Bringing Polian on board was genious
“Would I have made the change if it wasn’t Bill [Polian]? I think ultimately that I may have stood pat. Bill Tobin is a very talented guy, a very solid guy, but we had fallen in a difficult way to 3-13. Still, he was a very strong football man. So it’s hard to say for sure, but I think after several long conversations with Bill Tobin I may have stood pat in hindsight.”
No disrespect to Tobin, but good thing he didn’t. It was Polian who began his first draft with the Colts by choosing Peyton Manning, and that worked out OK. And it was Polian who made Edgerrin James his first pick of the 1999 draft. He found Reggie Wayne. He found Dallas Clark. He found Dwight Freeney. He found Bob Sanders in the second round. He found Ryan Diem in the fourth, Robert Mathis in the fifth.
In short, he made the Colts what they are today, and what they are is the best team in the NFL. OK, so they could lose Sunday. All I know is the only games Indianapolis dropped this season were the ones they didn’t try to win, and that’s a testament to the players and the coaching staff on this year’s club. More than that, it’s a tribute to the men who put them together, and Polian and Irsay can take curtain calls together.
Polian found the players, but Irsay found Polian.
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