Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard was already in a tough spot with the whole Jonathan Taylor situation that’s currently going on. So, knowing that everything he does and says is now carefully being observed under a proverbial microscope, you would think that he would exercise a little more caution going forward until he can put this Taylor situation behind him.
Well, that appears to not be the case.
During his press conference on Wednesday, Ballard was asked if the absence of Taylor will the growth of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson. The answer that he gave garnered a mass of negative reactions from not just Colts fans, but football fans in general that a great amount of respect and admiration from Andrew Luck.
Ari Meirov posted a clip of Ballard’s presser on his official Twitter (X) account:
“Look, when you don’t have a great player… but, I don’t think it stunts his growth. No, not at all,” Ballard said on Wednesday. “I don’t know, did it stunt Andrew [Luck’s] growth without a special back?”
Luck is a former 1st overall pick that had his NFL career cut short due to suffering an overabundance of injuries. Luck was forced to retire at the young age of 29, after only playing for six seasons. For those who may not know why Luck retired, or need a reminder as to why he called it quits, this small paragraph written by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham should help put things into context:
Usually, retirements are celebratory events at the end of storied careers. Nobody, not even Luck, would be celebrating this one. He used phrases like “I have a lot of clarity in this” and “it is the right decision for me.” The cycle of getting hurt, rehabbing, getting hurt again, had brought him to this place, he said. A place where it was time to “remove himself from football.”
Meirov’s video has been watched by nearly 3 million people in less than 24 hours. Fans are in agreement that it was a poor choice of words on Ballard’s part.
Flip the page for the Twitter reactions.