INDIANAPOLIS -- Thirty-two seasons in the NFL. Five Super Bowl appearances. One Super Bowl title. Six-time NFL Executive of the Year. Eleven playoff appearances during a 12-season stretch.
With a résumé like that, it's not surprising that former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian is headed into the Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Polian will join Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Art Donovan, Weeb Ewbank, Marshall Faulk, Ted Hendricks, John Mackey, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker and Johnny Unitas as Colts in the Hall of Fame.
Polian's best decision was taking Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf with the No. 1 overall pick in 1998.
But there's more to Polian, who also served as general manager for the Buffalo Bills (1986-92) and Carolina Panthers (1995-97). ESPN.com talked to several of Polian's former players and coaches to get their thoughts on what made him such an exceptional general manager.
Tony Dungy, Colts coach 2002-08
"He's a tremendous talent evaluator. He looks at 20- and 21-year-olds and projects what they can do in the NFL. He had a special talent in doing that. Secondly, he was a great listener. When I came to Indy he talked to me for about three days for what I liked in players, the kind of players that would be successful in our defensive system. What I wanted. We found guys at the top of the draft. We found guys like Robert Mathis and Antoine Bethea in the middle of the draft. He found guys after the draft like Gary Brackett. He created an atmosphere for the players to succeed, and he was a protector of the players to the point that some in the media would be upset at him because he was going to protect the players."
Jeff Saturday, Colts center 1999-2011
"I remember my first year starting at center, we're playing against the New York Jets and I fumbled a snap and basically lost the game for us. We were on the brink of, 'Are we going to make the playoffs?' I think we had two or three games left, and he walked in the locker room. I'm broken up. I'm choked up. I'm struggling, and guys are trying to encourage me, and here comes my boss. I'm thinking, ‘Oh, I'm getting fired. I'm an undrafted scrub, and here it goes.' He walks up and grabs me by the head and gets his face real close to me, and he's like, ‘Don't let this moment define you. We've got tomorrow. We're going to be better.' He said, ‘The things that you have already done this season have proven the type of player that you're going to be. Come back tomorrow with your head up.' It just meant so much, because at that moment, he could have ripped me, he could have cussed me out, he could have said a lot of things, and all would have been par for the course in football a lot times. But that wasn't who he was."
Reggie Wayne, Colts receiver 2001-11
"I know when he drafted me in 2001 he took a lot of heat. They needed defense. Then they go get a snotty-nosed kid out of the University of Miami. One thing I can say about him, he didn't bother me during the offseason. He trusted me. Not everybody is going to stick their neck out and trust you, especially when you're young. But he trusted me. I was in Miami working out. I didn't know about OTAs until about three years ago. Just to have him trust in me and stick his neck out and draft me, it meant a lot of me. There was a part of me that didn't want to let him down because I knew how much of a gamble he took on me. One thing I will always say is, he should have way more rings than he has."
Peyton Manning, Colts quarterback 1998-2011
"I can't remember a Colts practice that we had that Bill wasn't out there watching his players, seeing how players were practicing and always thinking about what he could do to make the team better. As I like to say, Bill wasn't playing on the field on Sunday, but it felt like he was out there with us. He was the first one you saw after a win or after a loss to shake your hand or put his arm around you. He was right in there with you, and that meant a lot to the players, I think. He had his sleeves rolled up and was ready to compete with you every single Sunday. He was a loyal guy. He loved his players. He was a tough guy and just a guy that you enjoyed competing with, playing hard for and trying to win for as a player."
Jim Irsay, Colts owner
"The thing about Bill is, he's truly one of the greatest talent evaluators that the league has ever seen. He's the guy in the rain coat, crumpled up paper in his hand at the race track, talking to himself saying that horse will be good. We had an excellent team, so we were picking late, but yet here comes Reggie Wayne, here comes Dallas Clark, here comes Bob Sanders, guys that really made our team special. He's an intellectual person, deeply thoughtful and organized. He really brought an analysis to the draft in terms of psychology being used and that sort of thing. He was always at the forefront."
Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills coach 1986-92
"He had a great eye for talent. He expected a high level of performance, and he made sure to reward it when it occurred. If you gave him an IQ test, I bet he would score pretty darn high. He was very astute and consistently trying to upgrade. Bill expresses himself vigorously. He sees every person as a person, not just a linebacker or quarterback. When we went to the Super Bowl, he and owner Ralph Wilson saw to it that they took every single person in the organization -- switchboard operator, security guard -- to the game with tickets, hotels and flights."