The Super Bowl is coming to Peyton Manning – rather than the other way around – and the Indianapolis Colts' ailing, future Hall of Fame quarterback is not in the most festive of moods.

In a candid, wide-ranging interview with Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz on Monday night, Manning discussed the tumultuous state of his franchise and his uncertain future in Indy, and he didn't sound particularly warm and fuzzy.

Sure, Manning enjoyed watching his kid brother, Eli, lead the New York Giants to a 20-17 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on Sunday, and he'll undoubtedly be cheering hard for the NFC champs to defeat Tom Brady and the rival New England Patriots at Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 5, just as he did four Super Bowls ago in Arizona.

Deep inside, however, I suspect he'll be squirming with discomfort. If it makes Manning feel any better, he'll have plenty of high-profile company.

While we're going to have to wait another 11 days to find out who wins

SAN FRANCISCO – When Justin Tuck finally arrived on the second-floor dining area of the New York Giants' team hotel near the San Francisco Airport late Saturday afternoon, the standout defensive end was greeted by a large group of well-wishers that included his wife, Lauren, his agent, Doug Hendrickson – and a bunch of people wondering why he and his teammates hadn't made the long flight west for Sunday's NFC championship game earlier that morning, or even the previous day.

"I have no answer, and neither does anyone else on our plane, because everyone is asking us the same thing," Tuck said, smiling broadly. "It's all up to one man, and he has a very definite idea of how he wants things done."

The man to whom Tuck was referring, of course, was The Man – a.k.a. Giants coach Tom Coughlin – whose very specific plan for the team's most important road trip of the season included a relatively late arrival on the West Coast (made later by mechanical troubles that delayed the Giants' flight)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Trent Dilfer cocked his right arm, opened his seldom-speechless mouth and prepared to devour another piece of hamachi. His face was filled with delectable satisfaction – until I posed a scenario which, to much of the football-watching nation, would be regarded as highly unappetizing.

"A Joe Flacco vs. Alex Smith Super Bowl?" Dilfer repeated, grimacing playfully. "Would America be ready for that?"

As we pondered the possibility at a low-key sushi spot near the San Francisco 49ers' training facility Wednesday afternoon, Dilfer knew precisely where I was going with this: Should the Baltimore Ravens defeat the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC championship game, and the 49ers prevail over the New York Giants in the NFC title game, Jim and John Harbaugh's parents won't be the only people cringing come Super Sunday.

Dilfer feels their pain. Tebow mania has been extinguished. Peyton Manning may never play again (he's history, according to Rob Lowe, the best-looking

The emotion of the moment overcame him, an unexpected yet understandable reaction to one of the most dramatic catches in San Francisco 49ers history.

As Vernon Davis fell into the end zone while clutching the 14-yard pass from Alex Smith that gave the Niners a thrilling divisional-round playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park last Saturday, the man who made The Catch in the same stadium three decades earlier stood 50 feet away – and felt as if he were floating through the past.

While 69,732 fans celebrated wildly, Davis took off his helmet and began to cry.

Dwight Clark, bless his nostalgic, red-and-gold-bleeding heart, very nearly lost it, too.

"It was just a weird, emotional feeling," Clark said Sunday night. "I just felt this overwhelming emotion. … I guess it was of joy and happiness. I was happy for all those guys who had struggled for so long, and for the fans. It was so nice to get caught up in that moment of ecstasy.

"The place was going nuts. It was a

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The ball popped free and fell softly at his feet, and for a split second, time stood still. It was as if some higher power had pushed the pause button at Lambeau Field Sunday evening, with 72,080 fans gasping in unison and the defending Super Bowl champions' season hanging in the balance.

What happened next, with seven minutes remaining and the New York Giants up by 10 points in a divisional playoff game, caused football fans everywhere to do what Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers might call a discount double-take. Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn reached down, scooped up Ryan Grant's fumble and started charging down the sideline, with the end zone, a trip to San Francisco and a stunning Super Bowl run in his sights.

He didn't score because, the seventh-year middle linebacker would say later, "I'm too slow!" Yet Blackburn, perhaps the least likely person to administer a symbolic choke-out to the top-seeded Packers, got close enough, rambling 40 yards

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Joe Staley remembers the onslaught of black jerseys, the lamentable lack of schematic answers and the celebratory yelps of converging defenders who seemed a bit too fired up for the occasion.

Most of all, the San Francisco 49ers' Pro Bowl left tackle recalls the helplessness that he and his fellow offensive linemen experienced as quarterback Alex Smith took shot after shot from New Orleans Saints defenders.

"It was miserable," Staley said Thursday, looking back upon the Niners' shaky preseason opener against the Saints last August. "It was upsetting, just to know how hard [Smith] was getting hit. Some of those hits were brutal. And when you think back to it now, it kind of burns a little fire in the offensive line."

While Staley and his 49ers teammates have done their best not to fan the flames before Saturday's NFC divisional playoff game against the Saints at Candlestick Park, coach Jim Harbaugh and his assistants have given them some not-so-subtle reminders

Back in the spring of 2008, when he was very much in charge of the Oakland Raiders' singularly peculiar organization, Al Davis presided over a predraft meeting at the team's Alameda, Calif., training facility. As coaches and personnel officials discussed what to do with the fourth overall pick, which the team would ultimately use to select Arkansas halfback Darren McFadden, the Hall of Fame owner's son, Mark, casually drifted into the room.

"Mark," Davis said, stopping the meeting and sounding genuinely interested. "What do you think we should do?"

Caught off guard, the younger Davis mumbled something about needing a wide receiver.

Wrong answer.

"A [expletive] receiver?" Al Davis snapped, his voice rising. "Get the [expletive] out of here."

And with that, the heir to one of the NFL's most storied franchises slinked out of the room and continued with the rest of his day.

I cite this incident not to illustrate that Al Davis had a mean streak and did not suffer fools gladly, even when

Newly hired Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie fired Hue Jackson on Tuesday morning, telling the brash head coach that he wanted to start over and bring in his own man.

However, Jackson believes his dismissal after a single 8-8 season as the Raiders' coach was a decision ultimately made by owner Mark Davis, who has been running the franchise since his Hall of Fame father, Al, died last October.

"I'm not going to shed one tear, because I busted my ass for this organization, and I cherished the opportunity to do it," Jackson said Tuesday in a telephone interview shortly after he received the news. "I have nothing but good things to say about the Raiders and their fans, and I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish in two years, as an offensive coordinator and coach.

"But it's Mark Davis' football team, and Mark's going to do what he thinks is best. In the end I think he said, 'I want to put my own stamp on it,' and he wanted his own coach."

Jackson said he and Davis had a