Diamonds in the rough: Finding players like Foster, Bullitt key for Colts

By Tom James

INDIANAPOLIS — As successful as the Indianapolis Colts franchise has been in recent years, the franchise’s winning ways has every bit to do with the players the Colts didn’t draft each April as it does with the players that weren’t selected.

For every Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai, Tony Ugoh, Anthony Gonzalez, Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney, Marlin Jackson or Kelvin Hayden that Indianapolis took in either the first or second rounds of the National Football League draft — not to mention mid-and-lower round picks such as Robert Mathis, Antoine Bethea, Ryan Diem, Charlie Johnson, and Keyunta Dawson — there are players such as Jeff Saturday, Dominic Rhodes, Gary Brackett, Melvin Bullitt and Eric Foster who had to sit and play the waiting game each spring.

Saturday, who has become a three-time Pro Bowl selection at center for the Colts, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens in April 1998 and was ultimately released three months later. In January 1999, the former three-year starter at North Carolina inked a free agent deal with Indianapolis.

Rhodes, meanwhile, came to Indianapolis as an unknown running back from Midwestern (Texas) State University in April 2001. In the intervening years, the Waco, Texas native has become a valuable member of the Colts’ running back rotation, first with former Indianapolis running back Edgerrin James and now with Addai. He set an NFL record in his first year with the team, running for 1,104 yards en route to becoming the first undrafted rookie in league history to break the 1,000 yard mark.

The addition of Brackett in 2003, Bullitt last year and Foster this season have helped to energize a defensive unit that continues to search for an identity. All three have spent time as starters and all three have made key plays since coming to the Colts, such as Brackett’s 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Houston last month or Foster’s two goal-line tackles of Pittsburgh running back Mewelde Moore in the team’s 24-20 win over the Steelers a week ago.

Bullitt, who has a team-leading three interceptions in 2008, came up with the game-saving play at the end of last Sunday’s win over Pittsburgh, making a somewhat miraculous behind the back grab of Ben Roethlisberger’s Hail Mary heave into the end zone.

“Those guys [Foster and Bullitt] were good college players. They did things in their college system very similar to what we do. We saw them playing in a style that is similar to ours, so we felt that they could come in and help us,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said late last week.

“I guess that you’re always a little surprised when guys end up starting and playing all the time. But we’ve had that with a lot of guys. Gary [Brackett] and Dominic [Rhodes] and Jeff Saturday. We’ve had a lot of guys [make the team as undrafted free agents], so I can’t say that I’ve ever been surprised.”

Dungy says a large amount of the credit for Indianapolis’ success with undrafted free agents goes back to work done by the team’s college scouting department and team president Bill Polian.

“I think that speaks to a couple of things, number one out personnel people and their ability to find players. You always have a lot of players that you’d like to draft and you only have seven picks, so you can’t draft everyone. We have good a good job of identifying guys who fit what we do,” Dungy explained.

“Then our coaches have done a good job of coaching them and not saying, ‘If this guy’s not a draft choice, he can’t help us.’ It starts in April when they get here and they work with those guys. Putting good players together with good coaches and you get some productivity. We’ve been able to do that and find some guys that really help us.”

Some players, like Foster, figure that if they aren’t drafted, then they have more of a choice of where they’re going to eventually end up. Although he admits that sitting and watching television during the two days of the draft, waiting for a phone call from an NFL team, it isn’t the most entertaining way to spend a weekend.

“It’s tough on you. You’re sitting there and hoping that your name comes up [on television]. You come off a college season where you believe that you’re one of the better players at your position in the country. And then all the names come up [on television] and you don’t hear yours,” he recalled.

“But then you finally realize that you aren’t going to be drafted. Teams start to call you and ask about signing with them as a free agent. I knew, though, that if I wasn’t going to be drafted, I wanted to play for the Colts. They were the top team on my list. They like undersized defensive linemen and they give guys like me a chance. This is where I wanted to be. And things have worked out for me here this year.”