By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS —
There were some major surprises when the Indianapolis Colts got around to announcing their final roster cuts Saturday evening.
Gone were some local favorites, such as former Indiana University cornerback/kick returner Ray Fisher, as well a couple of players who were considered to have pretty good chances of making the team’s 53-man regular-season roster.
Fisher’s release came to light Friday night, along with former Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Adam Terry and defensive tackle Marlon Favorite. Other names began to emerge Saturday afternoon, such as quarterback Tom Brandstater, rookie safety Mike Newton, undrafted rookie wide receiver/punt returner Brandon James and tight end Colin Cloherty.
The complete list of players released by the Colts included defensive end Ervin Baldwin, Brandstater, defensive end John Chick, Cloherty, Favorite, Fisher, wide receiver Sam Giguere, cornerback Danny Gorrer, safety Ashton Hall, Brandon James, running back Javarris James, cornerback Terrail Lambert, offensive tackle Chris Marinelli, center Adrian Martinez, Newton, running back Allen Patrick, safety Glenn Sharpe, safety Terrell Skinner, wide receiver Taj Smith, Terry, linebacker Vuna Tuihalamaka, wide receiver Blair White, and offensive tackle James Williams
Cloherty was waived with an injury settlement while Sharpe, Smith, and Williams were all waived/injured. Chick’s release comes as somewhat of a surprise since team president Bill Polian sang his praises during training camp.
Some of the players released on Saturday could be back in a few days after Indianapolis puts together its eight-man practice squad. The practice squad could be announced sometime today or Monday.
Indianapolis had made some news earlier in the day, trading an undisclosed future draft choice to the Washington Redskins for cornerback Justin Tryon.
Tryon (5-9, 185) originally was a 2008 fourth-round draft choice of Washington out of Arizona State. He played in 29 career games with Washington with one start, registering 27 tackles, 22 solo, one sack, one interception and three passes defensed in 15 games in 2009. He appeared in 14 games and had four tackles in 2008.
In other NFL roster cuts with ties to the Colts, defensive end Raheem Brock was released by the Titans and placekicker Dave Rayner was waived by Bengals. Also, fullback Luke Lawton (Oakland), wide receiver Brandon Stokley (Denver), defensive tackle Darrell Reid (Denver), and defensive tackle/fullback Dan Klecko (Atlanta) were all released by their respective teams.
Outside linebacker David Thornton (hip, shoulder) will begin the season on Tennessee’s physically unable to perform list. Former Indiana State tight end Jamie Petrowski, who played for the Colts the last two seasons, was hurt (head) in the Carolina Panthers’ final preseason game Thursday night. He was released on Saturday. Also, ex-IU wide receiver James Hardy was released by the Bills.
