After a 2-14 season last year, the Indianapolis Colts got into the playoffs this year. And with all the drama with the illness of their coach, even losing in the playoffs was seen to be a victory. I certainly have to agree with that.
I didn’t think Peyton Manning’s exit was handled especially well. All things considered, it worked out about as well as it could have worked out. Andrew Luck proved to be one of the best “rookies” in the National Football League and he gave the Indianapolis Colts’ fan base something to really cheer about. Luck proved to be not just a top draft pick, but a really intelligent, really capable, really good quarterback.
So, losing in the playoffs for some other team may have been disastrous, but it appears it just gives the Indianapolis Colts an opportunity to build. It certainly would seem the coaching staff of the Colts stepped into the former coaching staff’s shoes with knowledge, expertise, and the ability to handle rookie players.
The leukemia, while it could have been tragic for their coach and his family, turned out to be something the fans could rally around, and they did. The rookie quarterback drew upon his personal experiences of growing up with a father who played professional football, and young Andrew Luck appeared to be a person who absorbed these things and would draw upon them later.
So, Indianapolis, I and the entire state, can look back fondly upon the season of 2012. And even though they lost in 2013, there are a lot of things for Colts’ fans to smile about. It looks like happy days are here again for this only professional football franchise in the state of Indiana. They lost in their first playoff game, but the horseshoe heads can hold their horseshoes high and whisper a well-known phrase familiar to all sports fans, “Wait until next year!”
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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RONN MOTT: Football
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The news reports about sexual assault of women in uniform have got to be sickening to those parents who have said goodbye and wished their daughters well in the military.
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God bless Bruce Borror.
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RONN MOTT: Ernie Pyle
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RONN MOTT: Pyle museum in Dana good way to study WWII
I stepped back in time last week when I visited the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana.
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RONN MOTT: Frustration
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Mark Bennett: High-profile mural connects historical dots from city to river
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RONN MOTT: Mushrooms = Hoosier happiness
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RONN MOTT: Israel’s Air Force
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