INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jim Irsay figured the road to Indianapolis' next Super Bowl title eventually would go through Peyton Manning's new team.
"Peyton plays at such a high level and plays so great that people put expectations that are unrealistic because I really think whether you get one, two, three championships, a lot more is involved," said Irsay, who reiterated he would have liked to have hoisted more than one Lombardi Trophy with Manning. "I think he's one of the greatest players ever to play the game at his position. He's going to be in that conversation when you talk about it."
Manning has played well, too. He won a league record fifth MVP last season after shattering Tom Brady's single-season record for touchdown passes (55), and he has the Broncos (12-4) back in the Super Bowl hunt.
He'd just rather see Luck and the Colts take this round.
Irsay was forced to decide whether to keep a potentially proficient but injured and soon-to-be 35-year-old quarterback with a high salary-cap number or rebuild immediately. His answer came on the final day of the 2011 season.
"I thought we played better on Sunday and when I say that, I mean that I don't think we've played our best game yet," Irsay said. "With the task at hand where we're going, we're going to have to take it to that next level. There's no question about it."
"It was my hope and dream that this sort of situation would occur. I feel blessed that it has," Irsay said during a 30-minute news conference in Indianapolis. "Peyton remains a really dear friend to me. We have communicated through the months. I think it's going to be a great game and having these two great quarterbacks go against each other at this point in their careers is really exciting."
Manning led the Broncos to three straight AFC West titles and last year's Super Bowl,Wholesale Football Jerseys.
The winner earns a ticket to the AFC Championship game. The loser heads home to contemplate what must be fixed before Round 4 of this quarterback duel takes place sometime next season.
He never anticipated it would happen this fast.
Heading into Sunday's divisional-round game against the Broncos, the Colts owner said Tuesday that Hollywood couldn't have created a better script than Manning vs. Andrew Luck.
While some contend Manning is starting to play like a 38-year-old quarterback and that his playoff history has been sub-par,Cheap Jerseys Supply, Irsay doesn't buy it.
Those talks became more important a year later when Manning missed the entire season because of a nerve injury that weakened his right arm. Without their star quarterback, the usually strong Colts stumbled to a 2-14 mark.
Two months later,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Irsay made an emotional announcement that Manning and the Colts were parting ways. Even then,China NFL Jerseys, Irsay insisted he wanted Manning to get another shot at a Super Bowl title while the revamped Colts would attempt to put themselves back into contention.
Irsay said he and then-team president Bill Polian started discussing how and when to transition from Manning to his eventual successor in 2010. Irsay said they determined at that time that most prominent quarterbacks started declining at about age 38. Manning will turn 39 in March, and Irsay noted that Manning could defy the odds because he's still playing at such a high level.
"It's been special," Irsay said of the Luck era. "Obviously the Kansas City game last year was historic. Again (in Sunday's win),Cheap Jerseys, 376 yards with drops and some of the throws he made, it's incredible. That's what we saw when he was coming out (of college)."
Luck, meanwhile, won 33 regular-season games, reached the playoffs in each of his first three NFL seasons and captured the last two AFC South titles. In a wild-card round win last year against Kansas City, Luck engineered the second-greatest comeback in playoff history. And last weekend's wild-card win over Cincinnati set up Sunday's rematch with Manning's Broncos, who won 31-24 in the season opener.
A month later,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Indy kicked off the rebuilding process by taking Luck with the top pick, and it didn't take long for the former Colts star and the new Colts star to embark on a collision course.
NOTES: The Colts put right guard Hugh Thornton on injured reserve Tuesday with a shoulder injury. Thornton was injured in the second-to-last game of the season at Dallas and hasn't played since. Lance Louis will likely replace Tho
