona Cardinals anyone?) once Testaverde and then of course Pennington going down. The Jets have always been a team that runs well and plays tough defense. They’ve also always had a QB who didn’t have to throw for a lot of yards they just had to be accurate.

While it’s possible that the Jets would have nabbed Manning, there’s no guarantee the success would have happened. Adding to that, the Jets already had a former SB playing QB under center with Neil O’Donnell.

by DevilsReject on Jan 6, 2011 9:08 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

just to add to your first point..

I think the team they land with has a lot to do with the success of the quarterback. Its such a high pressure position to start with and if your players start losing confidence and you lose the lockeroom, I can only imagine what that kind of pressure is like. So much of the game is mental. If you were drafted in the first round, you most likely have the talent to be successful. Also a qb drafted first overall is going to a pretty bad team. History has shown you don’t have to be the best qb to win the SB, you just have to be smart.

by GoColtsin2010! on Jan 7, 2011 10:20 AM EST up reply actions

So very true

History is loaded with guys who were forced to suffer through very bad teams and wound up getting exposed to countless injuries or simply underperformed due to the level of players he had around him.

Guys like David Carr, Joey Harrington, Alex Smith, Ken Dorsey, Ty Detmer, and Brady Quinn, just to name a few…..went to historically bad teams and suffered through countless beatings as QB’s….

You cannot be successful at the most critical position in football if you can’t stay healthy or lose your nerves from countless sacks and hits.

Teams that are in rebuilding modes have taken on the model of rebuilding the defense first with a tough running game……and that has actually helped increase the success rate with younger QB’s (Ryan, Flacco, Sanchez, and Freeman)

Still, each of those teams also brought in some talented WRs and RB’s in order to help out either prior to or after drafting these guys.

by DevilsReject on Jan 7, 2011 12:59 PM EST up reply actions

Can't blame him

A- for the team
B- worst case, no football next year, better to continue his scholarship in college

COLTSFTW

by Nathan Brummett on Jan 6, 2011 9:55 PM EST reply actions

ESPN reported that Bradford and Manning advised Luck to stay.

by Lell87 on Jan 7, 2011 12:43 AM EST reply actions

You said:

[N]o other player other than Peyton Manning started a game for the Colts (not including meaningless games).

Actually, since Manning’s pro career began no one else has started at QB for the Colts in ANY game, meaningless or not.

"There was some talk: do they take me or Ryan Leaf and I said: 'Look, here's the deal. If you don't take me, I'm gonna kick your butt for the next fifteen years'."- #18

by EVLGNUS on Jan 7, 2011 10:55 AM EST reply actions

and he even finished

the Miami game with a broken jaw and the wash game 2006 after being twisted like a pretzel,,,, the plan is prob for the 49s to finish last next year then he can join Harbaugh!!!!

by OBGYNOSUPREME on Jan 7, 2011 4:29 PM EST up reply actions