Stampede Blue
Get your popcorn ready because things are about to get good or go terribly wrong. Either way, the scene the Indianapolis Colts are setting due to their reunion with Philip Rivers will be the thing of movies. How could it not be? The man is 44-years old and has been away from the NFL for five years. Yes, he has done some high school coaching, but come on… Rivers has been out of the game so long, almost half the league is comprised of new faces. The Colts are banking on him being their Hail Mary by choosing an unorthodox path. The last time they did something unique, it blew up in their faces. Whether it works out or not, it certainly won’t disappoint.
Remember when Jim Irsay decided Jeff Saturday was the best man to lead the team as the interim head coach? Saturday won his first game and that is where the movie should have ended; Rudy gets hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates and carried off the field. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as the rest of the season turned into a nightmare as the Colts went winless and were part of the biggest collapse in NFL history against the Vikings. Not all movies are success stories. Some are horror films and that is exactly what that season turned into. The talking heads called it a circus as things completely bottomed out. It was entertaining, not in a “I like this” kind of way but in a not being able to look away from a train wreck sort of way.
Rivers returning to the Colts has that written all over it. All signs are pointing to him starting on Sunday against the Seahawks in what would have been an incredibly tough game even when the Colts were at their peak. Don’t try to sneak into another movie, though, even if this first game doesn’t go down as a win. The main character usually faces adversity early on so the triumph is that much sweeter. Rivers could still string together three at the end to make this a true superhero moment. We could also witness a Brett Favre moment in which the last image is him flat on his back being helped off the field; a man in his forties trying to play a young man’s game. Seattle’s defense will be coming at him in droves. It might all prove too much. If that is the case, the Colts will be the laughingstock of the league for attempting to pull off an incredibly foolish move. It will be a dramedy with the Colts in crisis mode while the rest of the league points and laughs.
No one knows how this will all turn out, but it will make fans tune in for sure. If Philip Rivers gets the start this week, what would have had most fans using the time for Christmas shopping will now have them tuning in to see how this all goes. The intrigue...
