His decision to retire -- “My plan was we would win (the) Super Bowl, and we would walk off the field in Tampa, where it all started for me. And that would be the perfect time to retire, with our second (world championship). But it didn’t quite work out that way. So after we lost (the AFC wild-card game) in San Diego, I wanted to think. You’re initial thought is, ‘I’ve got to come back. We’ve got to make up for this. This is not the way to go out.’ But Lauren and I talked. And then in the early part of last week, we had to go with our son Jordan (to New York City). He needed surgery. And that gave us just a little more time to think and talk and get over the bitterness of the San Diego game. We just thought is this the right time (to retire)? There were a lot of factors that went into it, family-wise, what we wanted to do. And also there was a sense for me that I knew Jim Caldwell was following me (as Colts head coach). And Jim’s going to do a great job. He’s ready. He’s going to be fantastic. We’re going to keep winning. But when I did leave, I wanted to leave with pieces in place to still win. And I think we have that. So it was a balancing act of when to go. It’s tough to leave when you’re winning and you’ve got great guys around you. But Lauren and I just prayed about it, and we felt that this was the right time.

“We talked about it, and it was probably mid-week (last week when he made his decision to retire). But I always like to give it a little time. And we said we’re going to let it go over the weekend and think about it. If I woke up and Lauren woke up Sunday morning still feeling the same way, that I would go in and talk with Jim (Irsay). And that’s what I did. That’s probably when I knew for sure, at the very end of the week. I went in and talked with Jim (Sunday), and he said, ‘Have you had enough time to think about it?’ And I told him that we had. And then we spent about two-and-a-half hours just crying and talking about the last seven years and how beautiful it’s been. I have a real peace about it, that this is the right time.”

 On coming back to coaching in the future -- “I can’t imagine coming back right now. You never know what’s going to happen. Who knows what five years is going to bring. My mother was an English teacher, and if someone had told her that I was going to write a book, she would have never believed that. So I guess you can never say never. But that’s one of the things Lauren and I talked about, to coach as long as I needed to, to satisfy what was inside of me. And I have. So this is really a retirement. But I am smart enough to know that a lot of guys have said that and come back. I don’t anticipate it. But we’ll see.”

 Splitting his time between Indianapolis and Tampa -- “I think our home base is going to be Tampa, but I plan on being in Indianapolis a lot. I’m going to be a Colt forever. I do plan on being here a lot and being around. Indianapolis has been special. I’ve been part of some really, really fun and unique things. And I plan to keep those ties. So you’ll be seeing me quite a bit.”

 His legacy with the Colts — “I think we’ll look back on this time and see that it was really, really special. In the time of free agency and the changes that go on in the time year-in and year-out, the seven years that we put together I think people will look back and say it was special. I think my legacy will be more of how we did it. I think that’s going to be part of it, that I was someone that helped our players in every stop that I’ve been at. Help them connect back with the community and be the type of role models that our young kids need. So if I was going to hope, it would be something like that and very little talk about we did on the field.”

— Compiled by Tom James, NHI Indiana