Imagine if Bill Polian had been as dumb as the San Diego Chargers in 1998. If he had, the result would have looked something like this:

via deadspin.com

Yes, that is a real photo ladies and gents. Here's Deadspin's Rick Chandler:

Was it really 10 years ago that the Indianapolis Colts made the fateful decision to draft Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf in the NFL draft? To mark the occasion, Leaf is showing off his No. 16 Colts jersey — yep, one such exists — which he found while rummaging through some personal belongings recently.

As Colts fans, we missed Jeff George Part II by that much. Thank you, Mr. Polian. By all that is merciful and good, thank you.

SB Nation's new Arizona Cardinals blogger is cgolden, and he is an excellent blogger. His blog also has the single best logo of all SB Nation blogs.

Just an awesome logo.

He also has a very well-written post up talking about Edgerrin James' Hall of Fame credentials. If you look at Edgerrin's stats, this season (if he runs for roughly 1,000 yards) he will likely pass Jim Brown or Tony Dorsett for #7 or #8 all time on the NFL rushing list. Edge has played pro football for 10 years. Dorsett played for 12 and Brown for 9, and both are in HoF. If Edge gathers 1,400 total yards from scrimmage this season (which is very possible), he will jump to #10 all-time on the total yards list, ahead of HoFers like Eric Dickerson.

Edge is obviously most known as a member of the Triplets in Indy, which lasted from 1999-2005. Of the Triplets, Edge was the RB, Peyton Manning the QB, and Marvin Harrison the WR. Since leaving Indy, Edge has done a respectable job playing in Arizona behind a bad offensive line. He's also had shaky QB play, a head coaching change, and bad management. Yet, despite all this, he ran for 1,159 in 2006 and 1,222 yards in 2007. Prior to Edge, the Cardinals had never had a runner go over 1,000 yards since Garrison Hearst in 1995.

So, looking at all this, I say yes. Edge is definitely a Hall of Fame running back. I mean, if a total chump like Dickerson is considered a HoFer, then Edge should be as well. That's just my take.

via www.whereistheoutrage.net

 

via i.usatoday.net

I saw this over at Pats Pulpit regarding the two teams "better" than the Patriots in 2007, and nearly peed my pants:

The New York Giants earned bragging rights and will forever be known as the team that stopped the juggernaut from New England.  The second team is an unhealthy Colts.  I hate winning in that situation because there's always a question mark in my mind.

This is the first time I've seen a Pats fan acknowledge something we talked about here all throughout 2007: If Indy were healthy in 2007, they would have made New England 17-1, and not 18-1. But, like anything else, injuries are what they are. New England kept their guys healthy and Indy didn't. Them's the breaks. The Pats had the same injury problem in 2005, and got as far into the playoffs as the Colts did in 2007.

This brings me to the all important question: Did Indy do enough to get better?

NFL.com has a fan ranking up, allowing you to rank all 32 teams. NFL Network had some writers on recently, and each listed their top 5 teams right now. What was interesting is each had the same teams n the top 5 (Indianapolis, New England, NY Giants, San Diego, and Dallas). Of course, this means absolutely nothing, but it is interesting to see how teams view the Colts. Remember, last season everyone anointed the Patriots world champs before nary a game was played because the Patriots had made several player moves to get Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas, Wes Welker, and Sammy Morris. Meanwhile, the Colts kept on the same path they always do, brought back the same playmakers that dominated the 2006 playoffs, and most ranked New England ahead.

This year, the Patriots have done very little to improve their roster. They've lost most of their secondary to free agency, including (arguably) their best player on defense, Assante Samuel. Dante Stallworth is gone, and Sammy Morris' health is in doubt. The Colts, meanwhile, have gotten healthy, added pass rushing depth through the draft, and signed Dominic Rhodes.

It seems that Indy has improved itself while teams like New England haven't. Even the Chargers, who beat the Colts twice last season in close games, have done little in free agency and have significant injury concerns of their own (Philip Rivers, LT, Antonio Gates). San Diego also lost the "Colts Killer" (Michael Turner) to free agency.

The Colts sport one of the youngest teams in football. Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark are in the primes of their careers. Tony Ugoh, Anthony Gonzalez, Freddie Keiaho, and Quinn Pitcock look poised to make big leaps in 2008 after strong 2007 seasons. Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis are expected back 100%. With Dom Rhodes, Joseph Addai, and rookie Mike Hart, Indy has a very potent running back group, and with the draft they beefed up the o-line.

It seems, in mid-May, that this team is ready to make another run. Then again, championships are not won in mid-May. Just ask that Patriots.

I've seen the hometown Nationals play twice now in three weeks; once against the Cubs, and yesterday vs. the Marlins.  I, being the Colts homer I am, wore a Colts shirt to the Cubs game, and a Colts hat yesterday.  Both games, I've gotten a "Go Colts!"  I've also seen numerous other coats or T-shirts around town.  DC definitely has a nice Colts contingent, and it's nice to see them out around town.

Speaking of the Cubs, did anyone see the NFL's best QB sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field yesterday?  No, it wasn't Peyton Manning, or even Tom Brady, even though either of them would have just as many ties to Chicago as the guy who did.  It was that great signal caller Tony Romo, and he was horrendous.  I've linked the video below, so we can all laugh heartily.  I'm just wondering if the Sex Cannon would get more boos than Romo did.

For you moms out there who read Stampede Blue and love the Colts, Happy Mother's Day. For all you other fans, you damn well have gotten your mom something nice. If not, Bob will have some words with you:

Bob Sanders with mother (Jean) and father (Marion).

 

Peyton Manning and his mother, Olivia.

Photo: Cliff Welch/Icon SMI

The Colts did not draft a back-up QB in this year’s draft, though they did sign a free agent rookie named Adam Tafralis out of San Jose State. While I’m sure Tafralis is a fine kid, he strikes me as yet another Josh Betts, aka a warm body who works on the practice squad and occasionally plays in some pre-season games. Tafralis did get invited to the Combine, and while his scouting report is not bad, it is certainly nothing to get excited about:

Late developing passer whose improvement in poise and accuracy gave scouts reason to consider him in the late rounds or free agency. A gritty player who offered to switch positions two years ago because he was disappointed in his own performance, Tafralis showed significant improvement each of the past two seasons. Despite his development, there remain legitimate concerns about his arm strength and ability to escape pressure.

So, with it increasingly obvious (at least to me) that longtime back-up QB Jim Sorgi is simply not an option if Peyton Manning were to get hurt, I ask the obvious question: Will the Colts sign a QB cut during or after Training Camp?

If they do, an interesting candidate is Tampa Bay’s Chris Simms. Let’s be honest, the Glazers and Jon Gruden are acting like jackholes with the way they are handling Chris Simms. It’s obvious he is not going to play for the Bucs unless someone tosses a grenade into the QB film session room, wiping out Jeff Garcia, Brian Greise, Josh Johnson, and about 15 other QBs the Bucs currently have on their roster not named Chris Simms. So, keeping Simms around seems kind of cruel, but I guess we are used to such antics from the Glazers and "Chucky."

I know Simms would rather play for a team he has a chance to win the starting job on, but the fact of that matter is Simms needs to prove he is 100% healthy. From AOL Fanhouse:

Nobody really knows [Simms'] current form. His throwing motion was reportedly ruined after his spleen was removed. Has it recovered? Could he return to his 2005 form, when he led the Bucs to the playoffs? Or is he done as an NFL quarterback, and if so, are the Glazers just keeping him on the payroll out of guilt, or out of fear that he'll become a starter for another team?

The only thing for sure here is that Gruden really wants to move on without Simms. Perhaps the Bucs should as well.

If Simms’ throwing motion has been affected by his serious injury from 2006, then what Simms needs to do (if he wishes to remain in the NFL) is prove to people he can still fling the football. Simms has a strong arm, and he would work perfectly in the Colts offense. He’d get a lot of time to show his stuff in pre-season, and if the Colts sign him to a one-year deal he can rest and learn under Peyton, Tom Moore, and Tony Dungy. After one year, if he works his butt of as a back-up and hits the free agency market, he’ll have more value than he does now. Right now, he’s damaged goods.

If Simms is healthy, I think he is a tremendous upgrade over Sorgi, who I’ve lost confidence in.

For most of the week, I thought about using KYCH to talk about the whole Marvin Harrison situation, since it has dominated the water cooler talk in Colt circles this week.  But after some consideration, I decided not to go with it since like most of you, I"m still not really sure what even happened.  All I know is something went down in a rough area of Philadelphia involving a gun, Marvin Harrison, a ninja, and a Belgian...or something to that effect.  If I didn't know any better I'd say that's the start of a really weird joke, with a dumb punchline.

Anyways, while I was looking for some different stuff on the Marvin situation, I was checking on Facebook to see if any "Free Marvin!" groups had popped up yet.  Thankfully, none have been made yet, which is good considering that he hasn't even been charged with anything.

While I was on the Facebook, I stumbled across this story that has nothing to do with Marvin Harrison, but is amazing nevertheless.  Now, I need to throw out the major disclaimer I found this on Facebook so there's absolutely no way to confirm whether or not this story is true, but it is funny, which gives me all the reason I need to post it.  For those of  you that are keeping score at home, that means JakeTheSnake values humor over things like credible sources, the truth, and validity.  With all that out of the way, it's on to the story, which may or may not have actually happened:

The Colts train on Rose-Hulman's campus during the summer. Over the past summer, I was on campus doing research. One weekend I came back from the party and was invited out onto the balcony of the residence hall by a group of aquaintances. They told me they were just "enjoying the view" and motioned toward our lake. I looked out on the lake to find two Colts golf carts (which they use for transportation around campus) on the dock in the middle of the lake. This particular prank had been pulled in years past by some students, who were almost expelled for it. So I gasped and asked who had done it, and my friends simply replied "Peyton Manning". So I laughed at their joke and continued conversation... As it progressed, I realized they were serious, and Peyton Manning really did do it. He and another Colts player decided to prank their coaches and had stoled the coaches' golf carts and floated them to the middle of our lake. It was this day, that Peyton Manning became my personal sports hero...

Again, I can't reiterate enough that Facebook is less reliable than Jeff George's decision making abilities so there's no way to know if this is or true or not, but we do know that Peyton has a history with pranks, so it's not like doing something like that would be entirely out of character for him.  Let's just hope Peyton doesn't pull a prank on the Colts' golf aficionado.  That could lead to some harder than normal sacks during training camp.

via www.baltimoresun.com

Rexx over at Baltimore Beatdown has a good post up honoring Mr. John Unitas. Today would have been his 75th birthday. Mr. Unitas passed away in 2002. Book publisher Grove/Atlantic, Inc. recently sent me a copy of Mark Bowden's new book The Best Game Ever, which tells the story of the 1958 NFL Championship game at Yankee Stadium between the super star NY Giants and the working class Baltimore Colts. It' really shows how Unitas and Raymond Berry invented the modern NFL. It is also eerie (and I do not say this lightly) how similar Unitas and Berry were then to Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison today.

Speaking of Mr. Raymond Berry, here he is at the Colts last regular season home game in the RCA Dome:

Happy birthday, Mr. Unitas. I agree with Rexx. You were the best QB ever. However, very soon, Peyton is going to pass you, and somehow I feel you have absolutely no problem with that.

I'm impressed with all of the new whiz-bang things here on Stampede Blue 2.0.  It's like getting that new piece of technology, and wanting to read through the manual, finding all of the cool stuff you can use.  I may use a couple here, most likely as overkill, just to try them out.

I was perusing around trying to find some Colt's related news, and found this article by Mike Florio, where he goes through the First Round of the draft, picking any player in the NFL.  As has been laid out before here and here, he really doesn't like the Colts, and especially doesn't like Manning.  It is very apparent to anyone with a pulse, that if everyone in the NFL went in for a redraft, the first two picks would be Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, in which ever order you choose (I'm obviously biased, as many of you are, for #18).  Not the wanna-be GM Florio.

He, of course, picks Brady first, for the Dolphins.  He says:

1. Miami Dolphins: Tom Brady, quarterback, Patriots. Is there any doubt about this one? Though he's now 30 years old, Brady will make any team a contender until the day he retires.

Again, no problems here if you want Brady first.  Him and Manning are 1 and 1A.  I really think he made his second choice, just fishing for someone from here to call him out for it.  His second pick:

2. St. Louis Rams: Jared Allen, defensive end, Chiefs. Allen is an absolute beast, arguably the best defensive player in the league. And he's only 26.

Now, don't get me wrong:  Jared Allen is a great player, and no doubt is a top 15 player.  But #2 overall in the NFL, when building a team from scratch?  I couldn't even begin to figure out how that makes any sense at all.  We all learned in last year's Super Bowl that Defensive Ends are very important to winning in the NFL.  However, I wouldn't say Allen is, by far, the best of the bunch at DE.  Many others are quite good, including, of course, Dwight Freeney.  I really think Florio is just pulling hairs, as this isn't even close to a reasonable pick.

Almost begrudgingly, Manning is selected third.  He says:

3. Atlanta Falcons: Peyton Manning, quarterback, Colts. The Falcons need to put a new face on the franchise. Manning gives them a whole head. And a big one at that.

You have the standard cheap shot at Manning's head, which I've done myself.  You can tell he really doesn't want to take him, but knows nobody will take his list seriously if he drops him any more.

The rest of his list is ok.  He has both Freeney and Wayne being taken in his first round, but, again, takes a cheap shot at a Colt: 

24. Tennessee Titans: Dwight Freeney, defensive end, Colts. Though a tad on the overrated side, Freeney would make a very good defense downright dominant.

A defense can be dominant with an overrated player?  I don't understand the logic.  It doesn't look like he's actually taking the best player at certain points, like with the Jets and Patriots at 6/7.  He has Marion Barber at #15, and Chad Johnson before Moss, Owens, and Wayne.  He can be our rival's GM any day, especially making some of these picks.