January 6, 2013

Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne probably wouldn't have stuck around Indianapolis this season had it not been for Chuck Pagano being named head coach. They share a long history. (REUTERS)

BALTIMORE - In the aftermath of last season’s 2-14 trainwreck, no veteran Colts player seemed safe. Not even the greatest Indianapolis Colt of them all, Peyton Manning.

One of those veterans was Reggie Wayne, who had been catching what Manning was flinging for 11 seasons. When the season ended amid such uncertainty, Wayne, like the others, packed his bags and went home to Miami expecting not to be back.

Then, last Jan.25, Chuck Pagano was named head coach, succeeding Jim Caldwell. Wayne and Pagano were old friends from the University of Miami, where Wayne was a player and Pagano a coach.