Irsay: Move away from Manning about championships, not stats

It was reported earlier today that former Indianapolis Colts great Peyton Manning told owner Jim Irsay he would be crazy not to draft quarterback Andrew Luck. However, the availability of Luck doesn’t seem like the only reason the Colts moved on from Manning.

In an interview with Jarret Bel of USA Today , via Pro Football Talk, Irsay believes Manning’s departure is a result of a decision to strive for championships, and not individual success or stats.

According to Irsay, per Pro Football Talk:

"We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these [Super Bowl rings]. [Tom] Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these.  Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin [Harrison] and Reggie [Wayne]. Mostly, you love this."

Apparently Manning’s 11 playoff appearances, one Super Bowl win, and breaking tons of franchise and NFL records wasn’t good enough for Irsay and the Colts.

While I’m sure many Colts fans view Manning’s lack of comparative playoff success as disappointing in hindsight, I’m not sure if it was the best move for Irsay to say so with Manning and the undefeated Denver Broncos coming into town this week.

Maybe this is something best said after Luck wins a few rings of his own.