AOW 12/19: Manning's Colts

This week's article comes from Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. He writes about the effect of Peyton Manning being out for the whole season on the performance of the home town Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are currently 0-13 and are one or two losses away from securing the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft. It is much more significant because the guaranteed number one pick this year is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, arguably the best prospect out of college since John Elway. Kravitz's purpose is to explain how Peyton Manning was the foundation of the Colts and how Luck could affect the future of the Colts. The main audience he writes to are football fans, especially Colts fans. He appeals heavily to logos and basically shows the pros and cons of the many options the Colts are going to have in the offseason. He logically explains the steps and concludes by selecting an option that would be best for the Colts. His claim was for the franchise to cut ties with Manning and begin the Luck Era in Indianapolis. He uses some syllogisms to support a claim that Manning is the NFL's most valuable player without taking a single snap. He supports this claim by showing that the Colts are good with Manning then shows the minor premise that they are horrible without him. He connects these ideas effectively together and shows that Manning was the reason why the Colts have won a Super Bowl and exhibited great success in the past decade. He also supports his point by bringing in examples of the Patriots team who lost Tom Brady for the season. Even though they did not make the playoffs, the Patriots went 11-5 and exhibited success without their franchise quarterback. By using that example as a reservation, he was able to support his initial assertion. He accomplishes his purpose because he stresses how Manning is the reason why the Colts were good even with other good players around him. He also stresses how Andrew Luck could change the Colts.