Peyback!

My heart sank. It may have even skipped a beat when I read the erroneous news that future Hall of Fame Colts QB Peyton Manning was set to retire.

According to ESPN, it was actor Rob Lowe who tweeted the fake news, which has since been dispelled by his father Archie and ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen.

However, despite the false nature of the rumors, there arose in me a fire to compose this very article, which I have been meaning to do regardless.

Peyton Manning, the face of the NFL. The "posterboy" if you will. He has played for the Colts since 1998 and started every game from 1998 until the 2010 season.

He went down with a serious neck injury in 2011 which I believe was hindering his performance throughout the 2010 season.

Now, his health in question, and his ability to play again in serious doubt, many people expect Andrew Luck to wind up in Indy, including myself.

But contrary to the belief of some analysts and sportscasters, I feel strongly that he WILL play again.

He may not be the old Peyton Manning, and may never be that again, but he can still be part of a Super Bowl-caliber team which has been built around him for over a decade.

Colts place Collins on IR!

Its official.  Yesterday the Indianapolis Colts placed former Giants QB Kerry Collins on injured reserve with a concussion, ending his season and likely his career.

The 39-year-old Collins was signed to a 2 year, $14,000,000 contract in August to be Peyton Manning's backup.  After Manning was unable to begin the season, Collins was elevated to starter.

Collins as a New York Giant...good times!  Image courtesy of http://www.profootballhof.com/photos/651/2009/1/14/

I can honestly say that I am very disappointed.  As a Giants fan myself, I was looking forward to seeing Collins play this season.  This saddens me as it will almost certainly be the end for Collins and he will be cut when the season ends, especially if the Colts draft Andrew Luck and with Curtis Painter also on the roster to back up Manning.  Rest assured he will be missed and I feel strongly that he will make the Hall of Fame someday.

Lets look at some of his career stats (198 games) courtesy of NFL.com:

3,487/6,261 (completions/attempts)
55.7 completion percentage
40,922 total yards
208 TD
73.8 QB rating

Versus Peyton Manning's (208 games):

4,682/7,210 (completions/attempts)
64.9 Completion percentage
54,828 total yards
399 TD
94.9 QB rating

While there is no question that Peyton is the better quarterback of the two, maybe the best of his generation (although I am more Favre-biased), Kerry Collins has, in my opinion, flown under the radar because of the Brett Favres, Peyton Mannings, and Tom Bradys around during his time.  This is why, in my opinion, he belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.  From what I saw in him during his time with the Giants, Raiders, Titans, and (to a much-lesser extent, Colts), Kerry Collins is a Hall of Famer.