Success is built, not bought. To achieve success as an organization there must be one mindset, one goal, and unselfishness at every level. In the sports world, there have been plenty of teams to win because they have thrown money at one player or one coach, but the best organizations, the ones that can maintain winning regardless of their coach or their star, are built on a single vision and understand the process.

If you look back at the champions of this year its obvious. Kobe becomes unselfish and the Lakers win. A-Rod is humbled by the steroid troubles(ok and maybe he was sleeping with Kate Hudson), becomes more of a team player, and finally has success in the playoffs and his team wins the World Series. And perhaps the best example is the way an Ole Miss trainer described the Alabama Crimson Tide when they arrived in Oxford, “When the Alabama football team got off the bus, they were all dressed in suits. They looked as one unit with one mindset, like one machine with many moving parts.” Needless to say Alabama went on to win the National Championship.

The point of all this is to show why the Colts are in the Super Bowl this year, and why they have been able to sustain their winning way. Players don’t come to Indianapolis to win in one year. They come to develop into better players, team players, and this kind of success is built from the ground up. It all starts in the front office with arguably the best GM in all of sports, Bill Polian.

This is the same Bill Polian that built a Bills team that went to the Super Bowl 4 straight times. The Bills may have lost all of them, but you can’t blame that on the GM. He then developed arguably the best expansion team ever in professional sports, the Carolina Panthers. After jumpstarting the Panthers, he traveled to Indianapolis and in his second season, drafted a man by the name of Peyton Manning with the first overall pick. Seems like an easy decision now, but at the time it was between Peyton and Washington star Ryan Leaf, arguably the biggest bust in NFL history.

It doesn’t stop with Peyton. After the 2000 season Colts Nation was demanding a defensive stud in the first round, Polian chose Reggie Wayne – nuff said. After the 2002 season Polian drafts for defense but he chose a DE who was too small to have success at the next level (ha), Dwight Freeney.

He is not only a draft guru. Let’s take a look at the undrafted free agents he has signed: Raheem Brock, Gary Brackett, Jeff Saturday, Super Bowl XLI hero Dominic Rhodes, and PK Mike Vanderjagt from the CFL! He has an eye for talent and for players who believe in the process.

One key in this process is being able to replace key parts when they leave. Pro Bowl RB Edgerrin James left because he wanted more money, in comes Pro Bowl RB Joseph Addai. Marcus Pollard gone, Dallas Clark checks in. And this season has to be the best example.  All-Pro Marvin Harrison out and there’s your first round pick from a few years ago Anthony Gonzalez to step in. Gonzalez then gets hurt in the very first game of the season and in comes Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who were nothing short of no-names at the time. All-Pro safety Bob Sanders injured, Antoine Bethea takes over as the leader and Melvin Bullitt as a viable complement. Last but certainly not least, Super Bowl coach Tony Dungy out – Jim Caldwell in.

It seems ironic that the main headline of Super Bowl XLIV has been Dwight Freeney’s injury? You would think fans and media alike would realize the Colts ability to replace even their biggest stars. And unlike most teams (see Brady and Bellichick) Freeney and the Colts have actually been honest about the injury. But the truth is it doesn’t matter if he plays. The Colts will fill his role like they always do. They are a program not a team, and Polian’s program will come out on top once more.

-rew