Mike Celizic

The words sound like another rant by a whiny jock who isn’t getting his way:

“Somebody says one thing, then somebody else says another thing. I’m not sure everybody’s on the same page in this building. … I can’t tell you what’s going on. I will say I don’t think it’s been the most properly communicated scenario around here.”

But then you look at who’s doing the whining, and you wonder what in the name of all things holy is going on. The words are attributed to Peyton Manning, and it’s not a typo. The man who epitomizes how star athletes should conduct themselves is grousing to the media about the state of affairs on the Indianapolis Colts.

For Manning to pop off like just another Scott Boras client is extraordinary. So if he’s complaining, you know two things: One, he’s actually human; and two, there’s a serious problem in Indianapolis. Something’s got to be really wrong for him to circle up the notepads and microphones and deliver a piece of his mind.

This is not an exaggeration. Manning has spent 11 years in the league without ever having a Whine of the Week moment. He never gripes. Never. He doesn’t complain about calls, injuries, bad bounces, the media, opponents, drunken fans, sober fans, people with 15 items in the 10-items-or-less line or drivers who don’t signal before they turn.

For his entire career, he’s been the model of the way everybody — not just athletes — should behave. He gives generously to charity, is happily married to a wonderful woman, never blows off the media, smiles for children, doesn’t hang around in bars, has never showed up on a police blotter for so much as a traffic ticket and probably always puts the seat down after using the bathroom.

You’d jump all over almost anyone else for such a serious breach of locker room etiquette. But this is Manning. You can’t treat him the same as everyone else because he’s not like everyone else. If he’s going public with an internal issue, you have to assume that he’s tried all the normal avenues of communication and is speaking out only because he’s as frustrated as a cat chasing a laser pointer.

His stated concerns are legitimate. After sending coach Tony Dungy into retirement at the end of last season, the Colts have just lost top assistants Tom Moore and Howard Mudd, who chose to retire to protect their pensions under new NFL rules. Moore was the only offensive coordinator Manning has ever played pro ball for, and the Colts still aren’t quite sure how they're going to divide up the duties in his absence.

One plan calls for Moore and Mudd to come back as “consultants,” but the players association said they have to sit out six months before they can do that. That would take things into December and the final weeks of the season.

Like all great quarterbacks, Manning is meticulous about preparation. If he’s going to have to work with a new coach and a new coordinator, he wants to know who they are as soon as possible. No quarterback wants uncertainty in that critical relationship.

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Even coach Jim Caldwell and team owner Bill Polian aren’t entirely sure how things are going to work out. They’ve said assistant head coach Clyde Christensen will become offensive coordinator, but Caldwell has also said discussions are still going on about what Moore can do and when he can do it.

“I understand he’s somewhat confused because so are we,” Polian told reporters. “It’s an extremely complex issue that is very hard to understand. It’s frustrating. I’m sure he’s frustrated. I’m frustrated.”

So is Manning, who is in the second half of his career and doesn’t want to go through a rebuilding process. He’s already suffering from Marvin Harrison withdrawal because of the team’s decision not to re-sign the man who’s been Manning’s go-to receiver for more than a decade. The Steelers are ascendant. Tom Brady’s back with the Patriots. Manning wants another Super Bowl ring, and to him, this isn’t the way to get it.

So he’s doing what he’s never done before. He’s behaving like an ordinary mortal. For the Colts, it’s not a good sign.

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