Indianapolis Colts's topics - tribe.net

WE ALL MISS BRANDON STOKLEY

2008-01-03T05:25:18Z

i close my eyes and tap my heels

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Your Super Bowl 41 Champs...

2007-02-05T04:28:20Z

And introducing your Super Bowl 41 Champs, the Indianapolis Colts...

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WE DID IT!!!

2007-01-28T06:30:34Z

Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, the Indianapolis Colts are going to the Super Bowl. We Finally Did It!!!!11One!!

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Merry Christmas...

2007-01-11T06:33:39Z

Here's to you and your's from me and mine. Happy Holidays...

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Status Report

2006-06-19T03:32:54Z

I am just checking in with the membership...for a long time this tribe was pretty dead as much because I didn't do anything as moderator as any other reason. Probably much of the original membership isn't even around anymore.

Of late, I have taken to locating every news story I can and posting up links and quotes here, mostly links anymore, because I dont want to violate copyrights. But these are great stories and I have been reading every one, so I am excited to think I might be helping pass them along to other fans.

But I just want to check: is there really anyone still with me out there? We haven't had a new member in a long time, and if I am wasting my time, I'll stop. But if anyone is still with me and making use of these articles, thats all I need to keep going. It isnt much more than a news list right now, but I dont have a lot of time to post my views on these reads. Anyone else is welcome to post constructive commmentary though.

So if you are listening, chime in and let me know! Thanks, the moderator, Michael.

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Great Story on Addai's work with the team so far...

2006-05-25T06:35:13Z

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2454989&campaign=rsssrch&source=arizona+cardinals

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No Change For Colts In Attack

2006-05-24T14:12:18Z

NO CHANGE NEEDED
By John Oehser - Colts.com

Colts Will Rush Quarterbacks Same Way, Dungy Says

http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3764

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Colts prescribe rest for Sorgi's sore shoulder

2006-05-24T14:09:18Z

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/SPORTS03/605240425/1100

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HC Dungy "Tweaks" Offseason Program

2006-05-23T01:51:35Z

NEW APPROACH
By John Oehser - Colts.com

Summer School to Have Different Feel in 2006

link : http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3760

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Colts alter makeup of D-line

2006-05-23T01:50:02Z

Colts alter makeup of D-line
Brock moves to tackle to make room for Mathis in starting lineup; unit as a whole gets lighter
link at : http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/SPORTS03/605210428/1100

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The latest articles I have found...

2006-05-21T12:00:47Z

Colts Sign Undrafted Free Agent DE M. West link at http://colts.scout.com/2/531812.html?refid=3664

Colts CB N. Harper Won't Skip Minicamp link at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060518/SPORTS03/605180443/1100

LB G.Gardner To Work At Starting Strong Side/ DE/DT Brock Moving Inside? (article called A Weekend to Learn) link at http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3752

QB Manning Plans On 8 More Seasons link at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/SPORTS03/605190429/1100

QB Couch Works Out For Colts/Moorehead,June,Sanders out for minicamp/Kendyll Pope update (in article called MOVING ON) link at http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3753

Rookie Addai makes good 1st Impression link at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060520/SPORTS03/605200434/1004/RSS02

Coach Dungy Compares '05 Disappointment to '04 Steelers link at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060520/COLUMNISTS01/605200392/1004/RSS02

K Vinatieri Comfortable With Colts link at http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=93978

WR Wayne Wants To Continuing Improving/Corey Simon Feels the Difference link at http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3756

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Rhodes take on Competition for Spot/Harper in Camp

2006-05-21T08:22:12Z

Here is a link to the Associated Press article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/19/sports/s180914D97.DTL

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DT Burns Legal Woes

2006-05-17T19:19:02Z

5/12/06
DT Burns Arrested After Disturbance
WRTV Indianapolis (TheIndyChannel.com) - [Full Article] at:
http://www.theindychannel.com/sports/9208529/detail.html

Then 5/13/2006
Colts DT Burns Pleads Not Guilty To Charges
Mike Chappell, Indianapolis Star - [Full Article] at:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060513/SPORTS03/605130427/1100

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Colts Starting Offensive Line Returns Intact

2006-05-14T02:41:54Z

Thursday, May 11
BACK TO WORK
By John Oehser - Colts.com

Saturday Says Motivation Never a Problem
INDIANAPOLIS – Months later, the moments are still fresh in Jeff Saturday’s mind.

One is the moment in January, when the Colts narrowly missed making a second trip to the AFC Championship Game in four seasons.

The second moment was more pleasurable.

It came several weeks later, when Saturday – an eight-year NFL veteran and the Colts’ starting center the past six seasons – made his first trip to the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Not that Saturday, one of seven Colts players to start the game, needed added motivation. But those memories, he said, were more than enough to provide plenty this off-season.

The chance to go further in the playoffs?

The chance to return to Hawaii?

What more do you need?

“I haven’t ever finished the goal I’ve set before us, and that’s winning a championship,” Saturday said recently during the Colts’ voluntary off-season workout program, which is continuing this month at the Union Federal Football Center.

“We haven’t done it yet, so there’s definitely an attitude of coming back, knowing how close we’ve gotten for so many years. We’re trying to force ourselves over it to finally get it.”

That attitude, and the Colts’ approach to the off-season program, is something Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy often has discussed as a reason for the team’s success.

Each season, Dungy said, no matter how the previous season ended – a playoff loss to the Jets in 2002, playoff losses to New England in 2003 and 2004 or a playoff loss to Pittsburgh last season – the approach to off-season conditioning has been focused.

“As a veteran player, I think this is the time for leadership,” Saturday said. “This is when guys see you and they understand how dedicated you are to this team winning. By being here, and by doing the things that make you a better football player, this is one of the better times you can lead.

“As players watch you do this, they understand when you come out on the field how much you put into it, and how much effort and energy you have tied into it.”

Saturday said the off-season approach stems from an understanding not only of the importance of the time, but of how it translates to regular-season success.

“The guys understand how close we are to doing it,” Saturday said. “It’s not because of a lack of effort. It’s one of those things where you keep getting close, keep getting close and you know at some point you’re going to push through and finally get to what you want.

“That’s going to make it that much sweeter.”

Being discouraged by something from the previous season, Saturday said, isn’t an alternative.

“We have a lot of guys who have persevered in their careers,” Saturday said. “There are a lot of guys who have really fought for what they have in the NFL. I think guys translate that over to the field.”

Saturday, in recent seasons, has emerged not only as one of the Colts’ top players on the field – he was one of eight Colts players in the Pro Bowl – he also has become a locker-room leader. He is vocal in off-field issues, and said he values his role as a team spokesman.

“The nucleus of guys I’ve been here with so long – we’ve all kind of grown together,” Saturday said. “Being here with the same guys, it makes it that much more fun. The relationships keep getting closer and closer, and you have more fun together.

“That’s one of the disappointing things in losing a guy like Edge (former Colts running back Edgerrin James) or (former Colts linebacker David) Thornton. You work for so long, so hard together that you wish it would have paid off for all of us together. That’s the disappointing thing. You’re happy everyone went out and did well and got what they wanted, but you do wish that as a team you could have done it together.”

Despite the loss in recent seasons of players such as tight end Marcus Pollard and guard Rick DeMulling, the Colts have won three consecutive AFC South titles, and finished last season with the NFL’s best regular-season record. Saturday said similar success is possible despite this off-season’s losses.

“We have great football players on our team,” Saturday said. “Guys are looking for opportunities to step up and be the starter, or be the player each Sunday. When somebody leaves, it gives people the opportunity.”

One area in which the Colts sustained no losses this off-season:

The offensive line.

Last season, the Colts started the same line – tackle Ryan Diem, guard Jake Scott, Saturday, guard Ryan Lilja and tackle Tarik Glenn – in the first 14 games. All of those players return, as does guard Dylan Gandy, who started last season’s final two games.

The Colts recently selected two tackles – Michael Toudouze and Charlie Johnson – on the second day of the 2006 NFL Draft.

“Since I’ve been here, that’s the model they use,” Saturday said. “It has worked. They have good players who keep coming in. Some leave and become good players other places and some guys stay here.

“When you play together a while like we have, guys start understanding their roles on the field and their position. Guys feel more comfortable and it becomes a little easier.

“Because of that, I think it will be an even better year.”

And throughout the year, as is the case throughout the off-season, Saturday said motivation won’t be an issue. Before all else, he said, there is the goal of getting the Colts to a Super Bowl.

But then there’s also that week in February, a week in Honolulu that provides inspiration if any is ever needed.

“You get there, and obviously it’s a dream for every player to get there,” Saturday said. “Once you get there, you see how enjoyable it is, and the guys you get to play with, and the amount of fun you get to have doing it, it’s definitely a celebration.

“It’s definitely an honor you want to fight to get again. It’s a lot of fun to be out there, and it’s one of those things you pursue outside of your team getting to the Super Bowl.”

from http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3747

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Colts Player Arrested After Disturbance In Kentucky

2006-05-13T18:29:41Z

Headline: Colts Player Arrested After Disturbance In Kentucky - Police: Burns Acted As If He Were Going To Strike Officer

article may be viewed at:

http://www.theindychannel.com/sports/9208529/detail.html

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June Recovering after Off-Season Surgery

2006-05-10T16:17:31Z

Tuesday, May 9
FEELING GOOD AGAIN
By John Oehser - Colts.com

June Recovering after Off-Season Surgery
INDIANAPOLIS –

Cato June saw it immediately.

He knew just as quickly what Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy meant when discussing the effects of injuries on June last season.

June, an outside linebacker for the Colts, made the Pro Bowl last season, and did so despite playing through not only a knee injury, but also a sports hernia injury. June played well enough that Dungy said he didn’t notice much change in June late last season.

But when Dungy reviewed game tape from last season he saw it, and June said he saw the same thing:

A step lost here. A coverage not as tight there.

A ball not broken on quite as quickly here and there.

Not a huge difference, Dungy said, and not enough to force June from the lineup, but enough to make Dungy and June optimistic about next season.

Because June has had surgery this off-season to correct the sports hernia. And he had a procedure done to address the knee.

He feels much, much better, he said.

“The first two weeks were rough, but since then it’s gotten progressively better,” June said with a smile during the recent Colts’ 2006 rookie mini-camp at the Union Federal Football Center.

Which can only mean good things for the Colts’ defense next season, Dungy said.

“I hope getting the surgery done means we’ll see that same opening-day player,” Dungy said.

The opening-day player – the healthy June – had a fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown that clinched a season-opening 24-7 victory at Baltimore. June then had four more interceptions – including another returned for a touchdown – in the next five games. At that point, he led the NFL in interceptions.

He finished the season third on the Colts with 109 tackles, including 65 solos. He also finished with the five interceptions in the regular season, and added another in the Colts’ Divisional Playoff loss to Pittsburgh.

In his second season as a starter, he was voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time, and he made the game as a starter.

But around the midway point of the season, June said he began feeling the effects of the sports hernia injury. The injury is similar to the one that forced Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to miss much of last season.

“I don’t know how it happened,” he said. “It wasn’t like I did a cut and pulled something. It was the type of injury that gradually got worse. The only way to heal it is to repair it.”

June played the Colts’ first 13 games, missing the last three regular-season games after Indianapolis clinched a third consecutive AFC South title, a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

“Everybody has knicks and knacks,” June said. “Everybody has things that bother them. Some people can play with injuries and some people can’t. No one wants to sit down and watch.”

The second half of the season was a weekly test, June said. He practiced sparingly, played on Sundays, then repeated the routine the following week hoping to be healthy enough to play.

June, asked recently how much the injury bothered him, laughed loudly, then said it was hard to explain the effects of the injury, but it certainly limited him.

“It was tough to move certain ways and do exactly what you want to do,” said June, who moved from safety to outside linebacker after the Colts made him a sixth-round selection from the University of Michigan in the 2003 NFL Draft.

“It makes you have to think a little more instead of trying to rely on your athletic ability when something like that happens. As the season got on, it got worse.”

Which Dungy said was obvious in February when reviewing last season.

“It’s funny,” Dungy said. “I really couldn’t tell as it (the season) went on. We knew he had more and more days off during the week. He’d play Sunday and he still graded out well. Where I noticed it was as we were going back over the season, looking at the cutups.

“You’d see the same coverages from September in December. It’s quite a stark contrast when you look at the beginning of the year to the last. He just wasn’t the athlete he was on opening day.”

June said he noticed it at the same time, and he had felt it late last season, too. After the three-week rest late in the season, he played in the playoffs, rested for three weeks and played in the Pro Bowl in early February.

Later that month, and in early March, he said he underwent the procedures. He isn’t expected to participate in the team’s mini-camp later this month, or in the team’s summer-school sessions, but said, “by training camp, I should be up and ready to go.”

“Last year was frustrating at the end,” June said. “I’m looking forward to getting going again. (Last year) I couldn’t explode like I wanted to. I couldn’t open up and run like I wanted to. I just couldn’t do it because the injury wouldn’t allow it. It wasn’t the pain. It just wouldn’t allow me to do it. It was one of those things, ‘If I can play through it and be effective and get my job done . . .’ I might not be able to go overboard and do excessive things, but as long as you’re not going out and not getting the job done, that’s when it becomes a problem.

“You want to do everything just because you’re competitive. But you’ve got to look at where you’re really needed by the team. That’s really important. . . .

“I felt like I wanted to be on the field, and do everything I could. Now, next year, I should be completely ready again.”

link to story: http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3745

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Quiet Addai wants to let his game do the talking

2006-05-06T06:59:33Z

Updated: May 5, 2006, 3:38 PM ET
Quiet Addai wants to let his game do the talking
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire

INDIANAPOLIS -- The temperaments of Edgerrin James and Colts first-round running back Joseph Addai couldn't be more different.

James was often loose and funny. Addai seems soft-spoken and thoughtful.

But when it comes to their performance on the field, Addai would like to be as important to the Colts as James was in starting 95 regular-season games over the past seven seasons.

During that time, James gained 9,226 yards and scored 56 touchdowns, both franchise records.

"I don't want to look at it like, 'OK, I'm trying to fill in for Edgerrin,' because there are other good running backs here, too," the former LSU back said Friday before the start of the Colts' three-day rookie camp. "My whole plan is to just come out here and compete. I just want to get on the field and be a part of the team."

The team's seven draft picks and 19 undrafted free agents joined a small group of veterans for the workouts, which are scheduled to finish Sunday.

"I've been trying not to overwhelm myself," Addai said. "I've talked to a lot of players who have been in the NFL, and they told me the biggest thing was just to come up here and be relaxed. Don't put pressure on yourself, and that's what I've been doing."

Coach Tony Dungy says that he understands Addai's personality.

"I think he's just going to be one of those guys that's going to let his actions speak a little louder than his words," Dungy said before practice. "I think he's going to be a good teammate and a guy that the community is going to like. I think that he's going to be a hard-working guy."

With James now a member of the Arizona Cardinals, former backup Dominic Rhodes is slated to take over as the Colts primary running back. But Dungy and team president Bill Polian have stressed that they plan a two-back system where Rhodes and Addai will share most carries.

"I think Joseph's going to contribute for us in a lot of different ways," Dungy said. "We'll see what happens, when he's going to play and how much he's going to be able to contribute."

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2434745

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SITTING DOWN WITH DUNGY By John Oehser - Colts.com (reprinted)

2006-05-04T23:57:06Z

Thursday, May 4, 2006
SITTING DOWN WITH DUNGY
By John Oehser - Colts.com

A Conversation with Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy
Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy this week sat down with Colts.com to discuss topics pertinent to the Colts. The Colts will hold a rookie mini-camp Friday through Sunday that is closed to the public.

Question: The rookie camp, in a sense, is the start of the season – right after the draft and a few weeks before the summer-school sessions begin. With the draft behind you, what’s your outlook on this team right now?

Answer: I feel good about a lot of things. I feel good about the way our team has taken to the off-season (conditioning) program, the amount of work we’re getting done, the guys we have here and the type of effort we’re putting into it. I feel good about the group of new guys we’re bringing in. I think we’ve got a chance to put together the same type of group we had last year.

Q: In 2003, you watched closely to see how the team would respond to a difficult playoff loss to the New York Jets. They responded well and have won three consecutive AFC South championships. Immediately, you liked what you saw that year and that seems to be what you see every year in the off-season . . .

A: You can usually tell, after you give them the time away, how they come back. We’ve had some good conversations with a lot of the veteran guys. For the most part, we haven’t had to say too much. We’ve had a lot of people around with a high energy level. I just sense they have a determination to improve and that because of that, we’re going to be in good shape.

Q: The drafting of running back Joseph Addai has been a huge story in recent days, but there are several veterans stepping into new roles, too. Third-year veteran linebacker Gilbert Gardner will start summer school as the starter in place of outside linebacker David Thornton. Talk about his progress, if you will.

A: This is going to be a big year for Gilbert. He actually played at the end of the year and did pretty well. He played in the Jacksonville game, when (outside linebacker) Cato (June) was out. It was a big game for us and he did a good job. He got to play down the stretch in some games and did well. Now, he has a chance to come in as the starter. I think he’s going to seize the opportunity.

Q: The defensive line hasn’t been a huge off-season focus of most observers. But with defensive end Raheem Brock playing inside more, and with defensive tackle Larry Tripplett and Josh Williams now gone, it will look different, won’t it?

A: It will. We think we have a little more versatility. We’re going to play Raheem Brock inside a little more. That has to happen with the way things unfolded. We’ve got to use (defensive ends) Josh Thomas and Robert Mathis a little more on the outside. We’ve got some interesting guys who want to play more. (Defensive tackle) Corey Simon wants to play more and get more into how we do things. (Defensive tackle) Darrell Reid did an outstanding job in the limited time that he got to play and he wants to play more. We feel like we’ve got to play Robert Mathis more and get a little more productivity there. (Defensive end) Josh Thomas is healthy and coming off surgery. So, you’ve got a lot of guys who want to play more and you’ve got that group that’s already in there that doesn’t want to play less, so it’s going to be good competition.

Q: Another off-season story has been potentially moving second-year veteran Marlin Jackson from corner to safety. Has the draft sorted any of that out, or is that a wait-and-see situation?

A: We’ll see. We’ve got some guys we feel pretty good about. (Second-year) cornerback Kelvin Hayden should come on this year. (Rookie) Tim Jennings we drafted at corner. If those guys do what we think they can do, we’ll be able to move Marlin if we need to. But if some of our other guys come on – (safeties) Matt Giordano and Antoine Bethea – we’ll see what sorts out the best.

Q: Kicker Adam Vinatieri, who signed as a free agent after 10 years in New England, is another new face. He has been in summer school. You obviously have a pretty good idea what you’ll get out of him.

A: I would think so. He’s been here. He’s working. He’s kicked well the three or four days I’ve seen him kick. My sense is we’ve got a very, very solid guy who’s not going to miss very often. He’s another guy who knows what it takes to win. He’s one of the best players in the league at his position and he also understands what winning’s all about. I think it’s going to be great for us.

http://www.colts.com/modules/article7_print.cfm?news_id=3735

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Colts sign 3 from Hoosier colleges; Linebackers from Notre Dame and IU, Purdue receiver join club as free agents

2006-05-03T00:09:18Z

May 2, 2006

Colts sign 3 from Hoosier colleges
Linebackers from Notre Dame and IU, Purdue receiver join club as free agents

By Mike Chappell
mike.chappell@indystar.com

The Indianapolis Colts' post-draft signings of undrafted players includes three from Indiana colleges.

It remains to be seen if there's a Dominic Rhodes or Gary Brackett in the bunch.

Among the 18 players signed to free agent contracts at the conclusion of the NFL draft were linebackers Brandon Hoyte of Notre Dame and Kyle Killion of Indiana and Purdue wide receiver Brian Hare.

Hoyte led the Irish in tackles and served as co-captain with quarterback Brady Quinn as a senior. Killion started 34 straight games for the Hoosiers and finished his career with 323 tackles, sixth in school history.

Also signed were quarterbacks Josh Betts of Miami (Ohio) and David Koral of UCLA; centers Albert Bimper of Colorado State and Russ Tanner of Georgia; kick returner Ashlan Davis of Tulsa, and offensive tackle Daniel Federkeil of the University of Calgary.

Also on the list are guard Chip Myrick of Clemson; defensive tackle Tom Johnson of Southern Mississippi; linebackers Dale Robinson of Arizona State and Cole Snyder of Idaho; tight end Corey Roberts of Sam Houston State; wide receivers Gerran Walker of Lehigh and Jamie Goodwin of Northern Iowa, and defensive backs Tanard Davis of Miami (Fla.) and Antwan Marsh of Pikeville (Ky.) College.

Ashlan Davis and Betts went undrafted despite compiling impressive college resumes.

Davis had 35 receptions for 451 yards and five touchdowns as a senior, but turned heads as a kick returner as a junior. He ranked third in the nation with a 30.6 average and returned an NCAA-record five kickoffs for touchdowns.

After Ben Roethlisberger was selected in the first round of the 2004 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami turned the starting QB chores over to the 6-2, 215-pound Betts. He responded, finishing his career second to Roethlisberger in virtually every major school passing category. For his career, Betts passed for 7,029 yards and 54 touchdowns.

The Colts have had good luck finding quality players in the post-draft signing period.

That's the road Rhodes took to the roster in 2001, and he's situated atop the depth chart at running back in the wake of Edgerrin James' free-agent relocation to Arizona. Rhodes rushed for 1,104 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie when James suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Brackett joined the team as an undrafted collegian in '03. After primarily contributing on special teams for two seasons, he earned the starting middle linebacker job in '05 and led the team with 131 tackles.

Number's available

First-round draft pick Joseph Addai will wear No. 29. That number is available since the Colts have opted not to re-sign defensive back Joseph Jefferson, who finished the '05 season on the injured-reserve list with a knee injury.

But while the Colts have no interest in re-signing Jefferson, a 2003 third-round draft pick, Jefferson wants another opportunity to play in the NFL.

James Ivler, Jefferson's agent, said Monday that Jefferson is on the mend after undergoing knee surgery and drawing interest from several teams.

Call Star reporter Mike Chappell at (317) 444-6830.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved link to story: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060502/SPORTS03/605020392/1004/RSS02

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Colts likely to feature 2 runners in 2006

2006-05-02T16:22:35Z

Colts likely to feature 2 runners in 2006
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2429045

INDIANAPOLIS -- The loss of Edgerrin James and the lack of a premier running back as his replacement could alter the Indianapolis Colts offensive scheme, with two runners sharing the bulk of carries.

Little-used backup Dominic Rhodes heads into camp as the No. 1 back for Indianapolis, but first-round draft pick Joseph Addai will be brought into the offense quickly, beginning with three-day minicamp starting Friday.

"He and Dominic will probably share time. At least, that's the way we see it now," said team president Bill Polian, who made the 214-pound rookie from LSU the first running back taken by the Colts in the first round since James in 1999.

"You wouldn't expect a rookie to step into a team like this ... a team that has been winning big," Polian said. "You'd expect him to play some but not have to carry the whole load. We've been spoiled here. We see this as a two-man position now."

When James was out in 2001, Rhodes established himself with Indianapolis, becoming the first undrafted rookie in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards. After James returned, Rhodes played sparingly as his backup.

Now, with James off to Arizona as a free agent, Rhodes and Addai -- who had relatively few carries in college as part of an LSU offense loaded with runners -- should see increased workloads.

"My whole thing is when I get my opportunity, I need to take advantage of it," Addai said. "I don't know how the situation is going to be, but going into practices, I'll go in just trying to compete with everybody else and give 100 percent. At the end of the day, I'll feel good about that."

The minicamp, coach Tony Dungy said, is not necessarily to establish the pecking order at any position.

"The big thing we're going to be with Joseph, and all of these guys, is just to get them information and get them comfortable with what we do, get them so they know what we do," Dungy said. "They're good enough players, all of them, once they know what's going on, they'll be able to let their light shine. ... We'll have a lot of time to get them ready."

The Colts drafted cornerback Tim Jennings of Georgia in the second round, linebacker Freddie Keiaho of San Diego State in the third round, offensive tackle Michael Toudouze of Texas Christian in the fifth round, offensive Charlie Johnson of Oklahoma State and defensive back Antoine Bethea of Howard in the sixth round and cornerback-kick returner T.J. Rushing of Stanford in the seventh round.

"It's a good group in a lot of ways," Dungy said. "We're always trying to increase our speed and our toughness, and I think we've done that."

The Colts picked late in each round -- thanks to their NFL-best 14-2 record last season -- but Polian was pleased with the way the draft unfolded.

"We'll see how it plays out the next nine months or so," he said. "I've always believed if you make the picks for the right reasons, your odds of success increase markedly. ... Let's face it, this business is not science, it's an art. We're happy with the guys we got, now we'll be aggressive in pursuing free agents."

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire.

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Chip Myrick Signs with Indianapolis

2006-05-02T16:18:46Z

Myrick Signs with Indianapolis

By: Roy Philpott
CUTigers.com
Date: May 1, 2006

Former Clemson guard signs as an undrafted free agent with the Colts.

Former Clemson guard Chip Myrick has signed on as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts.

Myrick is one of four former Tigers to sign undrafted free agent contracts. Tight end Cole Downer (Detroit), safety Jamaal Fudge (Jacksonville) and fullback Steven Jackson (Vikings) also inked deals with NFL teams.

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2006 Colts Draft rundown

2006-05-01T05:20:13Z

Indianapolis
Rd Sel# Pos. Player Ht. Wt. School
1 030 RB-Addai, Joseph 5-11 215 Louisiana State
2 062 CB-Jennings, Tim 5-8 186 Georgia
3 094 ILB-Keiaho, Freddie 5-11 227 San Diego State
5 162 G-Toudouze, Michael 6-6 302 Texas Christian
6 199 OT-Johnson, Charlie 6-3 302 Oklahoma State
6 207 FS-Bethea, Antoine 5-11 203 Howard
7 238 CB-Rushing, T.J. 5-10 175 Stanford

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Colts Acquire #238 Overall Pick from Titans

2006-05-01T05:16:22Z

Colts Acquire #238 Overall Pick From Titans
NFL.com

The Indianapolis Colts acquired the #238 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft from the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 6th round draft pick in the 2007 draft. The Colts used the selection to draft CB T.J. Rushing from Stanford University.

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Colts Select CB Jennings At #62 Overall

2006-04-30T14:02:28Z

April 29, 2006, 22:05
Colts :: DB

Colts Select CB Jennings At #62 Overall
NFL.com

The Indianapolis Colts selected former University of Georgia cornerback Tim Jennings at #62 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft.

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football

2006-04-30T01:51:58Z

FOOTBALL FOLLY / The NFL: Professional Fantasy Football?

Have you ever watched a professional football game that was "too good to be true"? In 1969, the National Football League (NFL) merged with the American Football League (AFL), and a multi-million dollar business was born. From the Super Bowl of 1969 through the 2001 "storybook" pictory of the appropriately patriotic New England Patriots, author Brian Tuohy uses quotes from the players themselves and other public sources to expose the NFL's hidden history. Tuohy wonders whether, in order to dramatize its "Cinderella stories" and "unabashed tragedies," and to get maximum output from it's product, the NFL fixes, tweaks, or scripts its games. As Tuohy concludes, the ticket you purchase is for amusement purposes only. There is nothing on your ticket stating otherwise. If you take the game to be real (as some do pro wrestling) who is at fault?

"Pro football provides the circus for the hordes." - Congressman Emanuel Celler

In 1969, the NFL was in the biggest developmental stage in its history. It was merging with its rival, the AFL, and fans of the NFL, werent accepting the new competition. In both Superbowl I & !!, the NFL (represented by the Green Bay Packers) had proven its dominance over the younger, weakerAFL. Now, with Superbowl III looming, and the merger and the resulting television contracts in the balance, something had to be done.
This time, the AFL would be represented by the New York Jets, led by the highest-paid player of the time, quarterback Joe Namath. Representing the NFL, was on of its oldest franchises, the Baltimore Colts, who were made 18-point favorites by the bookmakers to win the game. Yet, just a few days prior to the game, Joe Namath brashly guaranteed the Jets would win, Namath was proven correct when the Jets beat the Colts 16-7 in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. More than an upset, it was a turning point for the NFL. Not only did it give credibility to the AFL teams in the fan's eyes, it further opened the NFL's doors to the TV networks, whose deep pockets finance football to this day.
The question remains, however, why was Namath so sure of victory? I would suggest Joe Namath is the "smoking gun" of the NFL, and thatSuper Bowl III was the first-but definitely not the last-time that the NFL fixed the outcome of one of its own games.
"Namath & his teammates" performance secured the two leagues, at the very least, $100,000,000 in future TV revenue. The game was almost too good to be true," commented former NFL playerBernie Parrish in 1971. "Considering other devices imposed by TV's needs to lift fan interest & raise the advertisers' prices, perhaps it was too good to be true." Football great Bubba Smith, who played for the Colts in Super Bowl III, wrote in his autobiography that the game had been "set up" for the Jets in order to boost the AFL's credibility. I a later Playboy interview, Smith elaborated, "That Superbowl game, which we lost by nine points, was the critical year. The game just seemed odd to me. Everything was out of place. I tried to rationalize that our coach, Dan Shula, got out-coached, but that wasn't the case. I don't know if any of the teammates were in on the fix."
FIXES and TWEAKS
The NFL is a business, first & foremost. In 1996, Financial World magazine valued the worth of the average NFL franchise at $174 million. Consumers spent $3 billion dollars on NFL team related merchandise. On average, more that 12 million viewers watch a regular telecasted game. And it is television thatfeeds the most money to this ever-hungry beast.
Originally, each NFL team sold its broadcast rights individually. However, in 1961, thanks in part to President John F. Kennedy, Congress passed the Sports Antitrust Broadcast Act, which paved the way for the NFL to market it's games as a package. This first "package" was sold to CBS for $4.65 million. Three years later it was up to $14.1 million. By 1974, with the addition of Monday Night Football, it was a robust $57.6 million. A 1978 poll showed that 70 percent of the nation's sports fans followed football, compared to 54 percent pursuing baseball. The prices escalated accordingly. By 1984, the networks were paying the NFL $434 million. In 1998, the last time the networks purchased the rights to the NFL's games, CBS paid $4 billion dollars for 8 years, with ESPN shelling out over $600 million and ABC adding an additional $550 million a year. That doesnt include more than $1 billion the Fox network paid just a few years earlier.
The only way these numbers can be recouped is through the rating and the resulting advertising revenue. But how has football become America's number one spectator sport? Certainly, it offers drama, violence, and raw emotion for 12 hours every Sunday in the fall, and Cinderella stories, remarkable comebacks, & unabashed tragedies in every play, game, & season. However, to develop these stories & keep those ratings soaring higher, does the NFL fix, tweak, or script its games to get the maximum output from its product?
Over the years, there has been speculation about whether Super Bowls are
"won," or whether they are "awarded." Some Super Bowls are awarded because of the stories they provide, others as rewards, but each for a reason: for instance, to Green Bay for bringing tradition back to the game; to Denver & John Elway in 1997 for their long-suffering seasons (perhaps at the League's insistence); to St. Louis & Tennessee in 1999 for their willingness to relocate for the league; to the relocated Baltimore Ravens in 2000 for their long-time owner, Art Modell, whose commitment to the NFL reaches back to the 1960s; and, most recently, in perhaps one of the most blatant examples of scripting an entire season, to the 2001 New England Patriopts. In an immediately post-9/11 America, what more symbolic team could the NFL crown its champion than the Patriots, who were the biggest underdog in Super Bowl's 36 year history?

PROFIT DRIVEN

Like any CEO, the NFL owners are profit driven. The fan is secondary in their scheme. Why else would they pull teams like the Baltimore Colts and the Cleveland Browns out of their respective cities when these teamsconstantly played to sell-out crowds? Both moves were made because the new cities (Indianapolis & Baltimore) offered the owners better stadium deals, and more cash in the owner's pockets, The media may label such moves "tragedies," yet according to author Jon Morgan in his book, "Glory for Sale: Fans, Dollars and the New NFL, "Television network executives said they didnt care where teams were based. The NFL had become a national broadcast product. It would garner high viewership wheever the games were played."
Another huge source of revenue for the League comes from expansion teams. New teams are asked to pay an "initiation" fee of $150 million or more just to join the League. What, exactly, is this money for? Nothing. It is simply "profit divided up among the other rich kids that got there first." Expansion is always on the NFL's mind. In fact, I believe it accounts for the success of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. Both teams, in just their second year of existence, managed to reach their respective conference championship, just one win shy of the Super Bowl. Neither won, yet they were each hailed as success stories. This justified further expansion, with the addition of the new Cleveland Browns & Houston Texans.
"Football has become our national religion, & NFL owners are the druids. Men of business, men of state, men of war: All are inexorably drawn toward the people who won and control these teams." The idea that this elite group of 32 men sometimes reach down from their skybox & dabble in the happenings on the field is not a stretch of the imagination.
The NFL's Dirty Little Secret

According to Dan Molden, in Interference: How Organized Crim Influences Professional Football, many early NFL owners were known to be gamblers. Moldea alleges that the following owners were known to have bet on football games, and some even bet on their own teams: Onetime Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, Jr., Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt (son of oilman H.L. Hunt Jr), Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell, New Orleans Saints owner John Mccom, Jr, Chicago/St Louis/Arizona Cardinals owner Charles Bidwell, and Philadelphia Eagles owner DeBenneville "Bert" Bell.
Moldea alleges that Carroll Rosenbloom, one time owner of the Baltimore Colts, not only bet on his team, but also altered the outcome of a game because of it. Oddly enough, it was this very game that legitimized football for the television networks. It has been called the greatest game ever played: the 1958 NFL championship game. Rosenbloom's Colts were playing the New York Giants, who were 3 1/2-to 5 1/2-point underdogs. Moldea also alleges that Rosenbloom laid down $1 million on his boys to win."
The Colts were losing until the last seven seconds, when the Colts kicker, Steve Myhra, kicked a field goal to tie the game at 17-17 and send it into overtime. In overtime, the Colts marched 80 yards down the field to get to the Giants 8 yard line-easy field territory. But they never kicked. Instead, accordingto Moldea, Rosenbloom, knowing the game was won but his bet lost with the field goal, had his general manager force Coach Webb Eubank to go in for the touchdown. Final score: Colts 23, Giants 17, which covered the point spread, and Rosenbloom's money. (Sports gamblers generally bet not just on the victor, but on a particular "spread", or margin of victory.)
Players, too, have been tempted by the bookmaker. Several star players of the 1950s-1960's were known to have gambled, and some to have fixed games. Bookmaker/gambler Don Dawson has admitted that during those two decades, he had personally been involved in fixing no fewer than 32 NFL games." Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh, Pittsburgh/Detroit quarterback Bobby Layne, and Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson were alleged to have gambled (and perhaps shaved points), but were never charged or convicted of a crime. Green Bay Packers great Paul Horning and Detroit Lions star Alex Karras were not so fortunate.
On the January 16, 1963, edition of the NBC evening news program The Huntley-Brinkley Report, Detroit Lions star defensive tackle Alex Karras admitted that he had bet on football games in which he played. A national scandal erupted. It was quickly quelledon April 17, 1963, when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended indefinitely Karras & Horning (who had also bet on games in which he played) and fined five other Detroit Lions players $2,000 each for betting on games in which they did not play. Rozelle also announced he had evidence that several other players around the League were gambling on the NFL, and these players had been "reprimanded, but not fined."

The NFL's FBI

As a result of the 1963 betting scandal, NFL Commissioner Rozelle created NFL Security. NFL Security (the League's FBI, if you will) has employed former intelligence officers, Justice Dept officials, and ex-FBI officers throughout its years. It has branches in everycity in which the NFL plays. Former director of NFL Security Warren Welsh has said, "These representatives (NFL Security officials) are on retainer to the League, and they specifically report to the League. In addition to their game day coverage and their laisonwith the local law enforcement community, they would also do background investigations the we might have for game officials, an ownership group, impersonations, misrepresentations, whatever it might be, as opposed to just working for the local team." They are on the watch for gambling, drugs, and whatever other troubles the players and coaches can get into. And these men are kept very, very busy.
In their extensively researched book, Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL, Jeff Benedict & Don Yaeger chronicle just how rampant criminal activity is in the League. According to their 1998 research, 1 out of 5 (21%) of the players in the NFL have been charged with a serious crime. The crimes they detail go beyond the drinking & driving offenses we often hear reported. These crimes include rape, kidnapping, assault & battery, domestic violence, and homicide. Of course, there is a big difference between being charged & being convicted, but the fact that this many pro football players have such problems is alarming. Even worse, these players are allowed to continue to play in the NFL.

DRUG DEALINGS

Drugs are a way of life in the NFL. One of the first things discussed at the NFL rookie camp are drugs, but these talks tend to fall on deaf ears. Be they illegal, like marijuana or cocaine, or legal prescription drugs, like steroids & pain killers, drugs are very much in use in the NFL. Former NFL player Tim Green claims in his book The Dark Side of the Game, "Moderate use of some drugs is just a neccessary reality of big-time football." He goes on to say "One of the main reasons performance drugs (steroids) have played such a major part in the evolution of the modern football player is because the players themselves feel like the will never die.......They'll do whatever it takes to be the best they can be."
Whether performance-enhancing or recreational, drugs are officially not allowed in the NFL. But this doesnt stop their use. The NFL's policy regarding drugs & drug testing has no effect because it is simply not enforced. Former Washington Redskin Dexter Manley was caught using drugs several times & finally was banned for life-twice. In his book, You're Okay, It's Just a Bruise, former Oakland Raider team doctor Ron Huizenga, M.D., tells of one player who tested positive for cocaine 10 times with no action taken by the league. He also recounts the story of an unnamed member of the Denver Broncos who was going to be suspended because of a second positive drug test. He never was, and was in the line-up the following week. According to Huizenga, "I knew then that something was wrong with the new drug penalty system. Either the fix was in at the commissioner's office or some major legal roadblock had been thrown up.

Maintaining Ranks

"We have a basic rule in the NFL," says a former law-enforcement official who advises the NFL on security matters. "It is to keep it upbeat & keep it positive. But, above all, they want to keep everything quiet." That's the way it is in the NFL today. Keep all potential problems within the League. The only press allowed is cleared by the League. According to the NFL's drug program, the League's "drug czar" has been banned from speaking with the press."
In order to recieve his pension, former League treasurer Austin H. Gunsel had to sign a contract with a gag clause reminiscent of those required of retiring CIA officers: "Neither shall Gunsel, without the prior consent of the Commissioner of this League, publish any newspaper or magazine article, book or publication, nor submit to any newspaper, radio, or TV (an) interview or program which discusses, involves, or refers to the affairs or activities of the NFL, its officers or employees, or to any of the member clubs thereof, or their owners, officers, employees or others holding any interest therein."
Players, too, are not immune to this type of censorship. Both players & coaches are fined for speaking about things not deemed to be in the NFL's best interest (like baseball's John Rocker) "The very nature of a football player, and one of the essential elements to ever get to the NFL, is to maintain ranks........Football is a game that requires the discipline & unquestioning obedience of a soldier. Right or wrong, the fact is that all football players are programmed to march to a certain beat." This is true both on & off the field. Players, throughout their playing career are taught to toe the line. Break the rules, and you're out. Even after players leave the game, it is rare to hear a bad word spoken about the NFL. Maybe this is because all ex-NFL players draw some sort of pension from the NFL & the players union.

COINCIDENCE OR A FIX?

Anyone who has watched football has seen games or plays that seemed just too good to be true, games where the play on the field somehow matched or beat the pre-game hype. Could it be coincidence? Maybe. But I believe it to be more.
Take Super Bowl XXX, played in 1995 between the Pittsburgh Steelers & the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers lost the game 27-17 because of two statistically-unusual plays-two Neil O'Donnell interceptions. Going into that game, O'Donnell has the lowest interception per pass attempt ratio in NFL history. Yet, here he threw two passes that were seemingly gift wrapped for Cowboy Larry Brown (who was named Super Bowl MVP). In the following off-season, both O'Donnell & Brown signed multi-million dollar free-agent contracts with other teams, going on to careers of mediocrity.
Absent evidence of outright payoffs, a subtler mechanism exists for the NFL to potentially coerce its players into fixing games. Consider a player who gets into trouble, be it for steroids, drunken driving, etc. With 21% of NFL players finding themselves in some sort of legal trouble, there is plenty to choose from. When caught, would he perhaps be pulled aside & given certain options? Keep in mind that just one play, and just one player, can alter the outcome of a football game. Be ita field goal attempt, an interception, or a fumble, one player can change everything. Something as simple as a missed block, a botched snap, or biting on a pump fake, can be the difference between maintaining a drive or being forced to punt.

Players & Patsies

Certainly, not all games are fixed, and many NFL players engage in honest play for their entire careers. In fact, It may be that most players are inwitting patsies in the NFL conspiracy.
Coaches have a huge sway over what happens on the field and are directly responsible to the owner. It is the coach who decides who plays & how. Conceivably, a player who won't "play ball" might not see the ball during the game. This might explain the unusual benching in the 1999 AFC playoffs, when Buffalo Bills starting quarterback, Doug Flutie, was benched in favor of back-up Rob Johnson. Johnson hadnt started a single game during the entire year, but he was coach Wade Phillips' choice to play this critical game, while a healthy Flutie sat the game out. Buffalo went on to lose the game to the Tennessee Titans on the famous "homerun throwback" play (itself a disputed call). Could it be that Flutie was benched because he wouldnt lose the game for the League?
Coaches influence every play. What might seem like a bad performance on a player's part may instead be an ill-advised play sent in from the sidelines. Take what happened in Super Bowl XXXII. Late in the fourth quarter, with Denverknocking on their goal line, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Holmgren admittedly told his defense to lie down and allow Denver's Terrell Davis to score a touchdown. He defended his action, saying he wanted to leave enough time for his offense to come back and score. However they never did. Davis's touchdown won the Super Bowl for the Broncos.
Like the playersthey rule over, coaches also have "run-ins" with the law. As Detailed in Pro and Cons, Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green and assistant Richard Solomon were investigated by the team for charges of sexual harassment on more than one occasion in the 1990's. To the frustration of their fans, the Vikings never seem to reach the Super Bowl despite a talented roster.
Then there are the referees-the only people on the field directly employed by the NFL. To a large degree, and despite claims to the contrary, they control what happens on the field. The penalties they call can alter a play, the score, and hence the outcome of a game. NFL referees are actually only part-time employees of the NFL, even so they have to have a minimum of 10 years of college experience & 3 years of monitoring by the League before even being considered to referee a game in the NFL. Each week, the NFL scrutinizes game tapes just to watch the officiating. They have to. Teams file weekly reports with the League on calls for which they want "further clarification." These reports never find their way to the media, however. "Conversations between the NFL officiating dept & teams are confidential. We do not comment on them," NFL spokesman Michael Signora told ESPN.
Instant replay, a device television helped usher into the League, was supposed to clear up any controversies that may arise in a game. However, a referee is supposed to have "conclusive evidence" in order to reverse a call that has been challenged. "Conclusive" being the key word. What may seem conclusive to viewers at home is not always what's deemed conclusive to the referee calling the game. It's still a judgement call. And no matter how well instant replay supposedly works, it cannot-ever-overturn a penalty called by a referee.

TV's Influence

With the wide variety of ways in which the game can be controlled, detecting a fix would be very difficult. The people who should be the public's eye's & ears, the sports reporters, are merely just another cog in the NFL's propaganda machine.
On a local level, the sports reporter is nothing but a cheerleader. He has to be. Should he begin to ask the "tough" questions, he will quickly find himself on the outside of the locker room looking in. Without the cooperation of the team, a local reporter will find it impossible to get close to the team, much less fill his column or broadcast.
On the national level, it is even worse. "All play-by-play TV and radio announcers are approved by not only the club management but by (the Commissioner) himself." The list of current announcers/anchors of NFL broadcasts almost reads like a Pro-Bowl roster: Dan Marino, Deion Sanders, Boomer Esiason, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Steve Young, Tom Jackson, Sterling Sharpe, Troy Aikman, Chris Collinsworth, etc. Even legendary commentators like Pat Summerall & John Madden have direct NFL experience. So whose interests are they more likely to represent, the fan or their former or current employer?
When a sticky situation arises within the League, or if the League has an issue it needs pushed (a need for new stadiums, higher ticket prices, etc.), it often relies on it's phalanx of announcers to sway public opinion. As ex-NFL star, Bernie Parrish, put it, "The words we hear coming from our telvision sets don't seem to have the same meaning as they used to, whether they are coming from the White House or the NFL hucksters. The images we see are what the paid packagers want us to see. In the case of pro football, the packages are designed & decorated behind the closed doors of the Commissioner's office, and there is no consumer protection for the public."
Television has changed the way football is played. It is because of TV that the 2 minute warning exists (to allow for a commercial break when interest in the game has peaked). Former president of ABC Sports Roone Arledge (the man behind Monday Night Football), once said, "Most of what TV does wrong is done to generate more dollars for (NFL) owners & the Leagues are so damned greedy in what they ask for rights."
In 1965, when CBS paid over $14 million for the rights to NFL games, "they acted as if they had bought the sport, including the people who played it." Perhaps they did. Former NFL player Tim Green wrote, "If you thinkthat the players in an NFL game arent only aware, but affected by the television cameras & microphones, youre wrong. Players often know when the cameras are on them, whether they can see the little red lights or not, and they play to them as if they were on a Hollywood movie set."
So, is the NFL closer to what some feared the defunct XFL would become: A scripted soap opera much like professional wrestling? It could very well be. If it's not neccessarily illegal for them to be so. There is nothing printed on your ticket indicating that the game you see will be played by certain rules. There is no attempt at defrauding you, because the ticket you purchase is for amusement purposes only. And what they give you is a form of entertainment. If you take it to be real (as some do pro wrestling) who is at fault?
Just because it seems real doesnt mean it truly is. There is nothing anywhere that states the NFL and the networks couldnt script the season to get the maximum amount of fan appeal if they desire. Does that mean every single game is fixed? No. But could they spot a potential story line in a team & play it for all it's worth? Certainly.
In 1971, former NFL star Bernie Parrish wrote, "With $139 million at stake for the owners, $84 million for the television networks, and up to $66 BILLION for organized crime's bookmaking syndicates, and with what I learned as a player, no one will ever convince me that numerous NFL games arent fixed." Now, 30 years later, with the dollar figures 10 times what they were then, one would have to be naive to believe that the NFL would leave everything-its name, its money, its very existence-up to chance!

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Walters to the Cardinals

2006-04-29T23:36:41Z

Cardinals Sign Walters, Brewer

POSTED: 9:39 am PDT April 28, 2006

Tempe, AZ -- (Sports Network) - The Arizona Cardinals inked safety Jack Brewer and wide receiver Troy Walters to one-year contracts on Friday.

Walters played in all 16 games for the high-powered Indianapolis Colts last season, posting 14 catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns. The 5-foot-7 wideout also was a threat in the return game, racking up 172 punt return yards on 21 attempts.

For his career, Walters has appeared in 70 regular-season contests (six starts) and eight playoff games over his six-year NFL career. The Stanford product has 70 career receptions for 825 yards and six touchdowns. Walters spent four seasons in Indianapolis after being picked up off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings on March 1, 2002.

Brewer played in six games at safety and on special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles last season after signing as a free agent on November 16. He totaled 15 special teams tackles and one tackle on defense.

The Minnesota product has appeared in 40 regular-season games (one start) during his four-year NFL career. He played two seasons with the Vikings (2002-03) and was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants in 2004, where he played in 13 games.

Copyright 2006 Courtesy of The Sports Network.

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At #30, The Colts Select RB Addai

2006-04-29T23:31:53Z

April 29, 2006, 15:44
Colts :: RB

At #30, The Colts Select RB Addai
NFL Network

With the 30th pick in the draft, the Colts have selected running back Joseph Addai from LSU.

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Colts Drop Pursuit Of RB T.Jones

2006-04-24T14:52:23Z

Trade interest may not bother Jones
Source: Backup's bigger salary a sore point for Bears RB

By K.C. Johnson and John Mullin
Chicago Tribune staff reporters

April 22, 2006, 11:02 PM CDT

The Bears have received trade proposals for running back Thomas Jones, but general manager Jerry Angelo insisted he hasn't initiated them and that he and the coaching staff agree two featured backs are a necessity for the team's run-first philosophy.

"If somebody calls me and wants to trade for a player, you listen to see if it will benefit the team," Angelo said. "But we're not going to trade Thomas just to trade him.

Homes
"When we drafted Cedric [Benson], we said it wasn't an indictment on Thomas. I signed Thomas as a free agent. We like Thomas. And we like the situation. It's competition."

The question is: Does Jones like it? Ever since the Bears selected Benson with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft, Jones has treated his presence as a bother.

Jones responded with the best season of his six-year career, rushing for 1,335 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Benson, meanwhile, had just 67 carries because of a lengthy contract holdout, Jones' success and his own knee injury.

Jones also missed one game to injury, giving credence to management's across-the-board contention that at least two bona fide backs are needed. Adrian Peterson averaged 5.1 yards on 76 carries, giving the Bears even more depth.

A source close to Jones said the veteran is tiring of looking over his shoulder at a player making more money than he does.

Although the deal Jones received in 2003 was nearly double his next-best offer, he is looking to improve on his $2 million base salary for this season.

That won't happen with the Bears, who have a sizeable portion of their salary cap already tied up in running backs.

Jones has left the Bears' voluntary off-season program and fired longtime agent Tom Condon in favor of Drew Rosenhaus. Jones is known for an intense off-season workout regimen and has worked with noted personal trainer Ian Danney in the past.

Indianapolis showed trade interest in Jones. But when word of Jones skipping the off-season program reached Colts President Bill Polian, the Colts dropped pursuit.

Other teams may enter the picture, although Angelo insisted both he and the coaching staff would prefer to see a happy Jones return.

Angelo also disputed published reports Rosenhaus asked for more money than Brian Urlacher earns in his negotiations to extend linebacker Lance Briggs' contract. The Bears' offer could be off the table for now.

"We're moving forward," Angelo said. "We're not at a stop sign now waiting for something to happen with Lance. We're moving down a path and we told the agent that as well."

kcjohnson@tribune.com

jmullin@tribune.com

Copyright © 2006, The Chicago Tribune

Link to the article is: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-060422bears,1,6438846.story?coll=cs-bears-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

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RUMOR REPORT: Thomas Jones to the Colts?

2006-04-23T11:20:03Z

Jones to the Colts?

Bears GM Jerry Angelo reacted to an ESPN.com report linking the Indianapolis Colts to RB Thomas Jones. Jones, one of only 2 NFL RBs to account for over 35% of his team's total offense in both 2004/2005, recently hired agent Drew Rosenhaus last week. Hmmm... and he's also skipping voluntary team workouts. "We have not initiated contact," Angelo said. "If you hear someone say they talked to me it's because they have my number." Indy has reportedly offered a 3rd round pick. However, Lovie Smith wants to keep both Jones and Cedric Benson: "The history is with Kansas City. I got a chance to see exactly what Kansas City did having a Pro Bowl running back [Priest Holmes] and a first-round draft choice [Larry Johnson]. They both played, they both were on the team and it worked itself out."

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MOOREHEAD RETURNS

2006-04-22T13:25:58Z

Friday, April 21

MOOREHEAD RETURNS

By John Oehser - Colts.com

Veteran Wide Receiver Re-Signs with Colts
INDIANAPOLIS – Aaron Moorehead didn’t really want to go anywhere else.

Now, he doesn’t have to.

Moorehead, a four-year veteran and the Colts’ fourth wide receiver last season, has re-signed with the team, the club announced Friday. Moorehead originally signed with the Colts as a free agent rookie from the University of Illinois in 2003.

“We kind of knew it was going to happen,” said Moorehead, who caught seven passes for 75 yards in two games last season. “We knew it for a while now. We just had to get the final language right. We did, and now it’s done. We’ll start working out, getting that going and getting ready for next year.”

Moorehead, who has caught 15 passes for 183 yards in three NFL seasons, played a key role as a rookie, catching seven passes for 101 yards while playing seven games. Since then, the Colts’ receivers mostly have stayed healthy, and Moorehead has played more sparingly.

Before last season, he earned the spot at fourth receiver, and after Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley stayed healthy much of the season, Moorehead played extensively in the final two games of the season.

“We looked around, but in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to stay,” Moorehead said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I knew that, but it’s a business. You have to look and see what else is out there.”

Moorehead said he will participate in the off-season workout and summer school, and said the next few months are critical for a player in his position.

“Marvin and Reggie, they tend not come for some of the off-season things,” Moorehead said. “That’s when you can get better with (Colts quarterback) Peyton (Manning), because those guys aren’t here to take some of those balls. I’m going to take as many balls as I can get. That’s something I look forward to every off-season.

“There’s camaraderie, too. We don’t have a lot of workout time (in the off-season). Guys go out and play golf together. That’s when you get to know your teammates a lot better.”

http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3700

see picture in gallery

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Colts sign 2 of their own to 1-year deals

2006-04-22T13:23:11Z

By Mike Chappell
mike.chappell@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Colts came to terms with their two remaining restricted free agents Friday.

Linebacker Cato June signed a one-year, $1.573 million contract. Wide receiver Aaron Moorehead signed a one-year contract worth $721,600.

June earned his first Pro Bowl berth in 2005, just his second season as a starter. He finished with 109 tackles and led the Colts with five interceptions, returning two for touchdowns.

Moorehead appeared in two games last season, registering seven receptions for 75 yards. In three years with the Colts, he has appeared in 16 games with 15 receptions for 183 yards.

Although the Colts lost running back Edgerrin James (signed with Arizona), linebacker David Thornton (Tennessee), place-kicker Mike Vanderjagt (Dallas) and defensive tackle Larry Tripplett (Buffalo) to free agency, they retained several players.

Wide receiver Reggie Wayne and defensive end Raheem Brock, each eligible for unrestricted free agency, signed long-term contracts. Linebacker Gary Brackett, a restricted free agent, also signed a long-term deal.

Two more unrestricted free agents -- linebacker Rob Morris and running back James Mungro -- signed one-year contracts.

Along with June and Moorehead, the restricted free agents who signed their one-year contracts were defensive end Robert Mathis, safety Gerome Sapp and offensive tackle Makoa Freitas.

The PeyBack Foundation announced Friday that it awarded $312,050 in grants to 53 community agencies this month, the most it has given out at one time. The deadline for applications for 2007 grants is Feb. 1. The nonprofit corporation was founded by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

Call Star reporter Mike Chappell at (317) 444-6830.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com

from http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/SPORTS03/604220457/1100

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com

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SAPP/MORRIS RE-SIGNED

2006-04-21T04:47:07Z

Wednesday, April 19
SAPP RE-SIGNED
By John Oehser - Colts.com

Reserve Safety/Special Teams Ace Rejoins Roster
INDIANAPOLIS – Less than a week after re-signing one of their top special teams players, the Colts re-signed another on Wednesday.

Gerome Sapp, a reserve safety and special teams player for the Colts each of the last two seasons, has re-signed with the team, the club announced Wednesday. Sapp played in 29 of a possible 32 games the past two seasons, starting twice last season.

Sapp, who played collegiately at Notre Dame, joined the Colts off waivers from Baltimore in 2004. He played in 14 games for the Ravens in 2003.

With the Colts, he has been one of the team’s top players on punt and kickoff coverage, finishing second on the team with 28 special teams tackles last season. Sapp had 16 special teams tackles in 2004, fourth on the team.

This past season, he not only was one off the teams special teams tackles lead – defensive end Robert Mathis led the Colts with 29 – he also had 16 tackles on defense, with seven of them solos.

Last Friday, the Colts re-signed middle linebacker Rob Morris. A starter from 2001-2004, Morris was one of the Colts’ top special teams players last season.

from http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3695

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Federkeil gets NFL tryout with Colts

2006-04-21T04:44:23Z

Federkeil gets NFL tryout with Colts

Dan Federkeil

TSN.ca Staff

4/20/2006 2:33:36 PM

The Toronto Argonauts may have to wait before getting their hands on draft pick Dan Federkeil.

The defensive lineman, who was picked fifth overall in the CFL college draft on Thursday, is expected to work out for the Indianapolis Colts on Friday in Calgary.

Federkeil, who played in the East-West Shrine game last January, has also worked out for the New York Jets.

Unlike the Jets, the Colts plan to see how Federkeil responds as an offensive lineman.

"It's a little awkward because I have no training as an offensive lineman, so we'll have to see how it goes," he tells the Calgary Herald. "There's a few teams out there that think I'm better suited as an offensive lineman."

Federkeil was named the Canada West lineman of the year with the Calgary Dinos this past season and he was a finalist for the J.P. Metras Trophy as the top lineman in the CIS. He was a unanimous choice as conference all-star and earned second-team all-Canadian honours at defensive end.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Colts meet Prospects

2006-04-19T15:18:28Z

reprinted from Tom James/Terre Haute Tribune Star

College players meet with Colts — With the NFL draft less than two weeks away on April 29-30, the Colts continue to meet with potential selections.

While the team does not confirm which players have actually met with Indianapolis officials, Scout.com has reported that a handful of prospective draft picks have either already been to the team’s headquarters or are scheduled to over the next few days.

Among those who appear to have attracted the Colts’ interest include Connecticut running back Cornell Brockington, Howard safety Antoine Bethea, Syracuse defensive end Ryan LaCasse, Ohio cornerback Dion Byrum, Ohio State defensive lineman Mike Kudla and Maryland receiver Danny Melendez.

Brockington, the cousin of former Green Bay Packers running back John Brockington, met with the Colts last week. Bethea, meanwhile, met with team officials Sunday and Monday. LaCasse, Byrum, Kudla and Melendez are expected in Indianapolis sometime this week.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Robert Mathis

2006-04-19T15:18:03Z

Mathis negotiations underway — According to NFL.com, Colts officials have begun the process of working out a long-term deal with pass-rushing defensive end Robert Mathis.

Mathis was a restricted free agent following the 2005 season, but agreed to a one-year tender by the team. Team President Bill Polian and owner Jim Irsay have both stressed the importance of keeping Mathis in the fold for the remainder of his NFL career.

Once the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Mathis is signed to a new long-term contract, Polian and Irsay can then turn their attention to defensive end Dwight Freeney. Freeney is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next February unless a new deal is worked out, although the team could place the franchise tag on the three-time Pro Bowl participant.

quoted from Terre Haute Tribune Star article by correspondent Tom James

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Colts Tour

2006-04-19T15:17:35Z

Colts plan for ticket tour — Zupancic said that the team is currently developing plans for a 30-city tour this fall that will include participation by Colts’ officials, cheerleaders and players.

“Obviously going to the playoffs as many times as we’ve gone to the playoffs the last seven or eight years is huge, coupled with the fact that most of our marketing has developed into actual touching the franchise outside of Indianapolis,” he said.

“This year, we’re doing a 30-city tour. Last year, it was 22 cities. We actually take players out, and [the Colts] Cheerleaders out, and get into the state of Indiana and beyond. We allow people to see, touch and feel the real experience. Rather than look at a newspaper ad, or billboard on the road, we’re giving them the in-flesh Colts out there in the communities. We’re trying to keep growing that fan base.

“We haven’t been in a situation like this since the mid-1980s. The passion for the franchise has grown throughout the state of Indiana and beyond. Our outreach far exceeds I-465, where usually it started to dwindle. Demand for season tickets, club seats – all forms of entertainment and all abilities to view a game – are at an all-time high and a premium right now.”

There is no indication whether Terre Haute will be part of the Colts’ ticket caravan this year. The team is scheduled to report to Rose-Hulman for the start of training camp the last week of July, although an exact date has yet to be officially released.

quoted from an article by Terre Huate Tribune Star correspondent Tom James

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Season Tickets Gone/Waiting List for 2008 New Stadium Best Option

2006-04-19T15:16:33Z

Getting tickets to an Indianapolis Colts regular-season game in 2006 has gotten a lot tougher.

Team officials announced Tuesday that all eight of the Colts’ home games have already been declared as season-ticket sellouts and that tickets for Indianapolis’ two home preseason games are expected to be available on a limited basis.

Tickets for games against Seattle on Aug. 20 and Cincinnati Sept. 1 will go on sale at 10 a.m. April 29 at the RCA Dome ticket office, all Ticketmaster ticket centers, charge-by-phone at (317) 239-5151 and via the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

Sequentially numbered wristbands will be issued to potential ticket buyers by security staff between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. The drawing to determine which numbered wristband has the opportunity to buy tickets first will take place at 9:30 a.m. Possession of a numbered wristband does not guarantee availability. Possession of a wristband simply ensures a place in line.

As for obtaining tickets for Colts home games during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, a waiting list has been established. The team is scheduled to move into the new Lucas Oil Stadium in time for the start of the 2008 season.

“The only way to ensure that you as a fan will be able to see the team is to get on the season-ticket waiting list for the new stadium in 2008. That establishes your priority and your seniority,” Indianapolis senior vice president of sales and marketing Tom Zupancic told Colts.com.

“The people on the waiting list will be the first people located in the new stadium or relocated in the new stadium after the current season-ticket holders. If you get on the waiting list, you have a good chance of getting seats for the new stadium.”

Reprinted from Terre Haute Tribune Star Correspondent Tom James article found at http://www.tribstar.com/colts/local_story_108235743.html

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Colts Linebacker Gardner Ready for Opportunity

2006-04-18T23:13:48Z

Monday, April 17
EXPANDED ROLE
By John Oehser - reprinted from Colts.com

Colts Linebacker Gardner Ready for Opportunity
INDIANAPOLIS – For two years, Gilbert Gardner has worked.

He has waited. Has studied.

He has practiced. He has rehabbed.

Actually, he has done a lot of the latter – more than he expected, and certainly a lot more than he wanted.

Now, entering his third NFL season, with Colts veteran outside linebacker David Thornton having signed with the Tennessee Titans as a free agent, Gardner has what he has wanted throughout two seasons of working, waiting, studying, practicing and according to him, way too much rehabbing.

He has an opportunity.

“It’s a bad thing to see David leave, especially a great leader and a great player like that,” Gardner said Monday during the Colts’ off-season workout program, now ongoing at the Union Federal Football Center. “But when one door closes, another opens.

“Hopefully, I can take advantage of it.”

Gardner, a third-round selection by the Colts in the 2004 NFL Draft, has played extensively on special teams when healthy the past two seasons, and when healthy, he has played a significant role as a backup.

Now, with Thornton gone, the Colts have three linebackers with extensive NFL experience – middle linebacker Gary Brackett, reserve middle linebacker Rob Morris and Pro Bowl outside linebacker Cato June.

In a recent interview, Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy said Gardner likely will move into the starting strongside linebacker role.

“You plan for those things, and we knew there was a possibility of losing David,” Dungy said recently. “Gilbert played and started for us in the Jacksonville game (on December 11) when we had to clinch the division. We played well defensively and he was a big part of it.

“He’ll move over and he’ll line up over there.”

Gardner, an athletic, physical player who has 25 special teams tackles in 22 games over his first two seasons, has the ability to move into the starting rotation, Brackett said Monday.

“He’s ready,” Brackett said. “It’s his third year in the system. He got a chance to play last year. He actually started two or three games at the end of the season and that helps tremendously, so he knows what he’s up against.

“He knows what the competition level is. He knows what we expect of him and he knows the defense. He’s a very smart guy, and a very athletic guy, so he’s a good fit for what we do. Now, it’s just a matter of going out there and making plays.”

And, Gardner said, a matter of staying healthy.

As a rookie in 2004, Gardner played in 11 games as a reserve outside linebacker, making seven tackles and defending a pass despite missing time with an ankle injury, a hamstring ailment and a shoulder injury.

“There have been some (injuries) I can’t explain,” said Gardner, who played collegiately at Purdue University. “Some of my doctors have been like, ‘I don’t know how you got this one, but you did.’

“But it’s football. You can’t help that. You just have to get better and keep moving.”

Last season, he missed the first five games with an ankle injury, but played extensively in the last half of the season, starting three of the final four games and finishing the season with 24 tackles, a sack, a pass defensed and an interception.

“If you’re not confident in yourself, this isn’t the game for you,” Gardner said. “I know I can play. That’s not the problem. I just have to stay healthy, and take it week by week.”

The first step in the process is now, Gardner said. Although he participated in the off-season conditioning program last off-season, he said he also spent a significant amount of time rehabilitating from the previous season. Now, he said he is fully healthy entering an NFL off-season for the first time.

“Hopefully, I can keep working like I have been and keep climbing and not peak,” Gardner said. “You want to peak with your workouts right before the end of the workout session, so hopefully, I can plan this out right and be 100 percent going into the season. This is huge. This is where you prepare your body to stay healthy.

“The time you put in will be the time you get out.”

And while Colts fans may not be overly familiar with Gardner as a defensive player, he said the past two seasons have helped him prepare for what he hopes will be a starting role. He made 12 special teams tackles in 2004 and 13 last season, and with the Colts resting injured players in December of last season, he started three of the last four games.

During that four-game span, he recorded 20 tackles, and in the regular-season finale against Arizona, he had a team-high 13 tackles and an interception.

“I think it’s been unbelievably important,” Gardner said of the past two seasons. “I think when this year rolls around, I’ll be more prepared. I think it was very beneficial what I did the last two years.

“When you’re coming out of college, you’ve played special teams a little bit, but not a lot. You can kind of forget how important special teams are. It really brings you back home to what football is all about. I think that’s keyed me in to where I need to be.”

And Gardner said the first place he needs to be next season is healthy. That’s his focus beyond where he will line up, and beyond where he will be listed on the depth chart.

As far as his approach to next season?

Whether or not he believes the starting job is his to lose?

That’s not how he thinks of it, he said.

Not yet, anyway.

“My stance is I’m going into it like everybody else,” Gardner said. “I’m trying to win a spot. I’m trying to prove to my coaches, my teammates, to this league, that I belong. That’s my stand on it. I know I can play. I just have to be able to go out and show it.”

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Better footballs

2006-04-18T05:37:15Z

quoted from an article by John Czarnecki appearing on FOXSports.com

In its zeal for competitive fairness, the NFL went off the deep end years ago when it came to using new, shiny (and often slick) footballs on game day. Too many times, the ball would carelessly fall out of a quarterback's hand because the surface was too slick.

In a league that prides itself for athletic brilliance, quarterbacks were often viewed as totally inept when dropping the ball. Even players like Brett Favre, who has huge hands, would bring a ball back to throw and watch it slide out the back when cocking to throw.

Well, kudos to the league and the NFL competition committee for attempting to correct this silly use of footballs. Beginning next season, the visiting quarterback can bring his own bag of 12 footballs to a game for use. No longer will he have to use the game balls provided by the home team.

Of course, the footballs will still have to pass the inspection test of the game officials, because the league frowns on doctored footballs. In the old days, kickers and quarterbacks were known to use sandpaper on ends of footballs and even wet them down and toss them into a dryer to stretch the bladder of the ball, making it thicker. Every team's equipment men knew all kinds of tricks to help their players.

I always thought some of these regulations were idiotic, believing it was better for a quarterback to throw a football he preferred than to watch him throw one incompletion after another. There is nothing artistic watching a quarterback fumbling around out there or to watch a ball slide right through a receiver's gloved-hands because it's too slick. Competitive fairness actually went overboard.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady led the charge for correcting this football situation by getting 20 other starting quarterbacks to sign a petition requesting a game-day change. Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, co-chair of the competition committee, found no competitive advantage or disadvantage with the Manning suggestion and the proposal passed at last month's owners' meeting. It actually flew under the media radar.

"It was pretty much a no-brainer on trying to get it changed," Manning said recently. "It just makes sense. You throw your footballs at home so you ought to be able to throw the footballs you want on the road as well. Nobody wants to see a receiver wide open and the ball two-hopped to him because the ball is slick."

To prevent any sideline confusion, the dozen or so footballs will be stamped with the visiting team's name before being put into play. So when Brady visits Indianapolis, he'll be throwing a "Patriots" football.

Every home-team quarterback has prepared the game-day footballs to his liking with the help of an equipment man, ensuring that they feel comfortable to throw.

"The referees will still check them," Manning said. "You can't be throwing a flat football or an old football. They still want to see that shiny NFL logo on the ball."

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2006 Schedule Stuff

2006-04-10T11:32:55Z

"Colts to start season with Big Apple trips"

For seventh straight year, Indy opens with road game
By Tom James
Terre Haute Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS — A pair of early-season trips to New York, along with early home matchups against AFC South teams Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee, highlight the Indianapolis Colts’ 2006 regular-season schedule, which was released by the NFL on Thursday.

Following a season-opening visit to the Meadowlands to face the New York Giants in a nationally televised game (NBC) on Sept. 10, the Colts will face the Texans (Sept. 17) and Jaguars (Sept. 24) in the RCA Dome.

The game with the Giants — besides pitting Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning against his younger brother, New York quarterback Eli Manning — will mark the seventh consecutive season that Indianapolis has started the season on the road.

After a second trip to the Big Apple for a meeting with the Jets on Oct. 1, Indianapolis will play host to the Titans on Oct. 8. Other high-profile home games include Washington (Oct. 22), Philadelphia (Nov. 26), Cincinnati (Dec. 18) and Miami (Dec. 31). The Colts’ game with the Bengals will be their only Monday night appearance this season.

The Colts also will have some interesting road games, traveling to Denver (Oct. 29), New England (Nov. 5, NBC), and Dallas (Nov. 19). It’s the third straight year that Indianapolis will play a regular-season road game against the Patriots and its sixth trip overall to Foxboro in the last three seasons, counting postseason games.

“The best part of the schedule is that we’ll have three division home games to begin the season, so we’ll know pretty early on just what kind of team we’re going to have,” Colts Coach Tony Dungy said Thursday.

“Of course, the reverse of that means that we’ll be playing some big division road games later on in the season.

“It’s always a little tough when you look at the schedule as a whole to really know what’s going to transpire. Teams that may have been down one year can come right back and have a great season a year later. So you just have to take it as it comes. There’s not much more that you can do.”

Indianapolis’ bye week (Oct. 15) comes at just about the right time of the season, according to Dungy.

“You always would like [the bye week] to be somewhere around the middle of the year, so you can got some early-season injuries treated and then be ready to go for the rest of your schedule,” he said.

“I know our first game [against the Giants] is going to get a lot of attention, obviously. Both of the quarterbacks in that game are going to be talked about a lot, but there’s going to be 54 other guys on both teams that are going to get kind of lost in the shuffle. And that’s a shame because they’re going to be working just as hard as anybody else.”

When asked about the Colts having yet another season opener on the road, as well as making another trip to Gillette Stadium, Dungy simply shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s not much that you can do about it,” he said. “We’ve kind of gotten used to [playing on the road to begin the year], so we’ll go out [to New York] and hopefully come back with a win. If you can go out there and beat a team like the Giants, that’s gets your season off to a good start.

“We won at New England last year, so maybe we’ve started something out there. Maybe we can get a streak of our own going.”

I I I

n RCA Dome third-toughest NFL stadium to play in — According to a SportsIllustrated.com poll that was released Thursday, the RCA Dome has been rated the third-toughest NFL stadium for opposing teams to play in.

Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium led the way, followed by New England’s Gillette Stadium and the RCA Dome. The remainder of the Top 10 list included Denver’s Invesco Field, Seattle’s Qwest Field, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field, Chicago’s Soldier Field, Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and Minnesota’s Metrodome.

n Rayner to Green Bay — Former Indianapolis placekicker Dave Rayner has signed a free-agent contract with the Green Bay Packers.

Rayner, who was waived by the Colts earlier in the week, inked the deal with the Packers on Thursday. A sixth-round draft pick by Indianapolis last year, the ex-Michigan State standout was Indianapolis’ primary kickoff specialist for most of the 2005 season.

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Contract News

2006-04-10T11:31:12Z

Looks like we locked up Rhodes and Mungro for the coming year, and there is talk we will draft an RB high. Also, the Colts signed Vinatieri, which is great for three reasons: 1) Get rid of Vandershat's mouth, 2) Consolidate kickoff and FG duties to one player and free up a roster spot, 3) and take THE clutch kicker away from New England (bonus, big time)...

Who else we got word on? I know there is more...what about the losses? Obviously Edge is gone now...hmm

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 4 replies

Colts/Steelers 12/15 game at 1PM

2006-01-20T21:27:22Z

Some have expressed confusion over the title of the old thread which referred to the 9pm game earlier in the year...wouldnt want anyone to miss todays game because of something silly like that.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Colts v Steelers... 9pm.

2006-01-15T04:04:39Z

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 6 replies

over the hump

2005-11-09T02:25:44Z

well we showed ne we aint the same ole team they use to stomp. now we got pittsburg coming in a few weeks. if we can beat them then i dont think there is anyone that can stop us. 8-0 baby

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Peyton Manning's Wife Tired Of His Constant "Audibles" At The "Line Of Scrimmage"

2005-10-29T12:49:56Z

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41613
Peyton Manning's Wife Tired Of His Constant "Audibles" At The "Line Of Scrimmage"

October 13, 2005 | Onion Sports <sports>

INDIANAPOLIS-According to sources close to Ashley Manning, wife of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the All-Pro's constant audibles on the playing field are mirrored in his intimately personal life, a fact that Mrs. Manning sometimes finds exasperating. "I mean, sometimes when we, you know, 'take the field,' and the 'formation' is all 'lined up,' and Peyton gets all set 'under center,' he will start barking out new signals," Mrs. Manning said. "Suddenly, it's 'Flip Right Hawk 62! Deuce Right, Waggle 15H Throwback C-Posts! Dice Right 218 Bastard! Yes! Yes! Yes!' And I'm like, Peyton, we're at 'third and inches' here, honey. Please, just 'snap the ball.'" Mrs. Manning did note, however, that her husband was a remarkably talented "field general" with a "rifle arm" who "led the league" in "finding the end zone" last season

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 2 replies

Colts D vs San Francisco...

2005-10-10T15:13:55Z

San Francisco rookie Alex Smith is going to get a rude introduction to the NFL in his first start...

The SF starting left tackle is out and a backup will be starting lining up against Dwight Freeney... ouch.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 5 replies

jags game

2005-09-25T15:15:14Z

well the colts slid by the jags 10-3 . manning had a horrible game but not everyone can be great all the time. luckily edge stepped up and took charge.

again our d played great. with 5 sacks. and held the jags to only a field goal. if our d keeps up like this and our O finnaly gets on the track we know they can do. then we will be unstoppable

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 2 replies

good start

2005-09-12T04:06:31Z

well i just finished watching the game. wasnt a bad game overall. score was 24-7 if any of you missed it.

we had a rough start in the first half. had to get the feel of that tough raven defense. but we figured it out in the second half. almost had our first shut out in 8 years but they managed to score at the end. Offensively i thought we played great as always. the D didnt do to bad they played a good game. gave up a lot of yard though. but ravens dont really have a high power offenese. so we really need other games to test our young D. Ravens had thier chances to score but 3 missed FGs ended that

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Corey Simon a Colt!

2005-09-03T00:13:45Z

Wow, finally a timely free agent acquisition on D. So who does he displace, anyone know?

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

preseason flop

2005-09-03T00:12:12Z

so what do yall think about the 4 losses? a sign of something to come? or nothing to worry about it? i dont worry to much about it myself. it is preseason after all.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Rob Morris re-signed

2005-06-24T18:39:46Z

While he has never been the ideal fit for Dungy-ball, the Colts finally did the right think and signed free agent Rob Morris to resume his duties.

I am not sure why that took so long, but I am guessing the only reason he didnt sign elsewhere is they must have had a tacit agreement to get him signed and so he waited to stay witht the next Superbowl winners!

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Pollard gone?

2005-06-24T18:33:38Z

I read not long ago that Polalrd was released. The Colts are hopeful, probably unrealistically, that they can resign him for less without another team swooping in to give him what he was already making.

Its been awhile since I heard that, so he may have already signed elsewhere...anyone heard?

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 2 replies

Welcome & Introductions

2005-04-19T19:51:23Z

Welcome! This thread will be where people can introduce themselves as they join the tribe if they wish. I'll get things started. I am Michael David Woodall and go by my middle name mostly. 38, living in Terre Haute, IN and married with three kids. Been a Colts fan since they moved to Indy and endured many a losing season with them before things started getting exciting.

I was surprised to find there was not an Indianapolis Colts tribe here already. So I set one up. At this time it is very new and pretty bare...please be patient as we build up membership and postings.

Feel free to start new threads or add to existing ones. I have started a thread for posting Links to already. I will also be starting a thread for individual game discussions.

Maybe one of these days we can actually get a Colt or Colts on here for some Q & A! But we have to build things up first. Invite your friends who are Colts fans to join! And
thanks for joining!

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 2 replies

Question of the Day?

2004-11-08T21:03:34Z

Can we pull it off tonight? With the last two weeks bringing us down it could be tough, but with the vikings loss last week at home, hopefully they are still little shaken up...any thoughts?

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

I guess somebody has to do it...

2004-10-23T18:02:18Z

WOOHOO GO COLTS!!!!

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Troy Walters breaks his arm

2004-08-22T15:46:44Z

I only watched yesterdays preseason game until they pulled Manning, but I did get to see Walters land on his elbow and break his arm. Dang, he was pretty good when he made it into 3 and 4 WR sets. Sure hope Stokely gets feeling good again soon.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Training Camp

2004-08-05T04:35:21Z

Is anyone going out to observe the scrimmage Saturday morning in Terre Haute? I'm trying to decide if I feel like making the drive.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

pre-season

2004-06-10T16:23:17Z

I don't how many of y'all live in ca but i have tickets to the chargers colts game here in san diego and will most likely have an extra if anyone is interested

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Unrelated Links (non-colts)

2004-04-29T15:24:19Z

As a courtesy to the tribes where I have made listings seeking members, I will be posting links to their tribes here. Feel free to check them out. Most are football related, though not specific to the Colts. I belong to all of them and have found they each have their respective merits:

NFL Football http://nflfootball.tribe.net
NFL Draft http://nfldraft.tribe.net
Football picks http://footballpicks.tribe.net
fantasy football http://fantasyfootball.tribe.net
Indiana/Illinois/Kentucky http://indiana_illinois_kentucky.tribe.net

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Colts Draft Weekend

2004-04-26T09:44:57Z

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDraft/Draft+Day/2004/reynolds8.htm

ProFootballWeekly says:

Colts stack picks, climb down ladder for undersized safety

By Jeff Reynolds
April 24, 2004

Let’s just say you can do far worse than having Colts GM Bill Polian manning the draft board.

Consistently, Polian has scored with his top picks. Since 1996, the Colts’ first-round picks have been WR Marvin Harrison (19th overall in ’96), OLT Tarik Glenn (19th overall in ’97), QB Peyton Manning (1st overall in ’98), RB Edgerrin James (4th overall in ’99), MLB Rob Morris (28th overall in 2000), WR Reggie Wayne (30th overall in ’01)DE Dwight Freeney (11th overall in ’02) and TE Dallas Clark (24th overall in ’03) — all started for the Colts last season and will start in 2004.

Clearly Polian’s strategy has been to build around his superstars. While Polian could have used the Colts’ original pick, he chose to trade out of the first round; it was the first time the Colts, who dealt the 29th overall selection to Atlanta for the Falcons’ second-round pick (No. 38 overall) and third-rounder (No. 69), moved out of the first round since 1991. Coincidentally, the Colts’ dealt their ’91 first-round pick to Atlanta.

It would have made sense for the Colts to draft RB Kevin Jones with the 29th overall pick; Edgerrin James can hit the market at the end of this season and backup RB Dominic Rhodes is an unrestricted free agent after 2004. But with the proverbial window of opportunity apparently sliding shut on the Colts, Indianapolis may feel pressure to build up the defense and make a run to the Super Bowl now.

At No. 38, Polian chose again to move down and deal with the Steelers, who picked CB Ricardo Colclough — in exchange, the Colts moved down to No. 44 and received the Steelers’ 117th pick.

With their first pick, 44th overall, the Colts selected S Bob Sanders. Sanders is undersized, like SS Mike Doss, but he has blazing speed and is a lights-out hitter. If nothing else, Sanders improves the Colts’ special teams and gives defensive coordinator Ron Meeks a candidate for nickel and dime packages. Sanders ran a time of 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine and registered an impressive 41½-inch vertical. Indianapolis also has had concern about the health of Idrees Bashir, and lacked overall depth in the defensive backfield. Sanders was bothered at times in the last year by a foot injury, but he says he is ready to play immediately.

The Colts are certain to address LB and CB needs later in the first day. With little talent at the SLB position, Indianapolis figures to use the 59th overall pick on defense unless a stud offensive player would drop unexpectedly.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 3 replies

Manning gets record-breaking deal; Colts get cap room

2004-03-04T23:32:48Z

Peyton Manning got a record new contract Tuesday, solving a major salary cap problem for the Indianapolis Colts on a day most NFL teams also cleared cap room for free agency. Except, as usual, the Washington Redskins.

The Colts, much to their relief, beat the deadline by signing last year's co-MVP to a seven-year, $98 million deal with a $34.5 million signing bonus, largest ever in the NFL. The deal was so complicated it took a while for the team and Manning's agent, Tom Condon, to figure out the exact size of the package.

But they did agree it saves the Colts $10.1 million in cap space, allowing them to re-sign current players and pursue free agents.

That's because Manning's cap number, including the pro-rated signing bonus, will be $8.3 million next season instead of the $18.4 million it would have been had he remained the team's franchise player.

Colts owner Jim Irsay was ecstatic at what it does for his team, which lost to Super Bowl winner New England in last season's AFC title game.

"There was a lot of pressure because we're getting close to (making) the Super Bowl," Irsay said. "If you don't get it done, we're going in a dramatically different direction."

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 2 replies

Manning to Move?

2004-02-29T16:03:28Z

Here is a link to an interesting article:

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~112~1840597,00.html

What's everyone think?

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply

Individual Game Discussions

2004-01-11T21:11:58Z

This thread will be for discussing individaul games, both in advance and afterward.

If you start a discussion in here about an upcoming or previous game, please retype your subject line to reflect the new topic within the thread.

If you join a discussion and there are more than one games being discussed, please click the reply button from the discussion you are joining...or at least change your subject line to accurately reflect the game being discussed.

Examples to follow...

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 5 replies

Manning and McNair Co-MVPs

2004-01-05T16:44:08Z

I was glad to hear Manning was honored, but dissapointed he had to share it. We beat the Titans twice already this year, and will hopefully get to do it a third time! McNair is a warrior, but even he was unable to stay in the game the way Manning has! Anyway...I like McNair, but felt it should have been Manning's alone. How about you all?

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 0 replies

Links to Colts related sites:

2004-01-05T15:40:44Z

http://www.colts.com/default_main.htm

This is the Colts homepage.

posted in Indianapolis Colts - 1 reply