And after 14 years, the man whose first move was to draft Manning in 1998, Bill Polian, was let go as vice chairman of the Colts following a 2-14 season.
If Manning and Polian go out together, they leave behind 141 regular-season wins, 11 playoff appearances, six division titles, two AFC championships, and one Super Bowl title.
So, yeah, Patriots fans are probably breathing easy. Their de facto fourth division rival - the teams will play for a 13th time since 2003 next season - is in the process of a major changing of the guard.
But Colts owner Jim Irsay thinks he tapped the right man to carry on the winning tradition when he named former Eagles director of pro personnel Ryan Grigson as general manager.
Grigson’s former boss, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, thinks so as well.
“What I’d say is this guy has the first pick in the draft in which it’s pretty clear that there’s some special talent at the top of this draft,’’ Roseman said, “and I would never underestimate him or the Colts organization.’’
Grigson, who will turn 40 next month when Indianapolis hosts the scouting combine, has definitely worked his way up through the ranks.
A native of Highland, Ind., Grigson played tight end and offensive tackle at Purdue from 1991-94 and was a captain as a senior. A sixth-round draft choice of the Bengals in 1995, Grigson played with the Lions and in the CFL before retiring because of a back injury.
He then started his career in personnel and coaching, before being hired by the Rams (1999-2002) as a scout; one of his areas was the Northeast, and he still lives in Portsmouth, R.I. He moved to the Eagles in 2003 and served as director of college scouting from 2006-09 before moving into his last position with Philadelphia.
