You don’t really expect Bill Polian to engage in debates concerning potential no-touch icing.
He would probably much rather see the NFL implement a “No-touch Peyton” rule.
One that would keep bloodthirsty opposing defensive lineman from attempting to de-head his franchise quarterback, Peyton Manning.
So, why then, was the Indianapolis Colts president at Toronto’s Mastercard Centre Thursday morning for the NHL’s research and development camp, where the league is attempting to tweak the game for the alleged betterment of the sport?
Because he likes hockey, having admittedly been a Buffalo Sabres season-ticket holder during his days running the Bills from the late 1980s through the early 1990s.
And, more importantly, because his good buddy Brian Burke was at the Mastercard Centre.
With his Colts playing Buffalo at the Rogers Centre in NFL pre-season action Thursday, Polian and Burke certainly shoehorned in some quality time together during Polian’s brief visit to Toronto.
“We had dinner together (Wednesday night), then Bill came out to the R&D orientation (Thursday),” Burke confirmed.
It is 15 minutes before kickoff and Burke has just walked into the Rogers Centre press box with his wife Jennifer and one of his daughters. There, he is introduced by Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons to Argonauts coach Jim Barker. The two men have never met.
“Congratulations on the great start,” Burke tells Barker, referring to the 5-2 Argos.
It’s a nice scene. But the Burkes are not here to schmooz with Barker or any other Argos officials. No, they are here to go to the Colts box and watch the game with Polian. Who else?
Despite the fact that they are involved in separate sports — Burke in hockey, Polian in football —this indeed is a Tale of Two Team Presidents.
The friendship first developed its roots in 1993 in New York.
Polian, having just been relieved of his duties as general manager of the Bills, was serving as vice-president of football development for the NFL. He was very effective in the role and helped construct the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players that runs out at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
At that time, not far from the NFL’s head office in Manhattan, Burke was just starting his job as the National Hockey League’s front office as senior vice president and director of hockey operations. It was a position he would occupy for the next five years.
“We’ve been friends ever since,” Polian said. “Of course, he’s smarter than I am.”
It is a relationship that has flourished to this day.
On a professional front, both led their respective teams to titles in 2007, Burke’s Anaheim Ducks capturing the Stanley Cup over the Ottawa Senators and Polian’s Colts winning the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears.
“Our jobs our similar,” Polian said. “The sports might be different but we face many of the same hurdles in our respective quests to win. That’s often what we spend time talking about.”
Three years after the Ducks and Colts won those champions, here they are, these two robust Irishmen, sitting in the Colts box, watching Peyton Manning do what Peyton Manning does — throw the ball.
In one quarter of play, Manning attempts 16 passes, much to the glee of the 39,583 fans who have come here to see him do exactly that.
Convert that over an entire game and he would have put the ball in the air 64 times. Of course, he gets the hook after 15 minutes. This is, after all, an exhibition game, one the Bills go on to win by a 34-21 margin.
Not even the presence of Brian Burke is going to sway Polian’s coaching staff to leave their future hall of famer out there any longer.
mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca
mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca
