Peyton Manning calls Indy reporter to say thanks

I was on my cell talking to a media colleague long distance when another call came in this afternoon. The number was blocked. With so many calls out on several stories, who could this be? "Hi Phil, it's Peyton Manning," he said. Not to get overly sentimental, but it always bothered me in the past when there wasn't an opportunity to say good-bye to Colts most enjoyed. Marcus Pollard comes to mind. Still have never been able to tell him thank you. I've been fortunate enough to catch up to others down the road, Edgerrin James, Ken Dilger, Kelvin Hayden, Tarik Glenn, Mike Peterson, Marlin Jackson, Gary Brackett, David Thornton, Jake Scott, the list goes on. Dallas Clark was considerate enough to send out an email to many of us after his recent release. Manning was a huge surprise. We had a decent relationship, he only chewed me out one time, but he knew I didn't go to him that often. Colleagues Mike Chappell, Phil Richards and Bob Kravitz always spoke to him so much, my Manning requests were as needed for a story. The job usually meant concentrating on the rest of the locker room. In my time on the beat, which began before Manning arrived in 1998 on a fill-in basis, no player has ever called to say farewell. It's just the second time Manning has called me. The other time, he was in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl. The story pertained to his PeyBack Foundation. I remember teasing him about giving me his cell in exchange for the interview, since the caller ID read "blocked" that day, too. Anyway, Manning said thanks for my work over the years. Classy. He said everything had happened so fast, but he wanted to call the local writers and express his appreciation for what we had done while he was in Indy. And to think the initial reaction had me thinking he was going to give me a hard time about something written. What? Me paranoid? Manning is the most clever athlete in handling the media. And while his critics will suggest this was just a PR move, it doesn't really matter. Not really. He's gone. We all are in different stages of acceptance, or perhaps denial. I wasn't going to write anything about the call. I didn't want anybody to think it was about me. But when I said it was a privilege to watch him play and write about him all these years, I mentioned my respect for his so many fans here in Indianapolis, that they touch base with me every day it seems, and so many will never accept that he's gone. As he expressed at his farewell presser last month, he responded, "Tell the fans I appreciated them, too." If I was going to pass along that message to his fans, well, you have to write about the call. I mentioned being late to change my position on keeping him, for the longest time holding out hope he would stick around, but then realizing in the end that the money and risk were too great. He didn't hold it against me. He said he always had the same hope that he could stay. I wished him well. As he acknowledged, the Colts are moving in a new direction and it's part of the business. As someone who strives to be professional, I am human and will choose to be a bit sentimental about this. I'll always remember the phone call. As I said to him, it was a first-class way to say farewell.