The NFL Network recently replayed a portion of the 2005 Indianapolis Colts game against the St. Louis Rams. It was memorable for the early-game sideline flare-up between Jeff Saturday and Peyton Manning, all of it captured because Manning was miked up. After a red-zone trip that ended in a field goal, Saturday moved to the bench and started yapping at Manning.
The quotes aren't verbatim, but the gist of the argument sounded like this:
Saturday: "Let's run the damned ball!''
Manning, walking toward the offensive linemen, spittle flying out of his mouth: "Just shut up and worry about blocking their pass-rushers!''
Back and forth it went, Saturday and Manning screaming at each other. Eventually, big left tackle Tarik Glenn stood up, got in Manning's face and slowly pushed the quarterback toward his side of the bench.
Fast-forward to late in the game and an explosive Colts comeback. There's Saturday and Manning laughing, smiling, hugging, completely oblivious to what had happened before. In good working relationships, conflict breeds creativity. Sometimes, even greatness.
That's why the Colts, buoyed by the recent increase in the salary-cap threshold, had to make sure Saturday returned.
Because that's the kind of relationship that makes great teams championship teams. Because when players trust one another, when they can vent their spleens while knowing that they still have each other's back, a bond is built that can never be broken.
What would have happened this next year if that was Jamey Richard instead of Saturday? Would Richard have fought back? If Manning had gotten in his face, would a chastened Richard have gone in the tank?
All the talk this week has been about the departure of Marvin Harrison, and given Harrison's accomplishments through 13 years, that's not improper. But if we're talking about bringing back the most important member of the free agent class, that was clearly Saturday.
We know the salary cap increased by roughly $4 million, which made Saturday's return possible.
And we assume that Manning, who is in Florida on vacation, made a couple of quiet phone calls to West 56th Street, lobbying the front office to find a way to retain the guy he calls his "security blanket.''
It's this simple:
With Richard, you hoped he would turn into another Saturday and develop the same kind of relationship Saturday and Manning came to enjoy.
With Saturday, you knew the center and the quarterback were going to be on the same page, just as Manning and Harrison were through all those years.
The Colts cannot risk throwing away any more Super Bowl opportunities while Manning is in his prime, and that means keeping Saturday around at least another two years. If Manning is like most quarterbacks, he will start to break down around age 37, 38, or five or six seasons from now. Of course, Manning hasn't been seriously hurt or taken a lot of hits, and probably could remain productive long after his best athletic skills begin to diminish.
Every year that passes, though, the window closes, however imperceptibly.
When the Colts win their next Super Bowl, it will be with Saturday snapping the ball to Manning, breaking the Kent Hull-Jim Kelly record for the longest-running center-quarterback combination in history.
What does Saturday mean? Here are some telling statistics from last season, when he missed four of 16 regular-season games -- four games against bad teams with a combined .430 winning percentage. (In fairness, two of those games were early in the season, against Chicago and Minnesota, when Manning's knee was an issue.)
Still:
With Saturday, Manning's quarterback rating was 98.1. Without Saturday, his QB rating was 86.3.
With Saturday, the Colts averaged 25.1 points per game. Without Saturday, they averaged 19 points per game.
With Saturday, the Colts averaged 7.2 yards per pass attempt, which is the most important statistic in football. Without Saturday, the average was 6.5 yards.
With Saturday, the Colts averaged 87.4 yards per game, and 3.7 yards per carry, on the ground. Without Saturday, they averaged an anemic 56.3 yards rushing per game and 2.7 yards per carry.
With Saturday, they were better in every statistical category than they were without him.
One of the things the Colts do as well as anybody is let a player move on before his career begins on a downward spiral. This, though, wouldn't have been the time to do that with Saturday, even if he turns 34 when the season begins. Centers are built to last. Look around the league at some of the top centers: There's Kevin Mawae (38), Casey Wiegmann (35), Shaun O'Hara (31) and Andre Gurode (30).
Except for last year, Saturday has been a picture of durability.
Through all the victories and all the angry spats, Manning and Saturday was not a relationship that was ready to end.
Not yet.
Calendar