Manning and Irsay took the stage, which had been adorned with a crinkled, blue paper tarp patterned with the words "Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance" along with, in some spots, the Colts' horseshoe logo. Manning arrived first — crisp dark suit, pocket square, a tie with stripes in purple and gray. Solemn. Sad. Funereal. Irsay wears a bouncer's goatee but dressed like the businessman he is: dark-blue windowpane suit, red tie. He choked up, which made you choke up. When Manning spoke, with that endearingly Gumpish congestion of his, he was weepy, too. The tenor of his remarks was "aw shucks." "I sure have enjoyed being your quarterback," he said to Indianapolis and, really, in a sense, to America. (How much easier would life be for LeBron James if during his breakup spectacular, which was the opposite of Manning's more subdued event, he sincerely told Cleveland: You guys made me want to be a better player?)

Obviously, releasing Manning was a big deal, albeit a widely anticipated one. Surgery canceled his 2011 season. He's 35. And the team needs to put itself in a position to be better than 2-14 without him. The move was made in time to avoid paying him a $28 million bonus. Manning helped resurrect the Colts and made a whole state feel good. He's a hero, and the news that the hero is changing comic books deserves a podium in a room full of reporters. Still, no press conference in any sport has ever made me feel as if I were watching a Hollywood movie turned upside down. The goodly protagonist arrives at the closing credits with nothing. His brother wins it all (again), and Peyton must bear the awkward arrangement of standing before the country while his employer explains why he's now his former employer.

That, of course, is Manning's power: a wealthy man and legendary quarterback from a football family who, as a guy, seems sympathetically, understandably average. In sending Manning on his way, Irsay said something important. No matter what happens to Manning professionally, we won't experience his like again. He was talking about football (the no. 18 jersey's been retired by the Colts). But that's also true of the Manning brand. He has no style. For a man of his stature, in this sport, in this era, that's almost as incredible an achievement as his football.

Manning is Old Navy and JCPenney. He's often in khakis and off-the-rack sweaters or in his Colts uniform. He's been photographed in dad jeans. He sells flat-screen televisions and Oreo cookies and DIRECTV and credit cards. He doesn't have a cologne or a line of sportswear. Would you believe it if he did? Playing for Indianapolis just made sense. The closest Indiana comes to high fashion is Terre Haute — and that's just linguistics. There are other no-frills cities in the league. But Green Bay is too quirky. Pittsburgh and Baltimore too in-your-face. The Indianans I know are proud of their basicness, which is not the same as being boring or bland. To be basic is to know what's important, and when is a pair of $200 jeans important?

For a lot of guys, that basicness was inspiring. It didn't ask you to be somebody you weren't, to change. And what a relief. Tom Brady? Mark Sanchez? That's a lot of pressure — to flaunt and pose and groom. This isn't to say that Manning is a slob (he's usually neat; it's as if you can smell the shower gel). But he's not a snob, either. There's no pretense. There are no known stylists. Generally, sports culture should evolve. It should be more progressive and inclusive. Clothes should fit and all of that. But Manning is a poignant reminder that all this progress, all this chic, all this presentation has only a little to do with how most people live. The $28 million aside, there's little about Manning that seems expensive. He's a walking argument for simplicity and common sense and modesty — for the old way. He's still married to his college girlfriend. He's not all of us, but he's a lot of us.

And that was the thing about that press conference. Even more than he normally does, Manning appeared to be in pain. It hurt to see him up on that stage. You could feel his heart breaking. The way he stood there, at what essentially was his public firing, in front of that shabby, wrinkled backdrop, it was easy to forget what we were actually watching: a press conference called, in part, to announce that a team was saving a lot of money. With another player, in a different city, the whole thing might have been Trumpy or blingy. But that is the glory of Peyton Manning. He is where bling goes to die.