Wide receiver Reggie Wayne entered Sunday’s game with a question mark beside his name.

He exited the Indianapolis Colts’ 18-14 victory against the San Francisco 49ers with an exclamation point.

Wayne caught 12 passes for 147 yards, and he was center stage for the game’s most enduring highlight.

His diving catch of Joseph Addai’s 22-yard pass in the back of the end zone at Lucas Oil Stadium clinched the tight victory.

The trick play was installed in 2006 shortly after Addai, who had been an ESPN All-America quarterback at Sharpstown High School in Houston, was drafted out of LSU.

The Colts only called it once before, and Wayne was flagged for offensive pass interference breaking up a bad pass.

But it resurfaced this week, and Addai was 5-for-5 in practice.

With the Colts’ offense stuck in neutral on the first snap of the fourth quarter, Addai was thinking only about avoiding a turnover.

“You always hear (offensive coordinator) Tom Moore saying it is our ball, or it is nobody’s ball,” Addai said. “Peyton kind of throws it to wherever the defender can’t get it. Obviously, Reggie was by himself.

“Like I said, my rookie year I almost threw an interception. So I was just thinking, ‘Don’t throw an interception.’ Throw it over him or make it go out of bounds. That was pretty much the situation. Reggie, he made me a believer.”

Wayne also made the San Francisco defense believe.

He sold a block on cornerback Shawntae Spencer, pulling him up toward the line of scrimmage. Once Wayne sprinted into the end zone, there were no defenders in sight.

“That was solely my fault,” Spencer said. “All week they told me to focus on the pass and focus on Reggie Wayne. I saw the handoff, and then I came up. I watched hours and hours of film, and it was something I hadn’t seen.

“Talking to Reggie after the game, he said they hadn’t run that play in nine years. It was my fault. I had one responsibility, and that’s pass coverage the whole day. It was one play, and it cost us the game.”

The hardest part for Wayne, apparently, was waiting for the ball.