It's a homecoming game for Kiwanuka

Mathias Kiwanuka grew up in Indianapolis, about 10 minutes away from Lucas Oil Stadium. Then again, in Indy, that’s pretty common.

“You can get across the city in 10 minutes, so everything is pretty close,” he said. “But that’s still where I go back in the offseason, so I’m very familiar with it.”

He was also a Colts fan, he said, rooting for the pre-Peyton teams that featured Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. But it wasn't until he left Indianapolis to play at Boston College that he REALLY started rooting for the Colts.

“I had to deal with the Patriots stuff the whole time there,” he said of his BC experience, “so I became a bigger Colts fan after I left.”

Now he’s going back. He played in Indiana a few times with Boston College at Ball State and at Notre Dame, but never in Indianapolis.

That, of course, means he’s been inundated with ticket requests. About three dozen of them so far, he said. He’s happy to do it and have his family and friends in attendance.

“They come out to a lot of games, but only a few at a time,” he said. “There’s never one time when all of my family is in the stands at one time, so that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”

Kiwanuka said he still feels embraced by the people of Indianapolis. And he said he doesn’t think the city will have too much to say about anyone from his family – or others – who decides to openly root for the other team in blue.

“If they’re wearing a Giants jersey and it says the other Manning on it or it says Kiwanuka, I don’t think they’ll get too much flack for it,” he said.