Ballard Presser

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

None of us like mediocrity. It is preferable to being the perennial Jets/Browns/etc., however. Those franchises are without hope year after year because they are poorly run. They are constantly turning over front office people and coaches. The Titans seem to be following in their footsteps under their new owner. She is as reactive as Robert Irsay was. Usually, continuity in the front office pays off long term. I know you will say Ballard has had a long term, and I agree. Where we disagree is whether or not Ballard can get us over the hum into perennial contender status. Outside of local fans, most people think he can do it, but just needs to figure out the QB situation. This is where I fall, too, as I see teams with a Brady, Manning, Brees, Rodgers, BigBen, etc. were always in contention because if the QB. History has shown us that this is the best way to sustain success, but it also shows that a team that is solid in most other areas can carry a Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer to the SB victory. That is why I understand what Ballard said when he said he wanted a team that is not totally dependent on a superstar QB to save the day every week, because that works for maybe 80% of the games, until you run into another superstar QB with a better overall roster (think Cheats rosters versus those Manning had), or until the superstar is out (see the years Brady, Manning, and now Mahomes were out; the teams could not get there without them.)

We can disagree all year long, and if we get over the hump, those on this side will crow about how our patience was rewarded, while the other side will continually complain until we win it. To me, it is sad to see SB or bust as the only mark of success, given that only one team gets that every year. If that is your mentality, I would have to assume you are also employed by one of the Fortune 500 companies, possibly as CEO. Otherwise, holding others to a standard that you do not hold yourself to in your personal life is hypocrisy.

Bottom line: Ballard and Steichen are coming back next year whether it is a popular move or not, and we do not get to make that decision. I get it that people use this forum to vent their frustrations, but some of us get tired of the continual beating of the proverbial dead horse, especially a horse like me.

Good points! After all how many Super Bowls have Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson been to?

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

or until the superstar is out (see the years Brady, Manning, and now Mahomes were out; the teams could not get there without them.)

o


Actually, when Tom Brady went down in 2008, the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassel at quarterback ...... they were a bona-fide playoff team that didn't make the playoffs because the AFC was stacked that season ...... they were one of only 2 teams in history to have a record of 11-5 and not make the playoffs (the 1985 Denver Broncos were the other one.)

We were fucked when Bert Jones went down and missed more than half of the 1978 and 1979 seasons.

We were fucked when Peyton Manning missed the entire 2011 season, and the Colts went 2-14 with Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter, and Dan Orlovsky at QB.

The Chiefs lost to the lowly Titans by a score of 26-9 when Patrick Mahomes went down, and are very likely fucked if Mahomes goes down for most or all of an entire season.

In my rat's ass of an opinion, it was largely excellent teams with solid depth that were assembled and coached by Bill Belichick that kept the Patriots afloat in those days. Tom Brady put them over the top from a team that was a contender to a team that was either a conference champion (9 Super Bowl appearances) or a world champion (6 Super Bowl wins.) Brady was great, one of the greatest QB's of all-time, but I don't think that he was as great as Manning or Mahomes, whose teams completely collapsed without them.

o

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

I applaud your honesty here. You are one of the few detractors that has the ability to be swayed by evidence. Most just have hated Ballard since the first year, or shortly thereafter. They seem to dislike his personality. To me, personality is the least of my worries. Their dislike of him from the onset makes me think they are our version of Dickitch, who thinks Grigson was a great GM because he was lucky to have Andrew Luck at QB to save his ass every year. The team was clearly a corpse when they fired that clown, and Ballard had to fix that corpse. Has it taken longer than I hoped? You are absolutely right that it did. However, I do not see the roster declining every year like it did under Grigson, who I supported early on.

Nope, Grigson was a buffoon, stooge, tool. Just because Ballard sucks (and he does no matter how many settings are applied to the lens), does not mean Grigson was good.

Us "detractors" are looking at empirical evidence and stating that there is nothing to substantiate any objective rationale that he has been 1- "good" or 2- he will be "good" going forward. His tenure has provided nothing, absolutely nothing, to provide any reason to believe so.

As for his personality- yes, I absolutely hate his personality. He presents as a haughty, stubborn, know it all who for all his hubris seems like he's really kind of a coward and cannot handle criticism. He constantly clings to what in the grand scheme of things are small and infrequent pieces of an overall larger puzzle that he seems to really struggle to comprehend. He seems very much a trees vs the forest person, and as a GM, that's not fucking good.

And C&O, as for your statement that CF's hasn't been "good" during the 0-7 stretch. What in the fuck does that mean? Us meanies should have been going to the complex with home baked cookies and warm towels for our beloved Colts, as they week after week fell flat on their face???? What in the fuck are you talking about. The other day you more or less told me I should leave, perhaps you would be better suited to go over to Colts.com where the circle jerk is the play of the day. Sorry, you don't like seeing the criticism, dude, we just experienced the worst collapse in the history of the NFL- there is PLENTY of criticism warranted!

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by ChoppedWood

And C&O, as for your statement that CF's hasn't been "good" during the 0-7 stretch. What in the fuck does that mean ????

o


I said myself included, and I specifically said that we sucked (myself included) because we are arguing over Ballard's wording of the team's goal at the press conference, not because we're arguing over the team's monumental 0-7 collapse to ends the 2025 season, or arguing whether or not Ballard is a good GM, or arguing over whether or not the team will have yet another mediocre season in 2026.

I didn't single out either side of the overall Ballard debate in regard to the ColtFreaks the suckitude, and I didn't insinuate that pessimistic Colts fans should stop complaining about the team's perennial mediocrity, I said that it was specifically in regard to everybody arguing about Ballard's press conference wording/language.

o

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

I applaud your honesty here. You are one of the few detractors that has the ability to be swayed by evidence. Most just have hated Ballard since the first year, or shortly thereafter. They seem to dislike his personality. To me, personality is the least of my worries. Their dislike of him from the onset makes me think they are our version of Dickitch, who thinks Grigson was a great GM because he was lucky to have Andrew Luck at QB to save his ass every year. The team was clearly a corpse when they fired that clown, and Ballard had to fix that corpse. Has it taken longer than I hoped? You are absolutely right that it did. However, I do not see the roster declining every year like it did under Grigson, who I supported early on.

I could be misremembering, but most of us Ballard detractors (at least the sane ones) didn't really sour on him until the shit show that was the 2022 season. Not to say that we didn't criticize some of his moves (pretty sure I wasn't happy w/ all of the trading down and a loft of thee selections of the '19 draft for example), but for the most part we were all pretty happy w/ Ballard at least through the 2020 season.

And yes, Ballard is a MUCH better FM than Grigson. But that's not saying much considering my dog probably would have been a better GM for the Colts than Grigson was.

[Oldcolt]

Life is nuance and it doesn't necessarily come across having discussions like this. I had put the conversationto bed in my mind but then folks like you comment on my being upset that I don't like what our owner/GM have set out as organizational goals. You are upset that this conversation is still going but still feel like you need to engage and keep it alive. I want our goal to be Super Bowl or bust, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy seasons we don't make it. I do in a big way. I just can't imaging Lombardi, Shula or our beloved Jim being satisfied with making it into a playoff game as a goal. This letter our owners wrote and what Ballard said are exactly the same. They didn't say it was a step on the way to the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl win. I believe they said what they mean.

One final stat to think about. There is a 44% chance that we make the playoffs each year (14/32). If there is a 44% chance you will achieve something each year and you try to achieve it for 5 years (our current non playoff streak) there is a 94.5% chance you will succeed. This isn't a difficult goal for a professional football team (44%). It is 3% per year and 14% over 5 years to win the Super Bowl-difficult and a worthy goal in my opinion.

Goal are aspirations. Aim high

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

I could be misremembering, but most of us Ballard detractors (at least the sane ones) didn't really sour on him until the shit show that was the 2022 season. Not to say that we didn't criticize some of his moves (pretty sure I wasn't happy w/ all of the trading down and a loft of thee selections of the '19 draft for example), but for the most part we were all pretty happy w/ Ballard at least through the 2020 season.

And yes, Ballard is a MUCH better FM than Grigson. But that's not saying much considering my dog probably would have been a better GM for the Colts than Grigson was.

I was high on him when first hired. I was also on board with the Nelson selection and the win from the inside out mantra. I was on board as we were building the "Run the Damn Ball" physical domination psyche. Something started to shift though. Reich was a HUGE part of the start of my disenchantment- and I was 100% thrilled when we hired him so this isn't rear view mirror shit.

It didn't take long to see that Frank was just not the right guy, that he was so fucking focused on this cerebral winning, this outthinking the other side bullshit, that the team was floundering. It was the 2021 retention of him despite him clearly being at the root of the team faltering, that's where I couldn't stand him- and I get there's the whole Jim, them tied together thing, etc... Nonetheless, as the GM his job is to see the coach is the problem and to remedy it. Then the debacle with Saturday and what I still consider to be the ultimate act of cowardice of not stepping down when it seemed very clear that Jim was saying "you suck, so I am taking control".

After that, man fuck this guy. Steichen, yep, again, very high on the hire. However, what I see now is basically just a repeat of the same thing. The team is mentally soft, the coach is not a real leader, the focus is on skills and measurements, and schemes, and the team is not really much of a team vs just a collection of guys that play football on Sundays and collect checks.

I can't stand what I perceive to be just a general overall acceptance of mid, from the very top to the very last roster spot, they seem to be pretty ok with just being a middle of the pack org- and that sucks!

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Life is nuance and it doesn't necessarily come across having discussions like this. I had put the conversationto bed in my mind but then folks like you comment on my being upset that I don't like what our owner/GM have set out as organizational goals. You are upset that this conversation is still going but still feel like you need to engage and keep it alive. I want our goal to be Super Bowl or bust, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy seasons we don't make it. I do in a big way. I just can't imaging Lombardi, Shula or our beloved Jim being satisfied with making it into a playoff game as a goal. This letter our owners wrote and what Ballard said are exactly the same. They didn't say it was a step on the way to the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl win. I believe they said what they mean.

One final stat to think about. There is a 44% chance that we make the playoffs each year (14/32). If there is a 44% chance you will achieve something each year and you try to achieve it for 5 years (our current non playoff streak) there is a 94.5% chance you will succeed. This isn't a difficult goal for a professional football team (44%). It is 3% per year and 14% over 5 years to win the Super Bowl-difficult and a worthy goal in my opinion.

Goal are aspirations. Aim high.

o


Maybe you're right. Life indeed does have a lot of nuance.

My experience in all of my years as a sports fan is that press conferences (by players and/or coaches and/or GM's) are literally nothing more than words/conversation that pass the time. Great coaches such as Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells never put any stake in them, whether it was they themselves that were giving the interview or one of their players. I have yet to see any empirical proof that a sports franchise's overall direction changed (that a team got "psyched up" and won games and/or that a team fell flat and went on a losing streak) because of the general theme of a press conference.

o

[Oldcolt]

I agree with you on what press conferences normally mean. The letter is the thing that bugs the crap out of me. All three owners went over it, as I am sure others also did, with a fine tooth comb. Maybe it's nothing but I think how you talk is a reflection of how you are thinking. I think your point is valid also. It most likely comes down to I am negative about Ballard and you are not. I have a negative attitude and you don't But it isn't negative towards the Colts, it is negative towards the GM and maybe the owner. I've outlasted many of these people as a Colt fan as have you. Like you said we will see. Honestly, I am hoping you are right.

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by ChoppedWood

I was high on him when first hired. I was also on board with the Nelson selection and the win from the inside out mantra. I was on board as we were building the "Run the Damn Ball" physical domination psyche. Something started to shift though. Reich was a HUGE part of the start of my disenchantment- and I was 100% thrilled when we hired him so this isn't rear view mirror shit.

It didn't take long to see that Frank was just not the right guy, that he was so fucking focused on this cerebral winning, this outthinking the other side bullshit, that the team was floundering. It was the 2021 retention of him despite him clearly being at the root of the team faltering, that's where I couldn't stand him- and I get there's the whole Jim, them tied together thing, etc... Nonetheless, as the GM his job is to see the coach is the problem and to remedy it. Then the debacle with Saturday and what I still consider to be the ultimate act of cowardice of not stepping down when it seemed very clear that Jim was saying "you suck, so I am taking control".

After that, man fuck this guy. Steichen, yep, again, very high on the hire. However, what I see now is basically just a repeat of the same thing. The team is mentally soft, the coach is not a real leader, the focus is on skills and measurements, and schemes, and the team is not really much of a team vs just a collection of guys that play football on Sundays and collect checks.

I can't stand what I perceive to be just a general overall acceptance of mid, from the very top to the very last roster spot, they seem to be pretty ok with just being a middle of the pack org- and that sucks!

I have to take issue with the idea that the Colts have assembled a soft team. When soft teams face adversity, they fall apart.

Soft teams don’t have Quarterbacks who try to tough their way through broken legs.
Soft teams don’t play Kansas City to the last snap.
Soft teams don’t keep fighting when their starter goes down and they have to play the rest of the game with a kid who usually took snaps with the scout team.
Soft teams don’t take the best of the NFC has to offer down to the last minute with a 45 year old quarterback who had only one or two meaningful days of practice.