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Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark (Mike Groll/AP Photo)
In an ideal world, Bill Polian said personal milestones wouldn't be important.
But Polian, the Indianapolis Colts' president, said the fact is they are important. And he said that they are is a reason the Colts approached this past Sunday's game as they did.
The Colts, a week after removing QB Peyton Manning in the third quarter of their first loss of the season, on Sunday in the regular-season finale allowed Manning, TE Dallas Clark and WR Reggie Wayne to play three series in a 30-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Clark and Wayne each left the game after the third series having caught 100 passes for the regular season.
“First of all, personal milestones are important in that they play a vast role – perhaps too much of a role – in Hall of Fame, All-Decade teams, things of that nature,” Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on 97.1 Hank FM in Indianapolis.
“So, for players and for posterity and for that player's individual ranking within posterity, it plays a role. I guess as a football purist I'd rather that it didn't, but the fact is that it does.”
Polian, who helped build the Buffalo Bills into a four-time Super Bowl participant as general manager in the early 1990s, said former Bills RB Thurman Thomas twice opted to sit out late-season games to ensure he would be at full strength for the postseason. Each time, Polian said the decision cost Thomas a league rushing title.
“We subsequently made the Super Bowl in each of those years,” Polian said. “I worried terribly it would be held against him (in Hall of Fame voting). Fortunately, it was not. That's why those things are important. (Colts Head Coach) Jim Caldwell told the team that if in the regular flow of the game you could reach a couple of those milestones – in this case it happened to be (TE) Dallas (Clark) getting 100 catches, which has only been done once by a tight end in history. So, it's a very rare achievement.
“And (WR) Reggie (Wayne) getting 100 catches, which of course is a milestone for any receiver and would be a tremendous milestone for Reg, who in the early part of his career was the companion to (former Colts wide receiver) Marvin (Harrison), who is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Those would be important milestones to reach – if we could reach them in the normal flow of the game. The first series was unsatisfactory because we threw an interception. We weren't going to close it out on that series, because you want to be sharp.
“When we came in on the second series, we scored a touchdown. That was better. We were in flow and we were moving and the weather was not affecting us. Jim elected to let them go and try with one more series to see if they could reach it. At that point, they were seriously within reach. That was the decision.
“It was a good decision. It was the right decision. Fortunately, everybody came out of it OK.”
Polian on Monday also discussed:
*NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's comments that he may look into ways to encourage teams to play starters in meaningless late-season games: “I did not hear his comments nor did I read anything about them. Someone told me Monday that the gist of his comments was that he was going to to discuss with the Competition Committee what his feelings were. That's all I know. Certainly at the time he's ready to do that as a member of the committee I'll be all ears and very respectful and listen to what he has to say, but I can't tell you any more than that right now.
*Extra draft choices possibly being an enticement: “I don't know how you would do that. It needs a lot of discussion and explanation. I will say this: I think it was Commissioner Tagliabue brought it to us as a Competition Committee some years ago. The coaches – and the non-coaching members of the committee concurred – were adamant about the fact that they wanted the freedom to make decisions on the rosters themselves in what they felt was the best interest of their football team. The only comment that I've seen personally was one from Greg Aiello, who is the NFL's director of information, who said that it is the league policy that each club makes it own decision with respect to that. I have not seen or heard the Commissioner's remarks and if he intends to take it up with the Competition Committee I'll let you know what he has to say when he comes there.”
*If the injury to New England Patriots WR Wes Welker Sunday shows why the Colts approached the last two games as they did: “You hate to see anybody get hurt, No. 1. This is a game in which unfortunately injury plays a large role. When you have a player like Wes Welker, you really, really hate to see him get hurt. He's such an asset to the game and he's such a good player. But obviously, it is part of the problem we run into in this game. I heard some discussion – just a snippet – Monday and someone was talking, 'Well, in basketball they rest people, and in baseball, they rest people. They clearly do in baseball, with the 40-man roster at the end of the season, but those are long seasons and football is not a long season.' Of course, what was missing in that discussion clearly is the fact that injuries play such a critical role in our game. We have probably at least 10 times as many injuries as baseball and 25-to-50 times as many as basketball. It's just a completely different situation and that comparison I don't think is really germane."
Reviewing Bill Polian's weekly radio show . . .
* Part One: "The past is prologue." Here.
* Part Two: Pursuing milestones "right decision." Here.
* Part Three: Colts could be fully healthy entering postseason. Here.
* Part Four: Difficulties against New York fatigue, not rust. Here.
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