Rain in Miami, February 2007, and Peyton Manning finally exhaling. Super Bowl XLI, the Colts beating the Bears 29-17 on a night the field looked like a swimming pool. Manning had carried the burden of the best regular-season quarterback who could not win the big one, and that night he set it down. I was glad for him. Some players you just want to see get there.

Four trips across two cities

This franchise has won two Super Bowls and lost two, and the geography matters. Back when it called Baltimore home, it lost Super Bowl III to Joe Namath’s Jets in the famous upset, then won Super Bowl V over Dallas on a last-second field goal. After the move to Indianapolis, Manning won XLI in the rain, then lost Super Bowl XLIV to the Saints, the night New Orleans opened the second half with a surprise onside kick and a pick-six.

The Manning of it

A great quarterback, one ring in blue and white, and the sense that the talent maybe deserved more than one. Colts fans, you have a trophy from the rain and a trophy from the franchise’s first life, and you have the Manning years to argue about forever. That is a rich history. Most of us would take the trade.