Bretsky
02-02-2007, 07:49 AM
Nowhere Man
Sorgi's career hidden behind Manning's star
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Miami - Were he not able to keep everything in proper perspective, former University of Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi might feel he's the least welcome player at Super Bowl XLI. "I'm the guy nobody wants to see play," he joked this week.
Colts QB Jim Sorgi hugs kicker Adam Vinatieri during Media Day at Dolphin Stadium in Miami on Tuesday. At right is Peyton Manning. Sorgi played his college football at Wisconsin and very little as Manning's backup.
It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken.
Indeed, if Sorgi is on the field Sunday it means just one thing: Peyton Manning isn't on it, and there isn't a Colts jersey-wearing fanatic anywhere who wants to see that happen.
In case you didn't figure it out, Sorgi has the enviable / unenviable task of backing up the National Football League's most prolific passer. Were it not for Brett Favre, Manning would have the most consecutive regular-season starts by a quarterback in NFL history with 144.
This season, Sorgi, the only other quarterback on the Colts' roster, played in just one game, and that was as a substitute holder in Week 2. Not only did Manning take every snap during the Colts' journey to the Super Bowl this season, he took every snap with the No. 1 offense during practice.
Sorgi is there, just in case.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's 8 minutes left in the AFC Championship Game, and you're down by 3 to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year," Sorgi said. "Yeah, it's a great job until that point.
"Then you're, like, 'Man, this could go really good or really bad.' There's not a lot of pressure all day, every day but when that moment comes, if it comes, there will be a lot."
Sorgi almost was in that position against the Patriots when Manning came off the field after banging his thumb on left tackle Tarik Glenn's helmet and told his backup, "Be ready." It would have been an opportunity of a lifetime for a kid who came to Wisconsin in the fall of 2000 weighing 155 pounds and left with just one full year of starting experience under his belt. But it would have been an opportunity for which hardly anyone could expect him to be prepared.
In three years as Manning's backup, he has completed 59 of 90 passes for 619 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, good for a passer rating of 99.3. But most of his action has come in mop-up time, although last year he came in after Manning made a token appearance in the last two games with home-field advantage in the playoffs wrapped up.
"Jim is a very smart guy," quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's a guy that can function without having to take a lot of reps. Peyton is a guy that loves to take reps so 'Sorg' doesn't get very many.
"Last year at the end of the year, he did not get a lot of practice reps yet he was called upon to come in and play a significant amount, and played well."
It takes an enormous amount of patience to be Manning's backup, but Sorgi has lots of experience in that department. He committed to Wisconsin before the 1999 season with the thought he would have a good chance of being the successor to senior Scott Kavanagh
But that season redshirt freshman Brooks Bollinger took over the job and held onto it through the 2002 season. Though Sorgi played well in numerous relief performances for the often-injured Bollinger, he never got a chance to be a full-time starter until he was a senior.
"There was talk about me taking over the starting quarterback (job)," Sorgi said. "But they were real loyal at Wisconsin by saying you don't lose your position due to injury, so I never really got that chance.
"I guess if I would have known there was going to be someone that young start for three years, I probably would have went somewhere different. The way it played out I had a great time in Wisconsin, and I got here so it didn't turn out too bad."
Sorgi finished up strongly at Wisconsin, throwing for 2,251 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior season. His 148.1 passer rating that season ranks third in Wisconsin history and his 4,498 passing yards in all - many completed to first-round pick Lee Evans - rank sixth.
Still, at 6-5 and barely 190 pounds, he wasn't considered a big-time prospect and wasn't even invited to the scouting combine. But the Colts saw something in him they liked and drafted him in the sixth round in '04.
Over the next three years, he became a sponge, soaking up whatever knowledge he could from Manning, whose preparation for games exceeds anyone else in the NFL. It has gotten to the point now where Sorgi, who has matured physically as well as emotionally, scans the opposing team's defense over the first couple series of a game and goes over coverages with Manning.
He often relays messages between Manning and receiver Marvin Harrison to make sure the two are seeing the same thing.
A restricted free agent after this season, Sorgi would like the chance to spread his wings, but he doesn't know if there will be any interest for him around the league. If not, he'll return to the role he knows and continue to wait.
And if the Colts need him Sunday in the biggest game of the year, he'll be ready. Definitely not welcomed, but ready.
Sorgi's career hidden behind Manning's star
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Miami - Were he not able to keep everything in proper perspective, former University of Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi might feel he's the least welcome player at Super Bowl XLI. "I'm the guy nobody wants to see play," he joked this week.
Colts QB Jim Sorgi hugs kicker Adam Vinatieri during Media Day at Dolphin Stadium in Miami on Tuesday. At right is Peyton Manning. Sorgi played his college football at Wisconsin and very little as Manning's backup.
It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken.
Indeed, if Sorgi is on the field Sunday it means just one thing: Peyton Manning isn't on it, and there isn't a Colts jersey-wearing fanatic anywhere who wants to see that happen.
In case you didn't figure it out, Sorgi has the enviable / unenviable task of backing up the National Football League's most prolific passer. Were it not for Brett Favre, Manning would have the most consecutive regular-season starts by a quarterback in NFL history with 144.
This season, Sorgi, the only other quarterback on the Colts' roster, played in just one game, and that was as a substitute holder in Week 2. Not only did Manning take every snap during the Colts' journey to the Super Bowl this season, he took every snap with the No. 1 offense during practice.
Sorgi is there, just in case.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's 8 minutes left in the AFC Championship Game, and you're down by 3 to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year," Sorgi said. "Yeah, it's a great job until that point.
"Then you're, like, 'Man, this could go really good or really bad.' There's not a lot of pressure all day, every day but when that moment comes, if it comes, there will be a lot."
Sorgi almost was in that position against the Patriots when Manning came off the field after banging his thumb on left tackle Tarik Glenn's helmet and told his backup, "Be ready." It would have been an opportunity of a lifetime for a kid who came to Wisconsin in the fall of 2000 weighing 155 pounds and left with just one full year of starting experience under his belt. But it would have been an opportunity for which hardly anyone could expect him to be prepared.
In three years as Manning's backup, he has completed 59 of 90 passes for 619 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, good for a passer rating of 99.3. But most of his action has come in mop-up time, although last year he came in after Manning made a token appearance in the last two games with home-field advantage in the playoffs wrapped up.
"Jim is a very smart guy," quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's a guy that can function without having to take a lot of reps. Peyton is a guy that loves to take reps so 'Sorg' doesn't get very many.
"Last year at the end of the year, he did not get a lot of practice reps yet he was called upon to come in and play a significant amount, and played well."
It takes an enormous amount of patience to be Manning's backup, but Sorgi has lots of experience in that department. He committed to Wisconsin before the 1999 season with the thought he would have a good chance of being the successor to senior Scott Kavanagh
But that season redshirt freshman Brooks Bollinger took over the job and held onto it through the 2002 season. Though Sorgi played well in numerous relief performances for the often-injured Bollinger, he never got a chance to be a full-time starter until he was a senior.
"There was talk about me taking over the starting quarterback (job)," Sorgi said. "But they were real loyal at Wisconsin by saying you don't lose your position due to injury, so I never really got that chance.
"I guess if I would have known there was going to be someone that young start for three years, I probably would have went somewhere different. The way it played out I had a great time in Wisconsin, and I got here so it didn't turn out too bad."
Sorgi finished up strongly at Wisconsin, throwing for 2,251 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior season. His 148.1 passer rating that season ranks third in Wisconsin history and his 4,498 passing yards in all - many completed to first-round pick Lee Evans - rank sixth.
Still, at 6-5 and barely 190 pounds, he wasn't considered a big-time prospect and wasn't even invited to the scouting combine. But the Colts saw something in him they liked and drafted him in the sixth round in '04.
Over the next three years, he became a sponge, soaking up whatever knowledge he could from Manning, whose preparation for games exceeds anyone else in the NFL. It has gotten to the point now where Sorgi, who has matured physically as well as emotionally, scans the opposing team's defense over the first couple series of a game and goes over coverages with Manning.
He often relays messages between Manning and receiver Marvin Harrison to make sure the two are seeing the same thing.
A restricted free agent after this season, Sorgi would like the chance to spread his wings, but he doesn't know if there will be any interest for him around the league. If not, he'll return to the role he knows and continue to wait.
And if the Colts need him Sunday in the biggest game of the year, he'll be ready. Definitely not welcomed, but ready.