Colts owner Jim Irsay seemingly criticized Peyton Manning for winning only one Super Bowl during his time in Indianapolis. Denver Broncos coach John Fox and ex-Colts coach Tony Dungy both fired back at Irsay for the perceived "cheap shot," USA Today Sports reports.
With the Colts set to honor Manning in less than a week, Irsay appeared to take an unexpected shot at Manning on Tuesday.
"We've changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one (Super Bowl ring)," Irsay told reporters, USA Today Sports. "(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these (rings). Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.
"You make the playoffs 11 times, and you're out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love (winning Super Bowls)."
Irsay's comments didn't sit well with Manning's current coach, Fox, who called Irsay "ungrateful."
"To me, in my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate," Fox said. "I mean, Peyton would never say anything. He's too classy to do that. But they sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me for a guy that has set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won division titles, won four MVP awards. I'd be thankful with that one Super Bowl ring because there's a lot of people that don't have one."
Dungy, who won a Super Bowl with Manning in Indianapolis, also didn't agree with Irsay's remarks about the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
"Without Peyton, there would be no Lucas Oil Stadium," Dungy told ESPN. "This team would be playing in L.A. right now. I don't understand Jim saying this."
Dungy added: "Jim is making this personal. I'm Surprised."
The Colts owner tried to clarify his comments on Wednesday
My comments meant if we gave Peyton better SP Teams n Def,we would have won more than 1 Sup/Bowl,instead of asking Peyton 2do too much
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 16, 2013
Manning and the Broncos visit Indianapolis on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
