The football gods have tortured Colts fans since the move from Baltimore in 1984. Losing seasons became the norm for the blue and white until coach Ted Marchibroda and quarterback Jim Harbaugh caught lightning in a bottle with some deep runs into the playoffs in the 1990s. Despite some success, every season rooting for the Colts has ended in disappointment for me.\nI've been fortunate enough to witness the golden years of the Peyton Manning era of Indianapolis Colts football. These years have been full of great victories and record-breaking performances. But the most vivid memories I have of the Colts are heart-wrenching playoff losses at the hands of Kordell Stewart, Tom Brady and Nick Harper's wife. \nThose playoff losses were crushing as a fan, but seeing Peyton with the Vince Lombardi Trophy erased all those painful memories. Now that the Colts are Super Bowl champions, I can tell people how wrong they are about football without seeming like such a homer.
To the football pundits\nPeyton with a ring is the same player as Peyton without a ring: the best quarterback to ever play the game.\nI've never believed the reasoning that, to be the best quarterback, a player had to win a Super Bowl. In my book, Dan Marino is the second-best quarterback in NFL history. Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Brady are all great quarterbacks, but each of those players had top defenses on their teams. Peyton and Marino never had the teams that those previous teams had (although you have to give props to the Colts defense in the playoffs).\nPeyton has more pressure on him than any quarterback ever. On Sunday night he earned his reward for carrying the Colts on his back for the last nine years. By the time he retires, Peyton will shatter every passing record and will go down as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.\nOne TD, 25-of-38 passing and 247 yards in the pouring rain against the second-best defense in the league to win the Super Bowl.\nCan't win the big game, can he now?
To the Chicago Bears fans\nI've heard the talk from you all season, and especially in the last two weeks: "Da Bears are the best team in the league, but they still don't get respect," some said. "Brian Urlacher and the rebirth of the '85 Bears defense will dominate Peyton and the finesse Colts," said one guy wearing a Devin Hester jersey. "Peyton can't win the big game," said another idiot.\nI bet when the rain came down you were thinking: "This is Bears football weather. No doubt we are going to win this game." Despite the weather, the Colts lined up and rammed the football down your throat all night. As the game went on, the Colts looked like the power team and the Bears looked like the finesse team. The Bears are a good team, but both New England and Baltimore are better. \nAnd in the end, the Colts were better than them all. After years of pain, the football gods delivered a championship to owner Jim Irsay, general manager Bill Polian, coach Tony Dungy, Manning and the deserving fans of Indianapolis.\nWorld champions. It has a good ring to it, doesn't it?
