The Indianapolis Colts have produced some of the best players in the NFL - particularly during the Peyton Manning era, when the Colts were a force to be feared by every team in the league. Manning himself has been in a constant battle to be named the GOAT, constantly up against Tom Brady for the honor.
Under Manning's leadership, the Colts won Super Bowl XLI, their only Super Bowl victory to date since moving from Baltimore to Indianapolis. And during that period, the Colts had numerous legends on their roster, including Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney, and Reggie Wayne.
Yet in Jonathan Macri's list of the best players at each position over the past 25 years for Pro Football Focus, just one Colts alum made the cut: punter Pat McAfee.
"McAfee is the highest-graded punter of the PFF era by a significant margin, with the next closest player being AJ Cole (89.3). That six-point gap is the largest of any position on this list.Jonathan Macri
McAfee’s 4.54-second average hangtime on 611 qualifying punts is a top-five mark all time among qualifying punters, and he added 214 punts that landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. His 46.4 average punt yards per attempt was also a top-15 mark in the PFF era."
That McAfee was named as the best punter in recent history isn't necessarily under dispute; what's more striking, though, are the Colts who were snubbed at multiple positions.
Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning... again
Macri named Brady the best quarterback of the past 25 years, giving Manning the honorable mention. The biggest feat that Brady seems to have over Manning is the number of Super Bowl victories, but numerous legendary defenders have also said they would rather go up against Brady than Manning.
Ravens linebacker Bart Scott said in an interview that "I'd rather play against Tom Brady every day of the week than go against Peyton Manning!"
While Brady had Bill Belichick behind him, Manning's ability to read defenses and essentially act as his own offensive coordinator was unmatched. “I lost as a No. 1 seed to Peyton Manning with the Baltimore Ravens," Scott continued. "Peyton Manning gives you a different set of anxiety. With Tom Brady, it was more about Bill Belichick and the entire team, the execution, and them having a game plan.”
Ray Lewis, another legendary linebacker for the Ravens, said the same thing: he'd rather face Brady than go up against Manning. He also said that to him, Manning is the GOAT - not Brady. (Lewis, by the way, was Macri's pick for best linebacker.)
"I would say from a quarterback... from a student level of the game, he made me alter my game," Lewis said. "He made me watch more film and that's what I call the greatest quarterback, to me, me and his battle. Brady, of course, rings, but when you talk about just walking out there and seeing a man knowing that whoo, here we go again, Peyton Manning was rough."
But Manning wasn't the only Colts snub.
When will Vinatieri get the credit he deserves?
The Brady-Manning debate may never officially die, but there's really no contest that Adam Vinatieri is the best kicker of all time. Yet Macri instead, mind-bogglingly, chose to snub Vinatieri in favor of the Cardinals' Matt Prater. It comes on the heels of his Hall of Fame snub, too, adding insult to injury.
Though Vinatieri started his career with the Patriots, he spent most of his time with the Colts, at 14 seasons in Indianapolis. Vinatieri is the NFL's all-time leading scorer, at 2,673 points, and a three-time first-team AP All-Pro. He had 29 game-winning kicks, including in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII, over the course of his 24-year career.
But sure. Matt Prater is the best kicker of the past 25 years. That makes sense.