I'm not talking about his betrothed. After failing to restructure his contract, Marvin Harrison was cut today by the Colts. Marvin was scheduled to make $9 million this upcoming season but with his drop in production, age, recent injuries, and salary cap both parties agreed to part ways after trying to work something out. Peyton was quoted today as saying "I always will be indebted to Marvin for what he has done for my career." The 13 year veteran has spent his entire career up to today as a Colt and is #2 in career receptions to Jerry Rice. He's been the constant star player for the last 13 years. Manning's been around for 11, James only 7, Faulk only 5. Best wishes to #88 wherever he lands. There's talk of him returning to his hometown of Philly and playing with his college QB McNabb. I hope Marvin returns to Indy to retire a Colt.
Here's a bit from the NFL Network about Manning to Harrison:
We Colts fans will miss your leadership and quiet strength on the sidelines. Coach Tony Dungy's finally made the decision to hang up the headset after 13 years of NFL headcoaching and 7 years as the coach of the Colts. Coach Herm Edwards said today that Coach Dungy's priorities were in the order of "faith, family, then occupation." Tony's family had moved full time back to Tampa and his heart is for ministry. It's a bittersweet day as it's hard to see him leave, but I know he's doing something more influential in the lives of many in the next stage of his life. Best wishes and blessings for the next stage in life to the 3rd most winningest NFL coach, the 1st African-American coach to win the SuperBowl, and (of course) the first coach to bring home a Lombardi trophy to the city of Indy. Video of Tony's Retirement Press Conference
It's been hard for me to keep up with football since the Colts' disappointing loss to the Chargers a week ago. Only a day after Peyton is crowned his third league MVP, sharing this achievement only by Brett "I don't know if I want to still play and I'll make you wait" Favre, the Colts self destruct again in San Diego. #18 proved to me why he was voted MVP in that game due to the collapse of the defense towards the end of the game as well as the inability to run the ball....plus the fact that he was able to recover this season from 2 knee surgeries (watch out Mr. Brady, they franchised that Trojans benchwarmer). Anyways, SI.com named Peyton one of the 8 greatest NFL quarterbacks of all-time. Peyton's come along way this season and it's too bad it ended so abruptly. I fear a huge proponent of his success may be gone to - Marvin Harrison. Peyton's aging better half of one of the greatest QB-WR tangents in NFL history is due a salary hike next season. Is the team going to cut him to make more cap room? Will he be willing to take a pay cut? Will Marvin's resurfacing legal situation with his gun in Philly get him a pink slip from Indy? Only time will tell, it's been a good ride while it's lasted.
I geeked out and bought the Motorola X205 Gaming Headset for cheap off ebay this last week for my 360. It's a replica of the types of Motorola headsets you see NFL head coaches wear while pacing and spitting off the sidelines. Now I can look like my man Tony Dungy while I'm playing Madden or schooling hordes of Locust on Gears of War 2. It's a comfortable headset, and I'll take the circumaural headphone over the standard foam supraaural one that comes with the system.
Since returning to Indy, I finally got to visit Lucas Oil Stadium - home of the Colts, by taking the stadium tour with my dad and brother. Stops on the tour include the press box, a walk along the field, and the away team's locker. It's odd, since Lucas Oil is obviously slapped all over the stadium you can actually buy motor oil while you're at the game. Also, I got to see the remnants of the old Hoosier/RCA Dome. The rest of the stadium will be demolished this Saturday morning. It was a great experience, I really want to see a game here!
It's quite disappointing to post this after today's opening Sunday the '08 NFL season. The Colts lose their first game in Lucas Oil to Orton and the Bears, Patriots lose Brady for the season (not too unhappy about this), and other AFC teams seemed quite weak today. Hopefully Manning can get back into the rhythm after tonight's loss. Here's the last 2 commercials of my list, here's to a successful season for Peyton and the Colts - as well as another AFC South Conference title:
#2 Sprint Laser Rocket Arm: Peyton must have unlimited text messages for life with no penalties for go over his minutes after a commercial like this. So memorable, Bob Lamey introduced Manning as the 'Rocket Arm' during Indy's Super Bowl celebration.
#1 SNL United Way Commercial Parody: OK, this is not a real commercial, but it's got to be the most memorable in my mind. Not only does Peyton win a Super Bowl and get MVP honors, but also gets to host Saturday Night Live on his birthday.
A tad bit late, the NFL season opener was last night. Here are some Peyton TV spots, in no particular order, that didn't make the cut.
NFL Kickoff '07: Humorous rivalry with Peyton and Reggie Bush advertising last year's season opener pitting the Colts against the Saints. Indy pummelled New Orleans 41-10 and embarrassing former Colt CB Jason David by burning him on 3 TD's.
NFL Network Colts/Falcons Thanksgiving '07 Promo: Manning's not really in this commercial, but quite a clever shot at his constant audible calling that'll make a defensive captain's eyes roll.
Gatorade Rain: Another commercial I couldn't seem to find. Manning comes out of a football as if the pigskin was giving birth - a little reminiscient of the facehugger eggs from the Alien films. Here's one with Kevin Garnett
NFL Sunday Ticket: Jeff Garlin of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' fame is dancing around and singing a la Charlie Bucket as if he found Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. Although Peyton has such a minor role, Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and the media-elusive Barry Sanders make an appearance.
It sure helps a company if they can get not only a pair of relevant relatives to grace your advertisement, but 2 pairs?! Oreo, who I mentioned in the Manning commercial posts has the Super Bowl MVP QB siblings licking sandwich cookies, has now begun to feature the hard-hitting Williams sisters for their Double Stuf Racing League (DSRL). Venus and Serena Williams just finished their quarter finals match at the '08 U.S. Open center stage at Ashe Stadium with the younger winning 7-6,7-6. It was a great match, and a bit disappointing that it didn't go to 3 sets as Venus went 0-10 in set points in those 2 set tiebreakers. Not only are the tennis sibling duo being featured this week, but Oreos' other cash cow siblings are being featured as well. Eli and the defending Super Bowl XLII Champion Giants will be taking on the Washington Redskins tomorrow to start off the '08 NFL regular season, while Peyton is featured with a night game this upcoming Sunday night in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears. Immense advertising for Nabisco! Here's the ad they've been sporting for the last couple of weeks:
How much are they spending on this campaign?! Are their Double Stuf Oreos that hard to sell? I like them, in fact I never buy regular Oreos if I ever buy those dentally-bespeckling cookies. Although neither the Mannings or Williams are from twins, what happened to just getting a bunch of twins from an ad agency like those Double Mint Gum commercials?
Here's the commercial NBC has to feature the Mannings for this weekend's NFL kickoff:
The Colts open the season a week from today against the Bears. Peyton's progress is going well, although the bad news is Jeff Saturday's injury situation which will keep him out at least 6 weeks. The quarterback-center exchange is key, especially for Manning's style of no huddle offense. Here's #6-#3 of the product-placement peppered Peyton.
#6 Master Card: Priceless Pep Talk - There were about 4 of these commercials, this one is the best of all of them. The lines written for Peyton were clever, he's done so many commercials by now that he's not afraid to portray himself a little arrogant, but his execution could do a little more work. Maybe he'll get an acting coach after his football career is over. Just don't make the football version of 'Space Jam' if you decide to go to another sport. I'm thinking the Oreo-licking thing's not going to be that successful.
#5 United Way: 'Clay' - Like the Direct TV commercial from #13 on the list, this United Way commercial showed signs of Manning loosening up in front of the public and showing a more humorous side of himself.
#4 ESPN SportsCenter - Peyton and Eli acting like children. The memorable part of this commercial is Archie turning around and giving that paternal stare. It's commercials like this, along with #18, where I always find it funny that the athletes have to wear some sort of shirt or jersey as to inform the audience what team they play for. I'm sure these guys wear their team's colors 24/7. This is another commercial where we get to see Cooper.
#3 Master Card: 'Fan' Commercial 1 - The commercial that catapulted Peyton into endorsement stardom. Just remember #18, if you throw an interception, they're not yelling "Boo", they're yelling "Moovers." We'll see if Indy's willing to 'support their team' this season if injuries plague the Colts' season.
Here's the next batch of commercial spots. Colts play their first game at Lucas Oil tonight in a preseason game with the Buffalo Bills.
#10 Master Card - 'Opponents' - This commercial is genious as Peyton cozies up to NFC defensive super stars Michael Strahan and Brian Urlacher. At the time the commercial was made, neither Strahan or Urlacher knew they would play in a Super Bowl with a Manning. Strahan got the better end of the deal.
#9 Sprint: Manning's Mind - If Manning had nightmares from too many concussions (which won't happen with his O-Line) and watching The Shining this may be what he dreams of. I like the fact that other players are featured in the commercial. Jason Taylor is charging down the hall, while Marvin Harrison is seen 'swimming with the fishes.' The voice of the Colts Bob Lamey is also featured in the commercial. The token horror child also whisper's 'Clark', Indy's tight end/slot receiver.
#8 Oreos DSRL - By this time the whole Manning family, minus Cooper, have become total endorsement pawns as this commercial shows how far they are willing to stoop. I wonder how much the clan's getting paid by Nabisco acting absolutely foolish, hopefully not in sandwich cookies.
#7 Master Card: 'Fan' Commercial 3 - This last of the Fan commercials is pushes Peyton's fanaticism, especially when he gets the apron. I'm sure those in food service wished they felt that appreciated.
Although I am excited to see the season opener at Lucas Oil when the Colts take on the Bears, I was hoping to see Rex Grossman taken down at quarterback. I've always been quietly watching for his slightly better backup Kyle Orton, since I saw him play in 4 seasons at Purdue as the Boilermaker's QB. He was an early Heisman candidate during the 2004 season before injuries plagued him into obscurity. Orton was drafted in the 4th round by the Bears during the '05 draft and has played backup to Grossman since. He recently got a one year contract extension and coach Lovie Smith announced today that he has won the starting position of the Monsters of the Midway. We'll see Peyton take on Kyle, not a repeat of Super Bowl XLI, which was probably what the league was trying to go for. Maybe adding 10 to the quaterback (Grossman's #8), will add a bit to the Bears offense.....probably not much. I do wish Kyle the best for the rest of the season, after the Colts are done with them.
There's plenty of Peyton out there, a multitude of Manning commercials, and here's the next batch of the top 18 for #18. I'll have more the next 2 Sundays, a few honorable mentions that didn't make the cut on during the NFL season opener and the top 2 commercials before the Colts open the season at Lucas against the Bears on September 7th.
#14 X-Box - NFL Fever 2003 - This was in the days when EA didn't have the exclusive rights to NFL video games. Fever was Microsoft's NFL game and their cover boy every year for their short lived series was Peyton. The graphics were better than Madden at the time, but player models looked like they were pumped up with more 'roids than every slugger on the Mitchell Report combined. The mechanics of the game weren't realistic at all receivers never seemed to be able to catch and run routes at the same time, resulting in almost no YAC. Anyways, Peyton acting silly again.
#13 DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket - If I can recall, this is the first commercial I remember Peyton coming a little out of his shell early in his career and have a little less serious commercial. He's also able to poke a little fun at his "student/historian of the game" image.
#12 Master Card: 'Fan' Commercial 2 - These Master Card endorsements solidified Manning's humorous side (or his willingness to do anything for the almighty dollar) in commercials - Because there are some things money can't buy, and Peyton Manning endorsing whatever it is you're trying to sell isn't one of them.
#11 DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket - Unfortunately, as of this posting, I cannot find this commercial anywhere. I always thought this commercial was genious. Like the current ad campaign, where movie icons like Doc Brown, Ripley, or T-1000 would come out of character to advertise Direct TV, Manning came out from behind center to advertise NFL Sunday Ticket just before he's about to throw the memorable single season TD record to Brandon Stokely during the 2005 season.
It's almost 3 weeks before the '08-'09 NFL Season starts opening Thursday, September 4th with the 'Skins at the Giants. Colts will open the season on Sunday Night Football on the 7th against their defeated Super Bowl XLI opponent Bears in the new Lucas Oil Stadium. I can't wait to see what happens this year. Brady and the Pats have been defeated by a Manning the last 2 years, although it's a slim chance the Giants will return to the promised land we'll wait and see if the Manning Bowl will ever occur - Peyton's not getting any younger. Peyton's still rehabbing that knee after having the infected bursa sac removed and should be ready for the season opener. I'm really hoping he'll surpass Favre's consecutive game record - whenever #4 wants to retire! Anyways, in anticipation of the new season, I'm going to be posting the top 18 Peyton commercials leading up to the season opener. Peyton's been the poster boy for the NFL and has definitely been the most advertised athlete as of late. He's also got the skills, records, and a title to warrant having his face on everything. So here goes with #18 - #15:
#18 - Manning Family Reading PSA - Public service announcement features the 3 Manning quarterbacks as well as the rarely shown older brother Cooper with an actual utterance, who never made it to the pros but was a big impact on Peyton's life and the reason for the #18 Colts jersey - if you remember Peyton was #16 when playing with the Vols.
#17 - NFLSHOP.COM: Mannings Make Breakfast - The Manning QB's use teamwork to achieve everyday tasks. How would a huddle of 3 quarterbacks really work?
#16 - Gatorade 'Big Heads' Commercial - Sports stars Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, Jennie Finch, and Derek Jeter join Peyton in a commercial placing their heads on kids bodies, transforming them into live bobblehead dolls. The funny part about this commercial is that Peyton already has a huge head, this commercial doesn't add to that at all!
#15 - Gatorade Fierce: 'Gladiator' - Older commercial for Peyton, before he was really portrayed as humorous. Definitely high in production value, taking on lions and bears. The only beef I have with the commercial is the use of all the fake Colts players. Fortunately, as the Colts have become more iconic as a team lately, other players have been featured in more recent commercials.
Reebok just released a commercial advertising the new NFL Reebok Speedwick Performance Tee, showcasing an array of NFL stars, including the Colts' Manning, Saturday, and Wayne (0:35). The most important thing about this commercial that I'm commenting on is the appropriate use of hearing protection in a commercial. Titans quarterback Vince Young (0:20) is shown on a riding lawn mower and wearing ear muffs. Many power mowers average around 90 dB SPL, which is definitely loud enough where the exposure will make some susceptible to noise induced hearing loss. I guess I was shocked about this commercial showing the hearing protection because if you go to lawn mower vendors' websites, you won't even see the ads or promo shots with people wearing hearing protection. Take Toro, Honda, or John Deere, I couldn't find any hearing protection in the photos or videos.
After all the hard work the last 2 years to get the Super Bowl to the cold-weather city of Indianapolis, Jim Irsay has finally gotten the biggest game in football to the Circle City. League officials and team owners voted today in Atlanta, and picked Indy over Phoenix and Houston. Now the Colts have extra incentive to try to keep competitive the next few years! The concepts for the city look crazy - it's gonna shut down the whole downtown Indy, let's not hope it's hosting an AFC Champion New England Patriots. Presentation video shown, featuring Dennis Hopper:
The 2008 NFL Draft is in the books, and I'm excited to see how the Colts' rookies will perform this season. Bill Polian is definitely a smart president, so I definitely trust his judgement. Since the Colts traded away this year's first round pick for tackle Tony Ugoh after the surprising retirement of Tarik Glenn, the first pick for 2008 went in the second round at #59 to center Mike Pollak from Arizona State. He'll hopefully be able to bolster the O-Line after the departure of guard Jake Scott, who I was never a big fan of. Philip Wheeler, the linebacker out of Georgia Tech, was the 93rd selection in the 3rd round. He looks like another small speed kind of guy the Colts like at linebacker, let's hope he stays healthy! Another draft pick of note was definitely Mike Hart, the running back from Michigan in the 6th round at pick #202. If he makes it through the preseason, Hart may be able to provide some much needed round support for Addai, maybe 10 touches a game. I'm a strong believer that if the Colts keep more of their plays on the ground that they are a more successful team. Draft info on Pollak:
I haven't been blogging as lately as I usually do, so I've got to compensate this weekend for the lack of entries! Anyways, last week ESPN released their results for their fan satisfaction ratings. The rankings were based upon how successful the team is, how affordable games are, the stadium experience, and how other players and coaches rank the team. The Colts were not only ranked #1 in the NFL, but also of all the 4 major sports leagues. The lowest category for the Colts was stadium experience, but obviously that will change when the upcoming season starts. Just because your team has been successful of late did not guarantee a high ranking - the Boston Red Sox were quite low due to the affordability factor. You can check out where your favorite team ranks for 2008 or the last 6 years here.
Week 1 primetime games have been announced, and the Colts will start the season off Sunday at home in their 5th consecutive primetime season opener with a rematch of Super Bowl XLI against the Bears at the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium! I can't wait to see how the new stadium will look, obviously it's not done just yet. I'm not sure if Rex will have the starting position in Chicago by the time preseason is over, but it'll sure be good to see him get beat around in a brand new stadium! I still have high hopes that Orton will one day lead the Monsters of the Midway under center. Click the picture of Booger giving to Rex on the left to relive that awesome game! Below is also a demo of what Lucas Oil Stadium is going to look like! I can't wait - I miss Indy!
I'm not talking about his betrothed. After failing to restructure his contract, Marvin Harrison was cut today by the Colts. Marvin was scheduled to make $9 million this upcoming season but with his drop in production, age, recent injuries, and salary cap both parties agreed to part ways after trying to work something out. Peyton was quoted today as saying "I always will be indebted to Marvin for what he has done for my career." The 13 year veteran has spent his entire career up to today as a Colt and is #2 in career receptions to Jerry Rice. He's been the constant star player for the last 13 years. Manning's been around for 11, James only 7, Faulk only 5. Best wishes to #88 wherever he lands. There's talk of him returning to his hometown of Philly and playing with his college QB McNabb. I hope Marvin returns to Indy to retire a Colt.
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