i left off with probably the highlight of the pre-manning years, the afc championship game loss, and inches from our first super bowl. for some reason, even after that great year, coach ted was let go again, i guess the colts were looking for a way to get over that hump. lindy infante was named coach, he would last 2 years. his first year was successfull, and we finished 9-7, made the playoffs but lost to the steelers, in the first round. the o-line had some new faces-kipp vickers,doug widell, and eric mahlum, and a pretty good wr-marvin harrison (1st round), the defense didnt have any new starters. faulk was the offense leading the team in rushing (1078), rec (56-475), and tds (11), daniel and ambrose in int ( 3), and bennett in sacks (10 1/2), harrison was the punt returner, gardocki, and blanchard made the pro bowl, the ring of honor was established that year, and former owner robert irsay was selected, eugene daniel retired, after playing 198 games for the colts, 2nd all-time, to johnny u. 97 didnt go very well, and the colts finished 3-13, the o-line once again had some new starters-adam meadows (2nd round),jay leeunwenburg, tarik glenn (1st round) at guard, and tony manderich. the d-line also had some new starters-al fontenot,ellis johnson, and dan footman, stephen grant moved from outside to middle linebacker replacing jeff herrod, and elijah alexander took his place, 2 new cb's-carlton gray, and dedric mathis, and a new safety-robert blackmon. faulk led in rushing (1054), and td's (7), harrison in rec (73-866), and footman in sacks (10 1/2), brian stablein was the new punt ret. there were no colts selected to the pro bowl. this is when the sucess we now enjoy really started, jim irsay was named as the new owner, bill polian was hired, and then we drafted a qb (more on that guy later). infante was let go , and the colts hired jim mora, who lasted 4 years, ill do his first year, and the next blog, his last 3. the colts had the first pick in the nfl draft in 98, and selected peyton manning, the now famous ryan leaf, was actually viewed by many to be the better pick, but as we have discovered over his time in indy, bill polian is the very best, at what he does!! the colts finished 3-13 again, jerome pathon was a new wr (2nd round), peyton took over at qb, we added a new h-back/te-marcus pollard, tarik glenn moved to left tackle, and steve mckinney (4th round) was the new starter at guard. we had 2 new de's-bernard whittington, and bertram berry, steve morrison at olb, and 2 new cb's-jeff burris, and tyrone poole. we also had a new kicker-mike vanderjagt. faulk led the team in rushing (1319), td's ( 6), and rec (86-908), and johnson in sacks (8), marshall faulk was named to the pro bowl. peyton manning had the best rookie season in nfl history, finishing 326-575-3739-26, and setting the records for completions, attempts, and td's. marsall faulk set a tem record with 2227 yards from scrimmage. from 1984-1998, the colts had 5 winning seasons, things were about to change!!
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