The Indianapolis Colts hired Chris Ballard to replace the recently departed Ryan Grigson as the General Manager of the franchise. Ballard previously served as the Kansas City Chief’s director of player personnel since 2013 and has been credited with helping to build a playoff-worthy roster for the team. Ballard has no previous experience as a general manager but had been considered a “rising star” among NFL executives around the league. Jim Irsay had help choosing the new exec including help from Bill Polian. Ballard’s name had been tossed around as a possible GM candidate the last two years with the Jets, the Titans, the 49ers, and the Saints showing interest in him. Ballard played college football at the University of Wisconsin and served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville for seven years. He was with the Bears organization for 12 years before joining Kansas City as a director of scouting operations for southern schools. He uncovered cornerback Charles Tillman and runningback Matt Forte among others for the Bears. He worked closely with coach Andy Reid to build the Chiefs current AFC-West championship roster.
Ballard’s first press conference went well as he talked about building a winning culture and a strong team locker room that can be a serious challenger for a championship. He admitted that having Andrew Luck to build a team around was certainly “enticing” but it’s more than just one individual player, it’s the whole team. He made it clear that Chuck Pagano will be the head coach for the 2017 season.
Chris Ballard will be evaluating players from the Horseshoe roster who have become free agents in 2017, to see who is worth resigning. He will be looking at the free agents from other teams, but don’t look for any expensive big name signings. Of course, the draft is coming up in three months so Ballard will be weighing the talents of the available college players to see how they might fit in as a Colt. The usual suspects will be looked at. Offensive lineman, particularly right tackles, edge pass rushers and run stopping defenders, a young player making running back. The same type of players they always seem to be looking for.
Best of luck to Chris Ballard in his efforts to build a winning team for Colts fans.
Jeff Gordon Wins Rolex 24 Hour Endurance Race
NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon was part of a driving team that won the Rolex 24 Hour Sports Car Endurance Race at the Sebring, Florida race track. The 45-year-old retired Sprint Cup driver is very familiar with the Sebring track but this was only his second foray into the world of international sports car endurance racing. Driving for Wayne Taylor Racing, Gordon was one of four drivers who took turns piloting a Cadillac DPI to victory in the famed race. His driving mates were the Taylor brothers Ricky and Jordan, along with veteran Taylor Racing driver Max Angeletti. This was Wayne Taylor Racing’s first Rolex win since 2005.
The team had to rely on a slick inside move by Ricky Taylor with seven minutes to go to get the win. The move sent the lead car spinning and Taylor squeezed by for the victory.
Gordon, who drove for the Wayne Taylor team in the Rolex race in 2007, admitted that the Taylor brothers did most of the hard driving but to get the Rolex win was awesome! Cadillac has been working on a racing program to boost showroom sales and it has been successful so far.
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