If you were just paying attention to all the overblown Peyton Manning hype of the last few days, you might have missed the real news concerning a true Colts legend. This week, owner Jim Irsay was inducted into the Hall of Fame, beating Manning to the punch by at least five years. This little tidbit was easy to miss, because all of the soundbites coming out of the induction ceremony centered around Irsay’s ongoing magnanimous approach to trying to keep Manning in the Blue and White fold, despite the quarterback’s debilitating neck surgeries over the past couple of years. If you closely read the related ESPN piece, for example, the honor stands out in bold relief:
"“Peyton and I have talked and said that certainly by that date or sooner, we’d like to just come to something that makes sense for both of us,” Irsay said before being inducted into the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame. “It’s a difficult thing, because sometimes circumstances are thrown at you. You take your hands out of the deck that you’re dealt and you deal with them.”"