Last year at this time, Colt fans were recovering from the shock of a 2-12 season and being the “worst” team in the NFL. The Colts organization was a house of cards and with the loss of Peyton Manning for the whole season to a serious neck injury, that house fell apart. All of the Blue crew seemed to be wandering around in a daze and only the fact that the Horseshoe had the first pick in the upcoming April college draft had given fans any cause for hope, no matter how small! Indeed, “Suck for Luck” was the slogan of the disastrous season.
There was also a concern that Peyton would not be able to play again, or if he did, he wouldn’t be effective in a rebuilding program. Stanford’s Andrew Luck was the prize in the NFL draft but there were many fans who felt that drafting him would be a betrayal of our 14 year relationship with number 18. Also, a major house cleaning was happening in both the Colts front office and the coaching staff. If you felt that this was not your father’s Colts team, you would be absolutely right. The hiring of former Eagle director of Player Personnel Ryan Grigson as the Big Blue General Manager was the first step. Grigson pretty much unloaded the coaching staff and the player roster. Fans gasped as players such as Dallas Clark, Jacob Tamme, Jacob Lacey, Pierre Garcon, and Jeff Saturday were shown the door. But the greatest shock was when Peyton was given his walking papers. Jimmy Irsay and the Colts organization were damned by both the media and fans alike.
The hiring of Raven Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano was considered a step in the right direction, however. While never having been a head coach before, he was considered one of the brightest defensive minds in the game.
The draft came and Andrew Luck was the first pick of the Colts. Grigson conducted a mostly offensive-minded draft with Colby Fleener, Dwaye Allen, T. Y. Hylton following him in selection. Another quarterback, Chandler Harnish was selected with the Colts last pick. The team dipped heavily into the pro and college free agent market, a totally new team was assembled with only Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, and Antoine Bethea familiar names on the Colt roster. Bruce Arians was hired as Offensive Coordinator. He had been with the Colts before, having helped develop a young Peyton Manning.
Training camp and preseason came. Andrew Luck looked to be the real thing. Several of the rookies and some free agents appeared to be at least jelling into a representative pro team. Coach Pagano proved to be a popular hire. A genuinely straight-up guy with a strong sense of community — he quickly became a favorite of Colts fans. The players responded to his leadership. As the season began, most of the media ranked the Colts as the worst team. I felt that if the Colts were able to win six games, that would be a big something.
The regular season stared in Chicago with a 1-21 thumping by the Bears. The next week, however, the Colts beat the Vikings 23-20. A loss to the Jaguars followed. The Colts had a bye in the fourth week. It was during this bye week that an incredible thing occurred. During the course of the week the Colts conducted a special press conference in which it was revealed that Coach Pagano had leukemia and would have to undergo treatment. Bruce Arians would be the interim head coach. That seemed to spell disaster for the team. With all the other challenges they faced, how could they survive the tragic loss of their head coach? They would be fortunate to win another game. Little did we know!
That fourth game against the Packers began the legend. The Blue beat the Pack 30-27 with Luck leading the team to a 4th quarter come-from-behind win. Something he would do six more times. The team certainly had its downs. Bad losses to New England and the New York Jets showed the team’s inexperience. But overall the team responded to the tragedies and challenges in a heroic fashion. Andrew Luck is the player and team leader everyone hoped he would be. He was helped by new players such Hyton, Ballard, and Allen. Reggie Wayne emerged as the leading and Hall of Fame player we knew he would be. Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney led the defense, helping them to play above themselves and stick together as a team on the field. The defense improved every week. Coach Arians did an incredible job of keeping the team together.
The Colts played beyond the wildest dreams of everyone and finished the season with an 11-5 record and a Wild Card bet in the playoffs. The remarkable season ended with a 24-9 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore. But honor to the whole Colts organization for their incredible run this year. Jimmy Irsay’s judgement proved to be sound.
There are new challenges ahead in 2013. Coach Arians will probably leave to take a head coaching job somewhere else. Dwight Freeney will most likely depart. The offensive line and defensive front seven have needs that need to be addressed, but there are always challenges. This team, this organization, has shown that they can meet and overcome these challenges. The future is so bright, we’ll have to wear shades.
snicewanger@yahoo.com