It was a tough decision but Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay cut the mighty Peyton Manning and drafted quarterback Andrew Luck. Now he’s got the opportunity to do a bit of “I told ya so” after the Colts beat the Denver Broncos on Sunday, 24-13. Manning had a pretty bad showing and many people think he’s heading towards retirement. Now Irsay looks back on that fateful decision.
“I knew it was the right thing to do for the Colts,” Irsay said outside his jubilant locker room after the Colts’ 24-13 playoff win over the Broncos.
“I saw Archie [Manning] last night” Irsay said. “We had a nice conversation. Happened to be at Elway’s Restaurant at the Ritz Carlton. It was a decision that it was the right move to make. Peyton and I had talked about it. He said it best in the press conference, I didn’t decide. He didn’t decide. The football gods laid the cards out. We both knew it as best for him and us.”
Irsay’s comments came six days after he lauded Manning’s release and Luck’s selection as a win-win proposition for both players and both the Broncos and Colts.
“To me, it’s been tremendous that my vision at the time was it would work out this way, that Peyton would be able to go somewhere, continue his greatness, continue his career,” Irsay said. “We would be able to go forward with Andrew. Again, having the type of success we’ve had so soon I think was a surprise to me.”
