INDIANAPOLIS — Just a few blocks from the House That Peyton Built is a football artifact that shows its age these days, pressed neatly behind glass. Occasionally, the passers-by pause for a bit as it conjures up a fond memory or two.
Carbon dating, or at least the small print stamped in the lower left corner, would put the photo's creation at 2009.
In the brightest of colors there are images of Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne, Bob Sanders and Anthony Gonzalez in each corner, decked out in Indianapolis Colts blue.
And in the middle is one Peyton Manning.
"So, it's different now," Wayne said. "It's a lot different. A lot."
It is now 2012. Clark is gone, now at Tampa Bay. Sanders? Gone. Gonzalez?
Gone. And Manning? You know the story, one Hall of Famer in John Elway lures a future Hall of Famer in Manning to come to Denver after the Colts decided four neck surgeries and 36 birthdays were too many for their all-everything quarterback with their next lottery-win of a prodigy on the way in now-rookie Andrew Luck."Of course it's a significant change," Wayne said. "This team is so young, I feel like I'm learning new guys' names all the time. But being around them has kept me young. It's cool, man."
Call it "Rebuilding Survivor," and Wayne is basically the last guy on Indy island from one of the most successful periods on offense by any team in any NFL era. The Colts won at least 10 games in nine consecutive seasons with Manning behind center. They were among the league's ruling elite.
There were two Super Bowl appearances, one title-game win and a glittering monument of brick, glass and steel on the southern edge of Indianapolis' downtown — Lucas Oil Field — where Super Bowl XLVI was played this past February, a state-of-the-art stadium that likely wouldn't even be there if Manning had not thrown passes for the team.
NFL players must live in the now
Still, change may be the only guarantee in the NFL. The Broncos have lived the life as well.
"You just never know, and nothing is forever," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "That's why I tell all the young guys. You have to do everything you can to make the most of every season. Look here, we're still trying to get back to where John Elway had the team, and he's running the team now."
The Hall of Fame quarterback did power the Broncos' most successful era in the team's history, did lead to a new downtown stadium, and his exit, albeit by retirement, did leave a gaping hole in the future that Elway is still trying to fill as the team's top football executive.
And with Manning now in Broncos orange with three consecutive 300-yard passing games
and a prime-time comeback from 24-0 down at San Diego, the Colts have pushed Luck to the front of the line. The 23-year-old has been bestowed the entire quarterback package — brains, athleticism, arm strength and composure under pressure — but he does follow Manning into the city's most visible job."But of necessity, things happen," Luck said. He added, "We're just working hard — hard in the meeting room, hard on the practice field, to try to improve as quickly as we can."
And the Colts, with 32 players on the roster who were not there last season, clawed their way to 3-3 in the first year P.M. — post-Manning — era Sunday with a 17-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
They sported three rookies in the starting lineup on offense — Luck, running back Vick Ballard and tight end Dwayne Allen — and had seven rookies in uniform for the game.
"And unless you showed up two weeks ago, you really aren't a young player for us," Colts interim coach Bruce Arians said.
Manning's legacy isn't fading
While the team's home stadium is no longer a sea of Manning No. 18 jerseys in the stands, there were still thousands of Manning jerseys seen Sunday, including more than 200 in one lower-bowl section alone. But folks seem to understand the team in front of them.
They groaned at the inevitable rookie mistakes, but did not boo. And when the Colts closed out a somewhat choppy win over the now 1-6 Browns, the players and ticket-buyers alike lustily celebrated their arrival back to the .500 mark.
"We don't really hear about how it was from fans, mostly media," Ballard said. "They say we're in transition. We say we're trying to go win championships, get to the playoffs. We try not to feed on that, that (Manning) isn't here, that a lot of new guys are here. We just try to go play."
"We're obviously just excited about the win," Arians said. "Get to 3-3, be in the hunt now in the AFC with a bunch of other teams. ... Lot of mistakes (Sunday) that can be corrected, myself included, and we'll go from there. It's a pretty happy locker room to get to 3-3."
Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jeff_legwold
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