Tons of rumors and tons of luck

The rumors have persisted for months.

Heck, they've been floating in the Indiana air for the entire NFL season.

Will Peyton Manning retire? Will he be a Colt next year?

At this point, does it really matter?

The Colts are coming off a 2-14 season without him.

But a quick Internet search of just three words really shows how much interest this one person has garnered.

Google searching "Peyton Manning rumors," the other day came up with the following possibilities:

* Dolphins interested in Peyton Manning,

* Peyton Manning to Arizona Cardinals gets another boost ...,

* Peyton Manning retirement rumor,

* Is Manning really the retiring type?

* Peyton Manning to New York Jets talk won't die,

* Peyton Manning to Washington Redskins, and

* Indianapolis Colts won't trade Peyton Manning ...

In his career, Manning has thrown for 399 touchdowns, good enough for third on the all-time list. In addition, he ranks third all-time in career passing yards with 54,828.

In contrast, the player Colts' owner Jim Irsay has said he will take in the draft with the No. 1 pick, Stanford's Andrew Luck, has no career touchdowns and no career passing yards.

It seems to me if I were in this position, I'd at least try to keep Manning, arguably the perfect mentor for Luck to learn from.

There have been several quarterbacks taken with the No. 1 pick in the league's history, most recently Sam Bradford by the St. Louis Rams in 2010.

While it's too early to tell if Bradford is going to be a great NFL quarterback, here's a quick list of some of the failed draft picks:

* JaMarcus Russell - Drafted No. 1 by the Raiders in 2007,

* David Carr - Drafted No. 1 by the Houston Texans in 2002,

* Tim Couch - Drafted No. 1 by the Cleveland Browns in 1999, and

* Jeff George - Drafted No. 1 by the Indianapolis Colts in 1990.

Other quarterbacks to get drafted No. 1 include Alex Smith, Carson Palmer, Michael Vick, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe, Troy Aikman, Vinny Testaverde, John Elway, and more.

Interestingly enough, of these quarterbacks drafted with the top pick, the Colts' franchise has picked four of them, three in the past 30 years.

And only two panned out.

Drafting Luck may be the best thing to do, but it doesn't guarantee more titles. That will hinge on who the Colts place around the future starter.

For now, I'd stick with Manning and at least try to get back to the Super Bowl once more before imploding and starting over.

And right now, the Colts brass seem to be giving mixed signals.