Have you guys seen this? http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/34758620

It's from the CBS NFL blog by Ryan Wilson. Check out Bob Kravitz's quotes about Peyton. While I am siding with neither Irsay nor Manning on this as I think both were childish as hell and should not have said a word the week of the SB, I do agree with some of what Bob says, and this was VERY calculated by the Manning camp....but damn, just read the quotes. Maybe it was mostly in jest and with a smile, but just from reading the quotes, I can't imagine Peyton will be sharing much more with Kravy anytime soon for his insider blogs.

"I think people are starting to sway over to Jim Irsay's side on this," Kravitz told Kornheiser. "… It's such a no-brainer. It's been a no-brainer since they went to 0-13. He could give them money to play football. Andrew Luck has got to play, okay? It's not even about the $35 million anymore. I mean, the guy's arm is a noodle, he can't throw like an NFL quarterback, and by March 8, there's no way of knowing whether he's going to be ready or not."

Wow. "Arm is a noodle" is nowhere near "been medically cleared to play." But that doesn't mean Manning won't be healthy at some point. It's just that nobody knows when.

“I know some of the people that have seen him throw,” Kravitz continued. "They say he’s not throwing like an NFL quarterback yet. That doesn’t mean he never will. This thing is going to take time. Structurally, he’s sound. Structurally, he can take a hit.”

In response to a question from Kornheiser that "Manning hijacked the Super Bowl," Kravitz responded, "I'm quite sure [Peyton] did it deliberately.

"I lost a lot of -- I don't want to say respect for him -- but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and not say that his conversation with me was political and calculated, but there's no doubt in my mind that that story breaking Thursday night right around the time every single TV station is doing an exclusive on Andrew Luck (and, it turns out, blog).

"It comes out on Thursday night about six o'clock -- that doesn't come out unless the Peyton Manning camp wants it to come out. They're putting public pressure on Jim Irsay. It was calculated, it was deceptive, I didn't think it was a good time to do it. And, yes, he absolutely stole the Super Bowl. … I don't think there's any doubt that he stole some of the attention away from the Super Bowl.

"Look, that story was going to be there whether he opened his mouth or not, but he had given us every indication that he was going to go underground and only do his Gatorade and DirecTV thing and then shut the hell up," Kravitz said. "And he didn't do that. I thought that that was kind of smarmy. …

"You got Andrew Luck, just start over, I wish they could make the decision today or tomorrow and move on with it. Instead we're just … holding onto something that doesn't really exist."

Overall it seems like the blogger Wilson has an agenda as he says that Peyton is now being sen as enemy #1 in Indy which is absolute retarded silliness. Listen to 10 mins of local sports radio or read msg board replies on here. Reasonable fans understand that it's likely in Peyton's best interest to move on as well as Indy if he won't seriously re-work a horrible cap deal, but almost no one is hating Manning. Even though many of us do realize what a pointed politician is, but that's nothing new, Peyton has always been like that.

PS Had no idea Kornheiser still had a radio show. Other than PTI I hadn't heard him in years.

These growing rumors of Tressel being hired as the head man have me feeling quite queasy, for the reasons you just stated in your article and more http://www.stampedeblue.com/2012/1/23/2727410/tony-dungy-doesnt-know-who-jim-irsay-will-hire-hearing-jim-tressel.

If only in a minor way (though I think it's larger than minor), I think it's obvious our owner reads your blog. Please tweet, or in some way, make a strong point that will be delivered directly to him through your sources, regarding just how HIGHLY this would infuriate a fragile season ticket base that has many Peyton Manning-only fans among it (sad, but is simply reality).

I've had 4 seas tickets since I had the financial means upon graduating from Purdue in 2004, and while it will be tough, I'll be more than understanding if we have to cut ties with our beloved 4-time MVP and go with Luck, for the long-term good of things due to the contract situation. But if we hire this liar/cheater, I will STRONGLY consider not renewing. And I don't think he's a bad coach, I think he's strong at the X's and O's even though I dislike "Tressel-ball") but he's not the guy for this city, and certainly not at this time. Belichick is a fantastic coach, one of the best, yet many of us would highly dislike him as a coach for the time he was outed as a cheater.

One final thought on the subject, I believe Irsay is a smart guy and one of the best owners in the league. We've seen a few situations of smoke and mirrors from him in the last year regarding his coaches and front office, and most of those situations I think have turned out for the better (time will tell on all of those fires/hires). Maybe Irsay is making it look like we're going to hire a guy that 80% of the fanbase would highly dislike (hell, you could argue, people would be just as mad as if Caldwell had been retained), just to make it seem like an undeniable net positive when he and Grigson instead hire a new, green guy that maybe not many of us know, or had thought much of, or some think is a reach like J Gray or M Trestman. My preference from afar is still Zimmer or Carmichael.

Found this on CBS, report from SI.

http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/34237529

I think it's huge, even though we're now 99.9% certain Indy is drafting A Luck (I would have went with 95% before the Mortensen report).

Knowing this, here are my predictions on what happens re: near-term direction of our Indy Hoisies:

--Option date is moved either to ~8/1 or ~9/1 to coincide with the start of camp or week 1.

--Colts re-sign Saturday, Wayne, Garcon and Mathis. Mathis and Garcon are signed long-term, Saturday and Wayne are going to be short 1 or 2 year deals (at least for realistic time with Indy) and probably will be loaded with lots of dead cap space in future years. Freeney re-does his contract and a lot of his '12 salary is turned into a bonus and the contract has a few years added. Clark isn't cut.

--Colts draft Luck. Irsay assures him he won't wait long to be starter.

--For the first time ever, LOS is packed like a cork for both preseason games as we want to see both QBs play, each for very different reasons.

--Manning is healthy or ~90% "looks like Peyton Manning". We sign the option deal. Indy has a season similar to 2 years ago and gets into the playoffs with 9 to 11 wins as Houston is the only competition. So Indy tries to win 3 playoff games, possibly 3 on the road to get to the SB. As we've seen with Pitt, NYG, and GB lately, all you have to do is get into the professional dance and it's anybody's game. So the Colts try to have Manning go out for a last hurrah of sorts and win the SB. Instead they probably only win 1 or 2 playoff games, but fans are satisfied. My secret wet dream is another SB of course.

--Indy trades Manning to a contender for a 1st rder and another pick. All the old guys are cut except for maybe Freeneey, and Indy goes fully into rebuild mode as they know they aren't making the playoffs with a rookie QB anyway.

--Indy is in cap hell for a couple years, but we don't care as it allows Luck to get all of his learning int's out of the way, and Indy lives out the dead cap hits, and wins 4 to 6 games for two years and slowly rebuilds with high draft picks.

--Indy is back in the AFC divisional playoffs, hopefully at home in 2015. Of the stud guys mentioned above, only Garcon and Mathis are still here. Freeney is probably too old and slow. Luck wins MVP in 2016.

Anybody else with me? Am I nuts? Am I dead on?

The only thing I don't know as far as this being feasible is how much cash Mathis and Garcon will require and if after we trade Manning after one last go-around, how the cap hit works. Does all of the guaranteed money from the rest of the $90 mill extension accelerate to then? If so, who cares, Indy is going to suck anyway with a new QB, so may as well go all out for sucking and get another top 5 pick like back in '98. Probably get 2 picks in the top 10 over 2 years.

Any one else going back and editing their Colts picks for the year with today's not so good news?

My general big-picture guesses:
If Peyton is Peyton, Colts win 10 to 13.
If Peyton is not Peyton, Colts win 5 to 7.
If no Peyton at all, Colts win 2 to 3, draft Andrew Luck, Manning plays 3 more years and the Colts go to the playoffs the next 15 years.

I still believe that Manning starts week one in Houston; however, I don't think it's for all the right reasons and he'll be lucky to be at 80% of himself.  At Hou he plays reasonably well, but it becomes apparent when analyzing the game film that he can't throw with any zip or tight accuracy outside of 20 yards.  Colts lose to Hou by 16 because they can't stop their running game and AndJo goes for 150. 

With Peyton at 70 to 80%, the Colts are still able to sneak past inept Cle by forcing C McCoy into some bad picks.  But now it's beyond obvious he can't throw downfield.

Pitt completely exploits this inability and wins by 30 with Collins playing half the game.  NBC is embarrassed they got this telecast.  Dungy says he really has no idea what's going on the postgame show.

By the Tampa trip, he's either all the way back or they short-term shelve him and Collins starts the next 3 winnable games at TB, vs KC, and at Cincy. 

Hopefully the nerves are able to properly stimulate his tricep soon.  Otherwise it's going to be a long season.  Being able to pull a power running game out of their ass with the 3 new guys on the O line would also be most bodacious, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think both are keys to increasing ticket sales and will eventually help improve our football program.  Morgan Burke is someone who I highly respect as our A.D. and endorse most every move he makes for ol’ Purdue’s athletic programs.  I think his tendency towards pragmatism fits Purdue well and makes sense for most of our athletic dealings, however, I do not agree with him in regard to the subject mentioned in the title.

Per our Hammer & Rail lord and savior, T-Mill, I have been asked to make a FanPost on a topic I feel strongly about:  adding permanent lights to Ross-Ade.  I would love to hear any negative reaction or discussions on why I’m crazy.  However, if you are on the side that agrees with me (as have been most all the replies to my original thread on the GoldAndBlack.com football board), I would love it if you would preach my thoughts and agenda to the Athletic Department.  If they constantly hear the suggestion, maybe they will see the light and get serious about adding them.

Bear with me and enjoy.

At the Purdue Coaches Caravan on June 15th at the Rathskeller in Indy, I asked Morgan Burke to expand on the latest and greatest as to when the rumored East Deck expansion project was going to commence and if it would include permanent lights.  Given your closing comments, Morgan, (see bottom of this article) I hope you're reading this and take into consideration my strong thoughts on permanent lights.

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