Stampede Blue
Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts are somehow amidst yet another organizational collapse, reaching unprecedented new lows that were previously viewed as unimaginable. The well-documented falloff has been nothing short of unfortunate. Seemingly doing the right things to put a playoff team together, this return to normalcy has been humbling. But how does the franchise proceed? Is it finally time to blow it up?
It’s been quite the journey covering the Chris Ballard era Colts. The first half of which was spent as a fan following in high school and then college — I’ll never forget one of my childhood best friends walking into my dorm room to regurgitate the unforeseen retirement news — while I’ve been covering the team in some capacity ever since.
I wouldn’t say that the retirement in question killed my fandom, but it certainly played a factor, and my soon-to-be-realized passion for sports writing and journalism inspired me to begin viewing things more objectively. I had to take a step back, if you will, to more clearly understand the vision at hand. While I did, and continued to defend it for the most part, whether I’ve subjectively followed the team or objectively covered it, one constant with this organization has remained throughout the years: dysfunction is inevitable.
How else do we view it at this point? Even by understanding the nuance behind such dysfunction over the years, no matter how much it makes sense, things going according to plan has been the opposite theme of this era.
The aforementioned abrupt retirement spearheaded an era of disappointment. Even then though, how Chris Ballard, a first-time general manager just two seasons into his tenure, and Co. have rebounded, or at least attempted to, at least made sense at the time — sometimes it didn’t but I digress. Nobody could wish such a rocky start onto someone, and Ballard was given the uphill battle of a lifetime.
While I’ve defended the vision over the years, the on-the-field product continues finding a way to falter. Take this season for example; everything was going according to plan, until it blew up in their faces. That’s unfortunately become the theme with this version of the franchise.
When looking back at it where it all went wrong, most typically pinpoint the retirement as being the bad omen, and the 2021-22 collapse as being the (should have been) final nail in this regime’s coffin. Given that it actually birthed a second chance for Ballard and Co., a similar yet worse collapse happening just a handful of years after the fact more or less proves this regime is destined for mediocrity.
But Andrew Luck retired just two years into Chris Ballard’s tenure.
But they proved early on that they’re a resilient group who welcomes adversity (i.e., 1-5 start that made playoffs)
But the Wild Card against the Bills proved they were knocking on legitimacy’s doorstep.
But the late-season collapse of 2021-22 was a fluke.
But they were a QB away.
But they finally stopped...
