Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy announced today that the team has added Tee Martin to its playoff roster and will start the former national championship-winning Tennessee Volunteers quarterback this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

            “No disrespect to Peyton Manning, but I think we’ve ridden him as far as he can take us,” said Dungy. “He got us the No. 1 seed in the playoffs by orchestrating a masterful regular season, which is his specialty. Now we need to give the reins over to someone with a track record for winning when it matters, and that’s definitely not Peyton. This team is designed to win it all this year. We may not get this far next year, so we can’t risk Peyton choking it all away again.”

             Martin last played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2004 after brief stints with the Steelers and Oakland Raiders in the NFL, as well as the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe. Dungy and the rest of the Colts aren’t worried he’ll be too rusty, however.

            “Well, when you consider the alternative, I’ll take a rusty Tee Martin in a game that matters over a 100-percent Peyton Manning any day,” said Dungy. “Sure, Tee will probably start out a little slow. It might take a few series to knock the rust off, but even in the worst case scenario I don’t see him throwing four interceptions or anything which, I don’t have to remind anyone, is something Peyton has done in the playoffs. We just need him to do his job and not try to force stuff and overplay and out-think everyone. In short, we need him to be the opposite of Peyton.”

            Martin has a track record of winning championships when Manning could not, leading Tennessee to an unexpected national championship the year after Manning graduated.

            “Yeah, my career has kind of worked out like that,” said Martin. “Peyton sets them up and I knock them down. I don’t mind though. I kind of enjoy it, actually. He’s always been a bit of a dork and it’s fun to see him get all frustrated and down on himself again. It’s what keeps me going.”

            Manning admits that the news of Martin’s signing and elevation to starting quarterback has hit him hard.

            “I can’t say I agree with coach’s decision, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” said Manning. “If he thinks it’s best for the team then I have to go along with it. I know for sure that the rest of the team agrees with it. When Tony gathered everyone together today and said: ‘I’ve decided to bench Peyton for the playoffs,’ the whole team erupted into applause before he even got the word ‘playoffs’ completely out of his mouth. I guess for some reason these fellas don’t trust me in pressure-packed games.”