Colts

COLT ANDERSON isn't part of the Eagles' OTAs. Anderson is running and cutting on his own most days, usually just yards away from the main workout, virtually unnoticed.   Bobby April notices him, though. The Birds' special-teams coordinator knows Anderson, nominally a safety, was the main reason the Eagles ranked third in punt-return yardage surrendered and 13th in kickoff-return yardage surrendered last season. Anderson was voted team special-teams MVP by his teammates, after he finished second in special-teams production points and tackles despite missing the final four games after tearing his left ACL Dec. 1 at Seattle.

ELKTON, Md. - About 10 a.m. Sunday, a horse van carrying Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another north on I-95 to Belmont Park passed about 10 miles east of the Fair Hill (Md.) Training Center. The horse that will be going for the Triple Crown on June 9 in the Belmont Stakes was on his way to get familiar with the surface they call "Big Sandy. " Meanwhile, the horse whose trainer thought he might be going for the Triple Crown was in his Fair Hill stall. Union Rags is quietly getting ready, away from the madness that is sure to envelop I'll Have Another and his connections in the coming days.

  NEW YORK - The overnight wait paid off for Stanford tight end Coby Fleener. He's reuniting with his college quarterback, a guy named Andrew Luck. Fleener wasn't chosen in the first round of the NFL draft, in which Luck was No. 1. Fleener got a nice consolation prize on Friday night when the Indianapolis Colts grabbed him with the second pick of the second round. Chances are good Fleener will become a starter - and a main target - for Luck. "I just sent him a text message that had a lot of exclamation points in it," said Fleener, who had 10 touchdown catches last season and 18 for his career in Stanford's prodigious offense.

JASON KELCE traveled to Indianapolis last month during the NFL Scouting Combine. The Eagles' center wasn't looking for a do-over, after performing there the previous year while ill with what turned out to be appendicitis. No, his draft ship sailed for good last spring, with Kelce stuck in steerage as an Eagles sixth-round selection, perhaps suffering the fallout from showing up at Indy as a sickly 280-pounder. As has happened a few times in Kelce's career, what looked like a serious setback actually worked out real well.

THE COLTS WILL soon get a more thorough look at Andrew Luck. They won't have the same opportunity with Robert Griffin III. General manager Ryan Grigson said Monday the Colts plan to bring Luck to Indianapolis for an individual workout during the next couple of weeks. Luck is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in next month's draft. Griffin is expected to go second, but Grigson said the Colts wouldn't see the Heisman Trophy winner work out at the team complex. "Circumstances didn't allow us to do anything private with him [Griffin]

Sean Payton apologized Friday for the bounty system under which Saints players were offered payouts for big hits on opponents, saying he takes "full responsibility" for the program that operated for three years under his watch as New Orleans' head coach. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday suspended Payton for the 2012 season, effective April 1, one of several unprecedented penalties he issued against the Saints. Drew Stanton came to the Jets to be Mark Sanchez 's backup.

Lefthanded setup man Glen Perkins, who has appeared to be on the outs with Minnesota lately, is back in a big way. The Twins on Thursday signed him to a four-year contract that adds $10.3 million over three seasons and includes a team option for 2016. Perkins emerged as a reliable late-inning reliever last season, going 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 65 appearances. He struck out 65 and walked 21 in 612/3 innings. It was a breakout season that came as a surprise after a couple of injury-plagued years that included 2009, when Perkins filed a grievance against the Twins for sending him to triple-A Rochester.

VERSAILLES, Ky. - Zenyatta is a mom. The former Horse of the Year who won 19 of 20 races during her stellar career gave birth Thursday night for the first time. A post on her website says Zenyatta had a dark bay colt shortly after 7 p.m. EST at Lane End's Farm in Versailles, Ky., where she lives. The yet unnamed colt weighed 130 pounds and has a white star on his forehead and some white on his feet, the website says. A photo posted on the site shows Zenyatta and her offspring lying on bedding in her stall.

INDIANAPOLIS - Now that Peyton Manning's 14-year run with the Indianapolis Colts is over, the only four-time MVP in NFL history will turn his attention to finding a new team. Manning and the Colts ended their successful partnership with a tearful goodbye Wednesday, when team owner Jim Irsay released the star quarterback rather than pay a whopping $28 million bonus while there are lingering questions about his health. "We all know that nothing lasts forever," Manning said.

THE PEYTON Manning era in Indianapolis is expected to end today, according to a report. Citing anonymous sources, ESPN reported yesterday that the Colts plan to hold a news conference to announce the long-expected decision. Manning and team owner Jim Irsay are expected to attend, the network said. Neither Irsay nor Manning's agent, Tom Condon, responded immediately to messages left by the Associated Press. Manning has said in the past that all he wanted to do was finish his career in a Colts uniform, but an injured neck forced him to miss all of the 2011 season.