Indianapolis Colts

Bloomfield’s Dwight Freeney, diagnosed with a grade-3 ankle sprain, may be forced to miss Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The official line out of the Colt camp is that Freeney has nothing more than a low ankle sprain, and he is listed as questionable with about a 50-50 chance of playing.

"He is under the care of our athletic training staff," Colts spokesman Craig Kelley said. "Nothing we have seen changes our diagnosis that he is questionable. He has a third-degree, low basketball sprain."

But ESPN.com earlier reported that Freeney, who still calls Bloomfield home in the offseason, had a torn ligament. Indeed, by definition, a third degree sprain is the result of a “complete tear or rupture of one or more of the ligaments that make up the ankle joint.” A third degree sprain “will result in massive swelling, severe pain and gross instability.” This is not at all good news for a player whose effectiveness comes from his speed and agility rather than brute strength. Even Peyton Manning, the heart and soul of what could have been (and should have been) a shot at immortality on Sunday, hinted that the Colts need to be prepared to move ahead without the services of their defensive anchor.

"Dwight is one of our best players, we know that, but all season long coach Caldwell has talked about picking up the bayonet," said Manning during last night’s Pro Bowl. All Colt players were required to attend the Pro Bowl game. Freeney, however, was conspicuously absent from the Indianapolis entourage. "Someone's got to step up. If Dwight were not to be able to go that would be tough, but somebody else will step up and we'll feel confident in whoever that is."

Freeney is not the only Connecticut connection with the Colts. This year’s No. 1 draft pick, Donald Brown, is UConn’s all-time leading rusher and the Colt’s No. 2 running back behind Joseph Adai.