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IMO this team is in much worse shape than what is being spun by management or believed by fans.....


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6 hours ago, Two_pound said:

For you people who keep bashing Ballard on his drafting and free agent moves(or lack there of) I went and did some research. I compared the Ballard drafts since 2017 to the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2017(I'll admit I chose the steelers because I know how ridiculous their drafting has been). Some one said "Ballard doesn't draft "elite difference makers". Well look at the steelers, since 2017 they have drafted ONE difference maker on either side of the ball(TJ Watt in 2017)- he is the only steeler to be named 1st team all pro since 2017. Ballard has had 3 guys to be named 1st team all pro(Taylor once and Nelson and Leonard 3 times each. Advantage Ballard. Since 2017 the steelers have had 60 draft picks, sixteen of them are completely out of the league now. In the same time frame Ballard has had 74 draft picks and 16 are out of the league now. Advantage Ballard. Not only that the Colts have had MANY more players leave and find success elsewhere(Walker jr., Okerekee, Odem,a nice free agent find by Ballard in 2018, heck Mathew Adams was still playing in Tennessee last season. Advantage Ballard. In reality, the steelers are a revolving door of mediocre, subpar, below average guys which is why they are always up against the cap(because of overspending on free agents) but they always find cap space to bring more high priced free agents this year it was Patrick Queen. 

         This team is in way better shape than the steelers, the steelers still have no qb, no offensive line, and no receivers. All you Ballard bashers on here should know that because we just watched the Colts beat them 3 weeks ago. It would be interesting to ask Art Rooney II how that mess gets into the playoffs so often, I wonder what he would say?

Why are you using the Steelers as a comparison and why use the poor goal of playoff appearances as the standard?  Ever since Ben left, Tomlin has a mediocre record as a coach and is and always been way overrated.  He simply benefits from that tired and lingering tough guy in a tough city image that has followed the Steelers for a long time.  Overall, they have been around 500 as well, benefitting from a traditionally good defense.  Their FO knows how to build a defense.

 

How many 11 or 12 win seasons have they had versus sneaking into the playoffs by a give or take one game over a mediocre Ballard teams?  When in the playoffs, how far did they go?..... just like the Colts did and would have done with Luck, Rivers, or Wentz under Ballard.  

 

I don't see why using the Steelers makes your case.  Decidedly mediocre too.

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Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

So was Franklin and Blackmon who have been game changers at times.

Okereke has been excellent. I was at a Giants game last year. He seemed to be in on every play. Ballard seems to prefer to sign his own draft picks. I wonder why he did not re-sign Bobby O (one of my Stanford Cardinal)?

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1 minute ago, NFLfan said:

Okereke has been excellent. I was at a Giants game last year. He seemed to be in on every play. Ballard seems to prefer to sign his own draft picks. I wonder why he did not re-sign Bobby O (one of my Stanford Cardinal)?

Not sure why he didn't because Okereke played well here too. He is fast.

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8 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

kokomo indiana

 

When I hear Kokomo, I recall a guy from there who used to be very active on this board. He was very vocal against Grigson for passing on Landon Collins and some other guys and drafting Dorsett.

 

Kokomo also reminds me of the Beach Boys. 😊

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6 hours ago, Two_pound said:

Really dude? So you think the steelers actually have drafted better than Ballard these past 7 years? Wow! I was responding to the poster who said Ballard "does not draft "elite difference makers" and you think the steelers have done better? Have you already forgotten the numbers Leonard put up in his first 3 seasons?? His numbers surpassed even guys like Brooks and Lewis, unfortunate injuries shortened his career. I'll repeat myself, I will stick with Ballard, I certainly don't want the people who have been making the decisions in Pittsburgh these past 7 and a half years!

I would be interested to compare win/loss total over the last 7 years.

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9 hours ago, Two_pound said:

For you people who keep bashing Ballard on his drafting and free agent moves(or lack there of) I went and did some research. I compared the Ballard drafts since 2017 to the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2017(I'll admit I chose the steelers because I know how ridiculous their drafting has been). Some one said "Ballard doesn't draft "elite difference makers". Well look at the steelers, since 2017 they have drafted ONE difference maker on either side of the ball(TJ Watt in 2017)- he is the only steeler to be named 1st team all pro since 2017. Ballard has had 3 guys to be named 1st team all pro(Taylor once and Nelson and Leonard 3 times each. Advantage Ballard. Since 2017 the steelers have had 60 draft picks, sixteen of them are completely out of the league now. In the same time frame Ballard has had 74 draft picks and 16 are out of the league now. Advantage Ballard. Not only that the Colts have had MANY more players leave and find success elsewhere(Walker jr., Okerekee, Odem,a nice free agent find by Ballard in 2018, heck Mathew Adams was still playing in Tennessee last season. Advantage Ballard. In reality, the steelers are a revolving door of mediocre, subpar, below average guys which is why they are always up against the cap(because of overspending on free agents) but they always find cap space to bring more high priced free agents this year it was Patrick Queen. 

         This team is in way better shape than the steelers, the steelers still have no qb, no offensive line, and no receivers. All you Ballard bashers on here should know that because we just watched the Colts beat them 3 weeks ago. It would be interesting to ask Art Rooney II how that mess gets into the playoffs so often, I wonder what he would say?

A lot of info and it is interesting. It took me five seconds to look up the only fact that I think matters for a GM: 57-63-1. 

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I used the steelers for comparison because some on here have stated in the past that they think the steelers are a great franchise and team and I think they are a bottom 5 roster(national media seem to think the steelers can contend for the sb this year hahahaha, and I do think they are serious). So Ballard is 57-63-1. He took over a team in 2017 that was devoid of talent and playmakers due to the strategy employed by the previous gm(you know, signing gobs of free agents that never did squat) and very poor drafting(Woerner, Dorsett, trading a first for Trent and I could go on and on and I know most of you on here know that!) And he did not have a qb in 2017, so we won 4 games. Question-was Ballard supposed to make chicken salad out of chicken turds that year? You Ballard bashers must yearn for the days of Grigson, the last 7 years of Polian and were you guys happy when Tobin started dismantling the team after the '95 season which included the firing of Marchibroda? We have made the playoffs 18 of the last 28 years as compared to 1978 to 1994 when we made the playoffs one time('87). And the intelligent fan knows we made the playoffs when Luck was the qb from 2012-2014 on the strength of maybe 4 guys(Luck, Hilton, Fleener, and Costanzo) that is just how good Luck was. Go to you tube and pull up Lucks games his first 3 years and you'll see what I mean. It's shameful what Grigson did to this team, no wonder Pagano wanted rid of him. I will stick with Ballard, I see the quality of this roster.

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4 hours ago, Two_pound said:

I used the steelers for comparison because some on here have stated in the past that they think the steelers are a great franchise and team and I think they are a bottom 5 roster(national media seem to think the steelers can contend for the sb this year hahahaha, and I do think they are serious). So Ballard is 57-63-1. He took over a team in 2017 that was devoid of talent and playmakers due to the strategy employed by the previous gm(you know, signing gobs of free agents that never did squat) and very poor drafting(Woerner, Dorsett, trading a first for Trent and I could go on and on and I know most of you on here know that!) And he did not have a qb in 2017, so we won 4 games. Question-was Ballard supposed to make chicken salad out of chicken turds that year? You Ballard bashers must yearn for the days of Grigson, the last 7 years of Polian and were you guys happy when Tobin started dismantling the team after the '95 season which included the firing of Marchibroda? We have made the playoffs 18 of the last 28 years as compared to 1978 to 1994 when we made the playoffs one time('87). And the intelligent fan knows we made the playoffs when Luck was the qb from 2012-2014 on the strength of maybe 4 guys(Luck, Hilton, Fleener, and Costanzo) that is just how good Luck was. Go to you tube and pull up Lucks games his first 3 years and you'll see what I mean. It's shameful what Grigson did to this team, no wonder Pagano wanted rid of him. I will stick with Ballard, I see the quality of this roster.

Sometimes the grass isn't greener with change.  It's easy to long for the days when it was only New England and Pittsburgh that were thorns in our side but the parody now makes most teams equal. 

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9 hours ago, NFLfan said:

Okereke has been excellent. I was at a Giants game last year. He seemed to be in on every play. Ballard seems to prefer to sign his own draft picks. I wonder why he did not re-sign Bobby O (one of my Stanford Cardinal)?

I suspect it was because he had so much money tied up in Darius Leonard. Only so much to go around. Hindsight would have meant letting The Maniac walk in FA, and keeping Okereke. 

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1 hour ago, Hoose said:

I suspect it was because he had so much money tied up in Darius Leonard. Only so much to go around. Hindsight would have meant letting The Maniac walk in FA, and keeping Okereke. 

 

I forgot all about Darius Leonard. I thought it was because Okereke had had some alleged off-the-field issues. I forgot what they were.

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15 hours ago, Yoshinator said:

Yeah, by myself, I don't know anything close to Ballard. If I know everything Ballard knows and have his resources, I think I could build a better team with that info and use his info to draft players at different positions strategy-wise that they like throughout the draft, in FA, and in trades. Ballard isn't doing this all by himself. He has tons of help.

 

Ballard's job is much more than just the draft & FA though. This isn't Madden.

As others have said, you can't run a big organization without a solid understanding of every aspect of that organization. Even if you had Ballard's full staff, detailed dossiers full of info, & assistants galore, you wouldn't have his knowledge & experience, and you certainly wouldn't have the relationships & trust he's built up over the years. 

This tangent started with Moose saying that if he was "handed the reigns " he could do as good or better than Ballard with a dartboard. Now it seems to have morphed into some kind of Madden GM thought experiment. Either way, I think people are overestimating their ability to step into a very complex & difficult job & perform at even an average level. I disagree.

Have any of the 'I could do better than Ballard' folks ever personally run a large organization of any type? How about part of a billion dollar franchise with lots of alpha-types for employees & tons of scrutiny & media attention to your every move? It's a tough job. 

 

I like Ballard OK, but realize he hasn't performed well. I think he has this year & next, but would understand if he was fired before then for poor performance. That doesn't mean I could do his job any better though, nor could most people IMO.

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1 hour ago, NFLfan said:

 

I forgot all about Darius Leonard. I thought it was because Okereke had had some alleged off-the-field issues. I forgot what they were.

 

Yeah they already had a ton of money tied up in 1 off-ball LB, and justifiably so, b/c The Maniac was making plays all over the place. Several posters here would have flipped out if we gave another a big contract to another off-ball LB, even if Pat McAfee did call him a "future hall of famer."

 

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All you have to do is go to any other team's forums like this one & you will find these exact same threads about their teams. People are the same wherever you go 🙂 

 

Of course 99.9999% of the population would absolutely CRUMBLE under the pressure of managing a multibillion dollar sports franchise (also precisely 98.9999% of statistics are made up on the spot)

 

I think Ballard has done fine. With a little more good fortune we could just as easily be calling him a hall of famer as he clanks glasses of 800 year old scotch with Irsay

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Ok, I went and looked at the drafting record of the Ballard bashers poster boy of gm's John Lynch in San Francisco. He has drafted 5 guys who have made all pro-Bosa(1), Samuel(1), Kittle(2), Warner(3), Hufanga(1). Interesting though, Kittle and Hufanga were 5th round picks so I can't say you ever really expect 5th rounders to excellent like that, usually you hope they can contribute for 2 or 3 years. It also means the other 31 gms(and Lynch himself) passed on them multiple times. The most amazing thing about Lynch is he has had 66 picks thus far and only 7 of them are out of the league going into this season. But he also has whiffed badly on 2 first round choices(Lance and Kinlaw). It just amazes me how some owners(in this case the great Debartalo family) can seemingly win consistently even with late round qb's or free agents at qb. Other owners like let's say the Irsays' only have success with qb's taken first or second overall and get nowhere with any other qb. So has Lynch had more success than Ballard, probably, but what if they were switched back in 2017. Would Ballard be the king of gm's while working for the Debartalo family and Lynch would be here taking abuse from the "Lynch Bashers" for sucking at his job while working for the Irsays? We will never know.

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Today's first half is a fine example of why I made this thread earlier this week.

 

This team is just not that talented-which is on Ballard, and to top it off IMO they are not that well coached.  SS reminds me so much of Reich in his play calling that they could be the same person.  Zero ingenuity and inventiveness.  Just very blah.

 

To top it off if AR turns out to be nothing, and let's face it that is looking more and more like a possibility.....what does this team really have?  I don't see many stars.....if any really.  There are a few good players and some average players who get paid like they are very good to star players. 

 

If you are a good team, you simply do not get beat by a Chicago or a Jacksonville and fall behind 10-0 at home to a bad Dolphins team playing their back up QB.  The Colts may even come back and win this game as the Dolphins are not good, but does it really matter?  Does this team look like an up and coming exciting team that looks like they can contend for a SB in the next year or 2?

 

IMO this team would be better off cleaning house, tearing it down, and starting over rather than this constant spinning of wheels that we have seen for 8 years now. 

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6 hours ago, ColtAndOrioles said:

Today's first half is a fine example of why I made this thread earlier this week.

 

This team is just not that talented-which is on Ballard, and to top it off IMO they are not that well coached.  SS reminds me so much of Reich in his play calling that they could be the same person.  Zero ingenuity and inventiveness.  Just very blah.

 

To top it off if AR turns out to be nothing, and let's face it that is looking more and more like a possibility.....what does this team really have?  I don't see many stars.....if any really.  There are a few good players and some average players who get paid like they are very good to star players. 

 

If you are a good team, you simply do not get beat by a Chicago or a Jacksonville and fall behind 10-0 at home to a bad Dolphins team playing their back up QB.  The Colts may even come back and win this game as the Dolphins are not good, but does it really matter?  Does this team look like an up and coming exciting team that looks like they can contend for a SB in the next year or 2?

 

IMO this team would be better off cleaning house, tearing it down, and starting over rather than this constant spinning of wheels that we have seen for 8 years now. 

It seems that the Colts motto is, "Strive for Mediocrity!". In that regard, they have been successful.

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On 10/19/2024 at 7:08 AM, Two_pound said:

For you people who keep bashing Ballard on his drafting and free agent moves(or lack there of) I went and did some research. I compared the Ballard drafts since 2017 to the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2017(I'll admit I chose the steelers because I know how ridiculous their drafting has been). Some one said "Ballard doesn't draft "elite difference makers". Well look at the steelers, since 2017 they have drafted ONE difference maker on either side of the ball(TJ Watt in 2017)- he is the only steeler to be named 1st team all pro since 2017. Ballard has had 3 guys to be named 1st team all pro(Taylor once and Nelson and Leonard 3 times each. Advantage Ballard. Since 2017 the steelers have had 60 draft picks, sixteen of them are completely out of the league now. In the same time frame Ballard has had 74 draft picks and 16 are out of the league now. Advantage Ballard. Not only that the Colts have had MANY more players leave and find success elsewhere(Walker jr., Okerekee, Odem,a nice free agent find by Ballard in 2018, heck Mathew Adams was still playing in Tennessee last season. Advantage Ballard. In reality, the steelers are a revolving door of mediocre, subpar, below average guys which is why they are always up against the cap(because of overspending on free agents) but they always find cap space to bring more high priced free agents this year it was Patrick Queen. 

         This team is in way better shape than the steelers, the steelers still have no qb, no offensive line, and no receivers. All you Ballard bashers on here should know that because we just watched the Colts beat them 3 weeks ago. It would be interesting to ask Art Rooney II how that mess gets into the playoffs so often, I wonder what he would say?

 

Your comparing Ballard with a HC who their fanbase wanted Fired the last couple seasons.

Only the Talking Heads have been in Tomlins camp lately.......but as mediocre as he's been without HOF Rothlisberger, his record has been better than ballard's. 

Both the colts & Steelers have been irrelevant this last decade. 

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I compared Ballard's drafting to the steelers because I know it is so much better as I stated in the original post. The point is, how do the steelers keep winning and backing into the playoffs 2 of the last 3 seasons. And yes, I live in western Pa. a few miles from Pittsburgh I hear all the anti-Tomlin talk(kind of similar to all the Ballard bashing on here) but the steelers still make the playoffs, how? This Colt team is loaded compared to the steelers and right now the steelers are 5-2, that's borderline laughable.

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23 minutes ago, Two_pound said:

I compared Ballard's drafting to the steelers because I know it is so much better as I stated in the original post. The point is, how do the steelers keep winning and backing into the playoffs 2 of the last 3 seasons. And yes, I live in western Pa. a few miles from Pittsburgh I hear all the anti-Tomlin talk(kind of similar to all the Ballard bashing on here) but the steelers still make the playoffs, how? This Colt team is loaded compared to the steelers and right now the steelers are 5-2, that's borderline laughable.

Good coaching, stable ownership, elite defense, powerful run game. That’s why they’re 5-2. That’s why they can just plug Wilson or Fields in there and it works… 

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Seems like such a simple formula, and yet we have never been able to attain that these past 50 years or so. The few years we had good defense in the late 80's and mid 90's we couldn't score. When we had Jones, Manning, and Luck at qb we couldn't play defense and all total that was 30 years with those 3 guys.

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16 hours ago, ColtAndOrioles said:

Today's first half is a fine example of why I made this thread earlier this week.

 

This team is just not that talented-which is on Ballard, and to top it off IMO they are not that well coached.  SS reminds me so much of Reich in his play calling that they could be the same person.  Zero ingenuity and inventiveness.  Just very blah.

 

To top it off if AR turns out to be nothing, and let's face it that is looking more and more like a possibility.....what does this team really have?  I don't see many stars.....if any really.  There are a few good players and some average players who get paid like they are very good to star players. 

 

If you are a good team, you simply do not get beat by a Chicago or a Jacksonville and fall behind 10-0 at home to a bad Dolphins team playing their back up QB.  The Colts may even come back and win this game as the Dolphins are not good, but does it really matter?  Does this team look like an up and coming exciting team that looks like they can contend for a SB in the next year or 2?

 

IMO this team would be better off cleaning house, tearing it down, and starting over rather than this constant spinning of wheels that we have seen for 8 years now. 

So you grade a team on one half of a game....HMM

 

Thanks but that doesn't cut it. 

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16 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

And that’s why we’re 4-3 and we beat the Steelers.  AR and Flacco they both can get it done.  

Our defense is not elite by any means, but yeah we at least have some stability at the moment. 

 

More than we can say compared to the Jets, Browns and Panthers.

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7 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

Your comparing Ballard with a HC who their fanbase wanted Fired the last couple seasons.

Only the Talking Heads have been in Tomlins camp lately.......but as mediocre as he's been without HOF Rothlisberger, his record has been better than ballard's. 

Both the colts & Steelers have been irrelevant this last decade. 

Tomlinson has not has a losing record in any season with the Steelers. That in itself is pretty impressive. 

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On 10/17/2024 at 7:40 AM, Stephen said:

I believe  your opinion  is wrong. 

IMO, I think we are in good shape right now. We have had so many injuries and still right in the running in the AFC South. Everyone don't give up on these guys. Yes , they may stink at times. But they pull thru as unit at the end.

I'm hoping we are one of them teams that start out slow and banging towards the end of the season. Colts baby!!!

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Looking forward to see a truthful post "  I think the Colts players suck, the front office sucks, the coaches suck!" Enough of the post titles that devolve into real Colt hate, it's tiring and disingenuous. It would at least give the forum members a chance, that actually support the team, we support, to skip over the armchair GM's of the board Madden drivel ( OH, we should have drafted TJ Watt crowd)  in a place to support the reason being on the Colts board. I saw Jonny U hit Raymond Chester on a 4th and 1, 5 yard slant against the Boston Patriots, at Harvard Stadium down 4 in the last minute of the game from the 30-40 yd. line to win the game, and shook hands with Bubba Smith as the players had to walk through the field stands after the game. Have always been a Colts fan, and respect the team and franchise, still do. I wish some respect and hope could be shown, there will always be ups and downs with any team, if you are true, stay true, or find one of the other 31 to complain about.

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23 minutes ago, Lifetime Colt said:

Looking forward to see a truthful post "  I think the Colts players suck, the front office sucks, the coaches suck!" Enough of the post titles that devolve into real Colt hate, it's tiring and disingenuous. It would at least give the forum members a chance, that actually support the team, we support, to skip over the armchair GM's of the board Madden drivel ( OH, we should have drafted TJ Watt crowd)  in a place to support the reason being on the Colts board. I saw Jonny U hit Raymond Chester on a 4th and 1, 5 yard slant against the Boston Patriots, at Harvard Stadium down 4 in the last minute of the game from the 30-40 yd. line to win the game, and shook hands with Bubba Smith as the players had to walk through the field stands after the game. Have always been a Colts fan, and respect the team and franchise, still do. I wish some respect and hope could be shown, there will always be ups and downs with any team, if you are true, stay true, or find one of the other 31 to complain about.

Good for you.  I also was face to face with Bubba Smith.  The Colts crushed the Bills at old War Memorial Stadium and my wife and I went down on the field as the players walked to the locker room.  I’ll never forget it.  What a mountain of a man.

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14 hours ago, richard pallo said:

Good for you.  I also was face to face with Bubba Smith.  The Colts crushed the Bills at old War Memorial Stadium and my wife and I went down on the field as the players walked to the locker room.  I’ll never forget it.  What a mountain of a man.

On the other hand, I was there when the fans wore brown paper bags on their heads, and Duke Tumatoe sang "Lord Help Our Colts". There have been good times, and there have been bad times. Winning football is a complex combination of attitude, skill and luck. The Colts seem to have forgotten the combination. IMO, the team underperforms its capabilities, and that drives me nuts. Will they ever put it all together like they should? I'm not confident.

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15 hours ago, Lifetime Colt said:

Looking forward to see a truthful post "  I think the Colts players suck, the front office sucks, the coaches suck!" Enough of the post titles that devolve into real Colt hate, it's tiring and disingenuous. It would at least give the forum members a chance, that actually support the team, we support, to skip over the armchair GM's of the board Madden drivel ( OH, we should have drafted TJ Watt crowd)  in a place to support the reason being on the Colts board. I saw Jonny U hit Raymond Chester on a 4th and 1, 5 yard slant against the Boston Patriots, at Harvard Stadium down 4 in the last minute of the game from the 30-40 yd. line to win the game, and shook hands with Bubba Smith as the players had to walk through the field stands after the game. Have always been a Colts fan, and respect the team and franchise, still do. I wish some respect and hope could be shown, there will always be ups and downs with any team, if you are true, stay true, or find one of the other 31 to complain about.

What a great story Lifetime Colt! I’m wondering if it could have been Raymond Berry that Johnny U. hit with that pass, as I don’t believe Chester and Unitas had the opportunity to play together. Either way, love your post!

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1 hour ago, CoachLite said:

On the other hand, I was there when the fans wore brown paper bags on their heads, and Duke Tumatoe sang "Lord Help Our Colts". There have been good times, and there have been bad times. Winning football is a complex combination of attitude, skill and luck. The Colts seem to have forgotten the combination. IMO, the team underperforms its capabilities, and that drives me nuts. Will they ever put it all together like they should? I'm not confident.

We were in Buffalo’s old War Memorial stadium.

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