Indianapolis Colts Football Team

It's what you have probably come to expect from the winless Indianapolis Colts this season: Angry at barbs thrown at him by broadcaster and former Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly, quarterback Jim Harbaugh threw a punch--and instead of popping him in the nose, he missed. Instead, Kelly's head intercepted the blow. And as a result, Harbaugh fractured his throwing hand, and will be sidelined without pay.

One helmet is an ancient symbol of rebirth, an eternal emblem of hope. The other helmet is footwear for a horse. America needs the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl. One team's history can be found in a museum featuring paper bags once worn by embarrassed fans and tear-stained tissues used by happily weeping fans. The other team's history can be found in a Mayflower moving truck. America needs the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl. There is no cheering in the press box, but that rule doesn't apply to the sports section, and so allow me a few moments today to lead America in a chant that nobody really understands for a team that has absolutely no chance in a place that has taken them more than four decades to find.

The voice on the other line was distant, muffled, subdued. It was supposed to be Eric Dickerson, the noted running back with the running mouth. But you couldn't help thinking "Imposter," when he refused to take the bait on such provocative names as John Shaw, Greg Bell and John Robinson. You imagined Dickerson sitting in Indianapolis, gagged, as Colt officials had somebody else reading from a prepared script on a conference call with a standing-room-only crowd of 17 Los Angeles reporters.

Peyton Manning doesn't like to waste time. So, for instance, when the Indianapolis quarterback runs on the treadmill, he doesn't just chug along like everyone else. He practices the two-minute drill while jogging, gesturing and calling out plays as he racks up the miles. "The first time I saw that I was like, 'What is he doing?' " Colts guard Ryan Lilja said. "I'd never seen that before, but then I realized it makes perfect sense. This guy is a next-level thinker." For one NFL team -- either Manning's Colts or the New Orleans Saints -- the next level is just four quarters away.

On the street where the Irsays live, people like to say that the family that lifts together sticks together. Jim Irsay, 28, vice president and general manager of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts, is a power weightlifter who has competed as a 280-pound super-heavyweight, though his natural weight is 220. His wife, Meg, is a body builder who, in her first contest, was named Miss Southern Indiana. Jim placed second the first time he lifted competitively.

Peyton Manning doesn't like to waste time. So, for instance, when the Indianapolis quarterback runs on the treadmill, he doesn't just chug along like everyone else. He practices the two-minute drill while jogging, gesturing and calling out plays as he racks up the miles. "The first time I saw that I was like, 'What is he doing?' " Colts guard Ryan Lilja said. "I'd never seen that before, but then I realized it makes perfect sense. This guy is a next-level thinker." For one NFL team -- either Manning's Colts or the New Orleans Saints -- the next level is just four quarters away.

Snow is forecast for Chicago and Indianapolis today, and the high temperature might not climb much higher than single digits in either city. There's no chance of that in Miami, but forecasters say there's perhaps a 50% chance of rain falling on the Super Bowl. The field at Dolphin Stadium can easily withstand a shower; a drainage system under the turf can process up to three inches of rain an hour. "The last game, we played in snow, sleet, rain.

Quarterback Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins, most valuable player in the Super Bowl, signed a contract Tuesday and will join the team for Sunday's exhibition against the San Francisco 49ers in London. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Rypien was seeking $3.7 million per year, a figure that would put him among the NFL's five top-paid quarterbacks. Washington was offering $12 million over four years.

One team's fairy-tale ending to a famous football trade. The scene: Super Bowl XXIX, 1995. "Thank you, Commissioner Trump, thank you," Eric Dickerson says in the Indianapolis Colts' locker room as he hoists the Lombardi Trophy over his head. "I thought the first Super Bowl was sweet, but four is a nice round number." (Cheers, cameras flash, applause.) "What was the question? Who? John Robinson? Yeah, I hear he's selling commercial real estate with Steve Dils in Atlanta." (Laughter.

While the book may finally be closed on the Eric Dickerson trade, the mouth--Dickerson's, that is--is not. It's working just fine, thank you, ready and able to expound on topics galore. You're familiar with the history, no doubt: On Oct. 31, 1987--Halloween, of all nights--the Rams traded Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts and received a windfall of high draft choices, as well as running back Greg Bell. It was a bold and audacious move on everyone's part, beginning with Dickerson's pre-trade rips of management, to the Rams' bluff-calling, to the Colts' willingness to open their wallets to Dickerson's contract demands.

Thirteen years ago, IBM built a chess-playing computer called Deep Blue that beat the world champion before being dismantled. The deep-blue-clad Indianapolis Colts have their own version, and he wears No. 18. When it comes to the NFL chess match, there's no better player than Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and that's something Jonathan Vilma knows all too well. Vilma, the middle linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, is preparing for a mental and physical chess match with Manning on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV.

Joe Lombardi wants to uphold the values of his famous grandfather. He also wants to uphold his grandfather's trophy. Lombardi, 38, is quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints, who play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV. He's also a grandson of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the championship trophy is named. The two never met, as Joe was born a year after his grandfather's death in 1970. But the younger Lombardi has attracted a lot of attention this week, even though his role with the Saints is a fairly low-profile one. "Some of the coaches were teasing me because of all this attention I'm getting because of my grandfather," he said.

Lorenzo Bromell isn't likely to forget the hit -- and not only because it drew a hefty fine from the NFL. Peyton Manning won't soon forget it either. The collision came in 2001, when Manning was in his fourth season as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, and Bromell was a defensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins. Manning wound up with a hairline fracture of the jaw, and the now-retired Bromell secured the dubious distinction of being the only player to knock Manning out of a game.

Will he or won't he? Can he or can't he? It was only fitting that Dwight Freeney -- mystery man for the Indianapolis Colts -- showed up to Super Bowl media day Tuesday wearing flip-flops. In light of his severely sprained right ankle, his status for Sunday's game seems to flip and flop by the minute. Freeney, a defensive end who finished tied for third in the league with 13 1/2 sacks, didn't have a noticeable limp as he made his way to his interview table at the event, and though he said the swelling had been bad, his ankles appeared to be roughly the same size.

What the Indianapolis Colts' defense needs to concentrate on to stop the New Orleans Saints' offense in the Super Bowl (Feb. 7, 3:15 p.m. PST, Ch. 2): Ice Man Cometh This is Dwight Freeney's stage. The Colts defensive end, who tied for third in the league with 13 1/2 sacks this season, plays big in big games. Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod got some blocking help Sunday and did a solid job against Minnesota's Jared Allen . The Saints need an encore against one of the NFL's most dangerous whirling-dervish pass rushers.

What the New Orleans Saints' offense needs to concentrate on to combat the Indianapolis Colts' defense in Super Bowl XLIV: Dance with who brought them Drew Brees is the leader of this team, an elite quarterback who has remarkable anticipation and can make all the throws. He's a little more mobile than Peyton Manning , but the Saints don't ask him to make plays with his feet. He uses that ability to move for sightlines, so he can get a better look at his receivers.

Larry Foote, an inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers who dabbles in special teams, was pinned to the turf late Sunday afternoon, listening for the end of a football game that had risen again. This side of the AFC divisional playoffs had come to the 28-yard line, where the Indianapolis Colts sent the best kicker in league history to find overtime.

What the New Orleans Saints' defense needs to concentrate on to stop the Indianapolis Colts offense in Super Bowl XLIV (Feb. 7, 3:15 p.m., Ch. 2): Getting their licks in The Saints hit Brett Favre every chance they could and, like body blows in boxing, those hits took a toll. You'd better believe they'll try to do the same thing with Peyton Manning , even though the Colts do an outstanding job of providing protection. . Bobby McCray , the Saints' right defensive end who replaced stalwart Charles Grant , hasn't made a lot of plays this season.

The first time Peyton Manning hunkered into an NFL huddle, called an NFL play, scanned the field and fired a pass to an NFL receiver, it didn't come as the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts. It came with the New Orleans Saints. And the future four-time NFL most valuable player was in high school, more than a decade before he would lead the Colts to Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints. He grew up in New Orleans, and his father, Archie, was a former star quarterback for the Saints who was always around the team because he was their radio analyst.