Media Day is always a circus. In 1999, Atlanta's Ray Buchanon wore a dog collar to symbolize the Falcons' underdog status. This year there are no such antics. Just some comments from Peyton Manning that, for some Colts fans, warm the heart a bit. Here are some bites:
They are "some guys who don't wear the uniform anymore who are still, in my opinion, Colts and always will be," he said.
"Guys who helped the turnaround of the Colts, going from kind of an inconsistent team to a consistent winning franchise.
"I'm talking about guys like Edgerrin James, Marcus Pollard, David Thornton, Adam Meadows, Brad Scioli, Chad Bratzke, guys who are great friends and great teammates.
"And I just want to say that we haven't forgotten those guys."
We've talked about Edge, but I like how Bratze and Pollard were mentioned. Some of these players are long gone. Chad Bratze and Brad Scioli both retired young due to injury. You can almost put Adam Meadows in that boat as well. These guys were a big part of this turnaround, going from one of the worst teams in the NFL to one of its best.
Here's more from Manning:
Manning mentioned the contributions of four teammates who are on injured reserve and won't be playing Sunday, including "my best friend on the team, Brandon Stokley," and Mike Doss, Monte Reagor, James Mungro.
This is why he is so classy. It's amazing this team is in this game despite such key injuries. Then again, the Bears are in a similar place. They lost Tommie Harris and Mike Brown this season.
Media Day is full of dumb questions. For a listing of some of the stupider ones, check this out.