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Indianapolis Colts DE Raheem Brock (Paul Sancya/AP Photo)
The news of the Indianapolis Colts' Thursday farewells spread as sports news spreads these days: a trickle, then a flurry; blog post, hyperlinked news story, 140-word Twittered farewell, burst of Webwide reaction.
As those who follow, cover and blog the Colts waited Thursday afternoon for what now appears to be the imminent -- and by the time you read this, perhaps already-executed -- re-signing of MLB Gary Brackett, the less-pleasant side of the NFL made its annual appearance on the league's coldest, harshest day: eve of the NFL's free-agency period.
Quickly, the news:
Marlin Jackson is gone. Raheem Brock is, too.
A slew of other names that have helped the Colts to Super Bowls and winning streaks and postseason appearances in recent years are gone, too -- Tim Jennings, T.J. Rushing, Freddy Keiaho, Tyjuan Hagler -- but make no mistake:
Brock and Jackson were the news on this day.
Not shocking news, to be certain -- not with Jackson, anyway -- but in each case significant enough to sit back the morning after and consider each player before moving on. Each played important roles, and the Colts' locker room and roster will be a different place without them.
Let's start with Jackson:
And let's start before the past season and a half, when his story became not about his engaging personality and his quest to get the Colts' secondary recognized as one of the NFL's best, but about two torn ACLs sustained in practice that cut his Colts career anticlmiactically short.
Before that, Jackson crammed a lot of Colts career into not a lot of time.
He played a key role, remember, in 2005 and 2006, playing first as a nickelback as a rookie, then as a safety throughout 2006. He was Melvin Bullitt before Melvin Bullitt – i.e., the player playing safety when Bob Sanders was unable to be on the field. Jackson, drafted as a cornerback, always seemed most comfortable in the nickelback role, a hybrid safety corner who could use his physicality and size to cover the opponent's slot wide receiver.
It was in that role that he made the play for which he will be most remembered, and it is the play that in one sense makes it tough to feel completely sorry for Jackson in his current circumstance: the last-minute interception of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game following the 2006 regular season.
It was Jackson who read Brady's eyes that afternoon.
It was Jackson who cut in front of tight end Benjamin Watson and ended one of the most memorable playoff games in NFL history.
It was Jackson who fell to the RCA Dome turf, and stuck a finger in the air.
It was Jackson who teammates mobbed near midfield.
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