It's a Peynful ending in Indy

PEYTON MANNING and the Indianapolis Colts ended their successful partnership with a tearful goodbye yesterday, when team owner Jim Irsay released the star quarterback rather than pay a whopping $28 million bonus while there are lingering questions about his health.

"We all know that nothing lasts forever," Manning said. "Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL."

Manning and Irsay each paused frequently, fighting tears and their voices shaking, as they appeared together at a news conference at the Colts' team complex. It was an unusual and awkward scene, two men whose NFL lives have been so closely intertwined, standing side-by-side in jackets and ties as they told the world they were splitting up.

"This has not been easy for Jim," Manning said, "and this has certainly not been easy for me."

The 35-year-old Manning will become a free agent, and is expected to generate interest from a half-dozen or so NFL clubs, provided he's healthy. Manning is coming off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season when his team's record, not coincidentally, plummeted to 2-14.

Indianapolis needed to cut Manning this week to avoid paying him a bonus from the $90 million, 5-year contract he signed in July, although both owner and player insisted the decision was not really about money. The Colts are widely expected to begin moving on by taking Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft.

Manning won't retire and hopes to be playing in the NFL at the start of next season.

Meanwhile, Manning arrived via private plane yesterday at a small airport in South Florida, about 30 minutes from Miami's complex. Manning has a condo in Florida and has been working out with former Colts teammate Reggie Wayne, who lives in South Florida.

But Manning's not necessarily Dolphins-bound, he said.

"I have no idea who wants me, what team wants me, how this process works," Manning said. "I don't know if it's like college recruiting where you go take visits. I mean, this is all so new to me."

Still, he said yesterday at the press conference in Indy: "I'll always be a Colt. I always will be. That'll never change."

Arizona, Miami, Tennessee, Washington and the New York Jets all have been rumored as possible destinations now.

"There will be no other Peyton Manning," Irsay said, adding that he hoped yesterday's joint appearance would serve to "honor incredible memories and incredible things that he's done for the franchise, for the city, for the state."

*  The son of Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin was drunk and had marijuana in his system when he fell into a Wisconsin river and drowned, police said yesterday. Michael Philbin, 21, had a blood alcohol level of .176, more than twice the legal limit to drive, and also had marijuana at some point before he fell through the ice Jan. 8, according to a statement from police in Oshkosh, Wis.

Police say they found no foul play or anything suspicious through their investigation, and his death was classified as an accidental drowning.

*  The NFL Players Association will do its own investigation of the New Orleans Saints' bounty system and is asking the league to help set up interviews with the team's coaches and front-office staff. In a statement released yesterday, the union says it will "vigorously protect the rights of all players."

The statement also says that if it turns out players "voluntarily and willingly participated in conduct that jeopardized health and safety," the union will work with the NFL to "prevent this in the future."