With the Super Bowl set for next weekend in Indianapolis, all eyes will be on the Giants and Patriots, especially the two quarterbacks, New York’s Eli Manning and New England’s Tom Brady.

But a few eyes will be on another quarterback, one who put Indianapolis on the map for more than just the annual 500-mile car race in that town.

Yes, what is to become of Eli’s older brother, Peyton?

Peyton is a Super Bowl champion (XLI, in 2007, over the Chicago Bears), holds numerous college and pro records for passing yards and is a shoo-in for the Football Hall of Fame one day. He’s an 11-time Pro Bowler, a four-time Associated Press NFL MVP and the fastest quarterback to reach 50,000 passing yards, among other accolades.

Those are the metrics of legends.

But everyone’s time comes, and that time may be closer than we think for No. 18 in Indianapolis. After all, the first overall pick in the 1998 draft will be 36 at the end of March and, more ominously, he’s had three surgeries on his neck in the last year and a half, the most recent being a spinal fusion in September. We all hope Peyton recovers, but you have to wonder about life and limb for a guy in his mid-30s whose occupational risks include being pummeled regularly by angry 320-pound linemen.

Without Manning in the line-up all season, the 2011 Colts went a miserable 2-14 and have recently been cleaned house on the coaching front. On the upside, the Colts now own the first pick in the NFL draft in April and will be taking a long look at Stanford stud quarterback Andrew Luck.

Here’s where it gets tricky, though. How do you end Peyton’s decorated time in a Colts uniform in a classy way?

Well, apparently you don’t.

Manning has recently voiced his displeasure with the turnover going on with the team, and Colts owner Jim Irsay has called Manning “a politician,” which, in America, is about the worst name you could call someone. We’re surprised Irsay didn’t call Peyton’s mom a hamster and accuse father Archie Manning of smelling of elderberries.

The drama here seems almost designed to allow fans to detach emotionally from Peyton before he is shown the door. According to reports, that is almost certainly going to happen before the draft, especially since Irsay must decide by March 8 whether to give Peyton a $28-million option bonus. Even if Peyton’s best days weren’t behind him and he was in perfect health, writing that kind of cheque would give a sports team owner pause.

It seems the roles have been set for us. Irsay gets painted as the cold-blooded businessman and Peyton the tragic hero who is exiled. We need good guys and bad guys to parse the daily avalanche of information, and the latest developments make it easier to digest.

Who knows? With Luck sporting the horseshoe come next fall, and most certainly one of the other 31 NFL teams willing to take a chance on a surgically repaired Peyton Manning, this may actually be one of those situations that truly does end up win-win.