Colts the new 49ers?

I have a very specific memory of loathing the 49ers when I was just a kid. I remember it as if it were yesterday.....trudging around in the snow during recess at Bennion Elementary School yammering to my BF Cory Jaynes about how much I hated Joe Montana and his stupid team from San Francisco wherever that was. At the time all they ever showed on TV was the Broncos and while I called myself a fan I only did it because I thought I needed a team of some kind.

Then....almost overnight....a miracle happened. Something made me love that team in red and gold and that something was Steve Young. Legendary coach Bill Walsh knew he had something in his backup QB from Brigham Young and didn't think twice about letting Montana go to Kansas City so that this run happy signal caller from the AFL could command his dynamic offense. All that hate and animosity vanished over the course of Young's first season as a starter simply because this guy was from my favorite college football team and even though I don't have any memory of him playing for the Cougars he had me wrapped around his little finger. Ever since I have always had a place in my heart for the niners even though I am a Colts fan through and through.

Now is a different day and a different era. The dominant teams have shifted somewhat and I wouldn't be shocked if there was a little boy trudging around in the snow last year complaining about how sick he is of hearing about the Indianapolis Colts. That Peyton guy is too good and when that receiver #88 catches touchdowns he never seems happy about it...just hands it to the official and acts like nothing happened. I mean crack a smile for God's sake!

Well guess what little boy? Consider yourself in the middle of a miracle cuz that receiver is gone and perhaps it's because the rookie coach Jim Caldwell knew that despite #88's gaudy numbers he was getting old and they had someone special in the midst to take his place. Son I present you with Austin Collie. You remember him right? The greatest wideout to ever play at your favorite school, BYU! You know, the one that won you over not only with his All Conference play, but with his refusal to shut up and say the right thing every time. I tell you the hate is ebbing. That Manning fellow is alright after all so long as he passes it to my boy #17. I can hear him already, "Dad will you get me that jersey for Christmas? I already cheer for one team in blue and white...what's one more? And if you draw a stem on that horseshoe and blur your vision a bit it looks much like the 'Y' I'm used to. Hell I can't remember why I disliked them in the first place."