Classic Peyton...
but Tom Brady made his big contract deal soon thereafter, and even though he could've demanded Peyton-scale wages... he didn't. He took far less, to help his team build more pieces. Utterly brilliant, unselfish, and strategically sound... dagnabbit.
I'm not saying Peyton is selfish... I'm an unrepentant capitalist... but Brady's move was smarter in the long run. Although Peyton's cap hit will be "only" $7M next year, and Brady's will be $10M, Peyton's hit balloons to $18M, $20M, and $19M for the 3 years after that, while Brady stays right around $11-12 for each season.
As a result, the Pats will continue to have a high-end defense, and the Colts will have a great O-line (with lower price-tags), which will give them the bigger stats... but the Pats have the Rings.
(HUGE Colts fan here, by the way... but I WILL be buying a beer for the nearest Pats fan on Sunday in the Dome, as an act of courtesy.)
Don't get me wrong. I own my own small business and made a very healthy income last year....., but I can't figure out what I would do with that much money. It's all relative, I guess. I remember a day when $50,000 a year sounded like all the money in the world.
I am not real vicious when it comes to pro sports anyway. Now, set me down at ANY SEC college football game, or a good ACC basketball game, and I can get real rowdy. I don't even tune in NFL stuff anymore except for the Super Bowl.