Peyton Manning and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay are talking and, on Thursday night, Irsay divulged just what kinds of important things they’re discussing.

“We've talked a lot this month, probably more than most Februarys, and it's probably not what most people think we talk about,” Irsay said (via wrtv.com) before being inducted into the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame on Thursday night. “Very recently, we got into a debate about will Tiger Woods win more majors than Jack Nicklaus or not.”

Why, with every new piece of bad news about Peyton Manning, does it seem more likely he ends up with the Redskins? Is it just the cumulative effect of spending nearly two decades in Washington, or seeing Albert Haynesworth’s name in bold type in Thursday’s paper, or the spring weather bringing with it the memories of the Easter arrival of Donovan McNabb?

A day after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay made it clear that the decision whether to play for the team rests with Peyton Manning and his willingness to take a pay cut, Sports Illustrated reports new details about the quarterback’s physical condition.

When “Monday Night Football” returns this fall, there will be a big change in ESPN’s broadcast booth: Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden will be calling the games.

Ron Jaworski, who signed a five-year contract extension, will move to what the network says will be a “new, expanded multiplatform NFL analyst role.”

INDIANAPOLIS — According to Colts owner Jim Irsay, Peyton Manning will decide whether he plays another game for Indianapolis.

Irsay expects to meet with Manning in the next seven days, and the owner told the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that the return of the four-time MVP to the Colts depends on his willingness to restructure his contract.

Among the reasons sometimes given for why Peyton Manning would not come to Washington, this one is a total wild card: would he prefer to stay out of Eli Manning’s division?

Thomas Boswell, for one, said yes Peyton would, during a Post chat:

The 2011 NFL season may be over, but it’s hard to tell with all the football coverage out there. From Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, to Eli’s “elite” status, and free agency, if it weren’t for Linsanity, ESPN could be mistaken for the NFL Network. But why this glut of coverage more than a week after the Super Bowl’s final whistle? It’s easy to say that the NFL and media nurture hype for profit and ratings, but the answer also is in football’s DNA.

Washington likes nothing better than a quarterback controversy, or a quarterback debate, or a quarterback scandal — even in an election year.

That’s why the very words “Peyton Manning” have the same effect on Redskins fans as that of dangling a drool-soaked tennis ball over a Labrador’s head right before tossing it in the yard.

“Rock Center’s” big-get interview with Mimi Alford — in which she shared with viewers the details of her fling with President John F. Kennedy while a teenage intern in 1962 — attracted only 5.1 million people to the NBC newsmagazine Wednesday night.

Now that the Super Bowl is over, do you remember the NFL lockout? Me neither. Instead, I’ve been Tebowing about these five things:

1) When did NFL fame become more about off-field drama than winning?

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow walk into a bar. That’s a either a joke or a headline, and then there would be a half-hour documentary on three different networks — “The Ballad of Tom Brady and Yoko Bundchen.”

Do it. Get him. Whatever must be done, however much the Redskins have to pay or promise to bring Peyton Manning to Washington, they should offer it. This is one instance in which Dan Snyder needs to be the Dan Snyder we used to know, the check-writer with a signature on the bottom flashier than a fountain.

Even with Super Bowl XLVI in the books, all eyes remain squarely on Indianapolis. Not because the NFL Scouting Combine takes place there in two weeks, but because Colts owner Jim Irsay has a decision to make regarding the future of quarterback Peyton Manning.

The Super Bowl champions couldn’t handle the Washington Redskins. That’s a fact. The New York Giants won the NFL title Sunday but lost twice to Washington during the season.

And each time they played, the Redskins, who were last in the NFC East, thoroughly outperformed the division winners. It was clear. It also doesn’t matter.

Ten thoughts on the New York Giants’ Super Bowl XLVI triumph.

1) Was it just me, or did Sunday’s game feel a little off until the Giants’ fourth quarter touchdown drive? It just didn’t have the feel of a Super Bowl, or at least not the feel of a memorable one. That isn’t to say that the Giants’ game-winning drive wasn’t remarkable, or that anyone should be disappointed by a game that literally came down to the last play, but it just didn’t have the feel of the biggest game of the year.

INDIANAPOLIS—As the Super Bowl crowds poured out of town Monday, the New York Giants still were savoring one of the most improbable stretch runs to a championship in NFL history.

With two games left in the regular season, the Giants were a 7-7 team coming off their second loss of the season to the Washington Redskins. Coach Tom Coughlin’s job security again was being questioned and quarterback Eli Manning, who was having a brilliant season, didn’t seem destined to add more career-defining moments to his football resume any time soon.

Two throws with two totally different outcomes in the waning seconds of Super Bowl XLVI helped the New York Giants topple the New England Patriots once again.

On second and 11 with 4:06 remaining in the game, Tom Brady threw a 23-yard pass to Wes Welker, which Welker uncharacteristically dropped. How uncharacteristic? The All-Pro only dropped five passes all year, including the playoffs, none on a throw more than 10 yards downfield.

INDIANAPOLIS — All week long the New York Giants’ Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin were obscured by who they weren’t.

Eli by his older, more-famous brother’s off-field drama, by the championship résumé of his counterpart Tom Brady, a quarterback even Joe Montana called the greatest of all time.

I’m happy for the Giants’ Tom Coughlin, who, in any given season, goes from coaching for his job to coaching in the Super Bowl. I’m happy for America, which, for one day, shows the world it still is the No. 1 superpower for spectacle and sport. And, of course, I’m happy that the somewhat evil Patriots lost.

INDIANAPOLIS — There was no perfect season on the line this time, but the New York Giants did it again to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Quarterback Eli Manning engineered the big drive in crunch time when the Giants needed it and New York beat the Patriots, 21-17, on Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in another down-to-the-wire Super Bowl between these rivals.