By Bob Kravitz

bob.kravitz@indystar.com

So, with Peyton Manning heading toward his third Super Bowl, his first with the Denver Broncos, does Jim Irsay feel any seller's remorse?

Not in the least.

Fact is, he's overjoyed that if the Colts couldn't make it, Manning and the Broncos did.

"I just couldn't be more excited," Irsay told The Star Wednesday. "This is what we were hoping it was going to be — a win-win situation for everybody. I'm so happy for him. We've already talked this week about getting him some extra (Super Bowl) tickets and I told him, 'You've got it, buddy. Go get 'em. Go win it.' I wish him all the best.

"I couldn't be happier because he will forever be a Colt and a part of so many years of greatness here. I'm just really rooting for him to get that second ring. That would be awesome.

"And we're obviously on track; actually we're past where we thought we would be with Andrew (Luck). If Peyton had stayed, it would have been a joke with what we could have been able to field in 2012. It would have been crazy to think we could have put a team together with Peyton.

"It was just an impossibility. Now we have the perfect situation, where we're way ahead of schedule and Andrew is achieving things beyond our wildest expectations, and Peyton has a chance to get that second Super Bowl ring. It's been a win-win and that's what we were hoping for."

Irsay also had plenty to say about former super-agent Leigh Steinberg's new book, in which Steinberg claims he manipulated the 1998 draft so that the Colts would pass on his client, Ryan Leaf, and instead take Manning with the first pick.

Nobody on the Colts has denied that Leaf missed a meeting with then-head coach Jim Mora; Steinberg wrote it was done purposely so the Colts would cool on Leaf, who wanted to end up in San Diego. Irsay, like Bill Polian a few days earlier, denies the Colts were swayed by Leaf's no-show, or that they were leaning toward taking Leaf instead when the former Washington State quarterback pulled his infamous no-show.

According to Steinberg, the Colts, like several other organizations, were enamored with Leaf's raw athleticism and potential, and he wrote that Irsay in particular had no qualms about drafting a player with Leaf's personal baggage.

"I told Ryan it would do no good to approach (Irsay)," Steinberg wrote. "Irsay saw the sport the same way he viewed his other passion: rock 'n roll. Just as musicians tended to be a bit eccentric, so did football players, and that did not stop him from drafting Jeff George or trading for Eric Dickerson. 'Leigh,' he used to say, 'it's about the freaking talent.' If someone is that gifted, in Irsay's opinion, you simply find a way to deal with his personality."

Irsay denied he was ever leaning toward Leaf, who went on to have a short and miserable career and is now incarcerated.

"The interesting thing is that Luck-(Robert) Griffin and Manning-Leaf were very, very similar," Irsay said. "We always had our focus on Peyton, just as we always had our focus on Andrew.

"I read something where he (Leaf) purposely missed that meeting with Mora and that's what affected what we were going to do; that's a bunch of BS. This was a football decision. (Missing the meeting with Mora) wasn't even a factor. It was based on multiple evaluations and Bill (Polian) and I knew weeks before the draft that we were taking Manning, just like Ryan (Grigson) and I knew months before we were taking Luck. You do your homework, use all the time, find out everything you can. But to suggest Ryan did things that made us change our mind is just ridiculous and not true. It was very clear it was going to be Manning just as it was with Luck."

Scouts throughout the NFL fell in love with Leaf's potential during that period, even though he gained significant weight before the NFL Combine. It was thought that he had the greater athleticism than Manning. The Colts wanted to find out for themselves.

"We got into these things open minded and not affected by preconceived notions," Irsay said. "But I'd have to say it was Manning all the way. We did this drill — I won't say it was the clincher because we were taking Peyton no matter what — but we had both guys throw the football from their knees. It's the best way to test pure arm strength. And there was almost no difference between the two of them. It was a myth that Ryan had all this arm strength and Peyton didn't.

"But Leigh is writing a (bleeping) book so I guess he's got to get out there and promote it."

That's not to say there weren't some concerns about Manning. The Colts knew who they wanted, but some in the organization weren't quite sure they were getting a franchise quarterback who would someday take them to the zenith of the pro football world.

"I can remember, at the end (of the process), Bill was kind of losing his mind, saying 'Bernie Kosar, Bernie Kosar. Worst case scenario, he'll be Bernie Kosar; can you live with that?' " Irsay said. "But Bill and the whole organization clearly knew we were taking Peyton."

All those years later, it doesn't really make all that much difference.

But it revives the old debate. And it sells books. Which seems to be the whole idea.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email bob.kravitz@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BKravitz.