Paying high price for putting the pain in America’s game

Andre Carter is quickest to his feet. He walks away from Peyton Manning’s carcass, his shoulders hunched, his fists clenched, his angry eyes darting side-to-side. Job done.

Phillip Daniels gets up a little more gingerly, wary of the possibility that a flag will be thrown, the NFL’s version of the referee’s whistle. Manning’s helmet has rolled a couple of yards away.

The Washington Redskins defensive end knows he has caught the Indianapolis Colts quarterback way too high. He knows because Manning’s upper body snapped forward alarmingly fast, like a recoiled trigger, after being dragged down by the neck while Carter took his hips off in the other direction. Two athletes coming as close as you can to ripping a human in two.