The wall

When Tony Dungy was coach, he established the tradition of permanent captains. It didn't necessarily register at the time, but I recently was reminded of how this is regarded as an honor. When walking out to watch practice, there's a long hallway that stretches from the entry to the locker room to a couple doors. The walls are lined with team pictures of a dozen playoff teams as well as some Super Bowl XLI images. The guessing game can be fun, trying to remember who that guy was. As much as we think we know the teams, you would be surprised how some of the unheralded players in those pictures are easily forgotten. The team recently added another set of pictures. At the end of the hall, just before the doors, are six player pictures, nicely matted in 16-by-20 frames. This is the "Team Captains" wall. The first picture is of former defensive end Chad Bratzke (2002-2003). The next is Peyton Manning (2002-2009). Linebacker David Thornton replaced Bratzke as the def...