Trent Richardson Files Grievance Against Colts

It was inevitable following his release, but running back Trent Richardson has filed a grievance following his release by the Indianapolis Colts. Richardson was suspended by the team for two games, thus allowing the Colts to get out from under his contract in 2015.

The news was first reported by Pro Football Talk:

Richardson was a no-call, no-show to a walkthrough during the playoffs and then suspended for two games. The AFC Championship was the first of that suspension and the season opener for 2015 would have been the second.

The writing was on the wall that the Colts were ready to cut ties with Richardson when he rarely saw the field during the playoffs. It was finally made official Thursday night with his release.

As soon as Richardson was suspended, it was clear he would challenge it. In interviews, Richardson claimed that his girlfriend was suffering from pregnancy complications. While that would be a very good excuse, especially considering the family montra the Colts preach, Richardson never made an attempt to get in touch with the team while he was tending to his girlfriend.

A quick phone call or text would easily have sufficed.

Richardson spoke with Mike Wells of ESPN last night to tell his side of the story.

Richardson mentioned that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with GM Ryan Grigson. This is after Grigson spent a first round pick on him and forced him into the starting lineup to the detriment of the team.

Make no mistake, the Colts gave Richardson every opportunity to be successful and then some.

There were other issues with Richardson as well. He was routinely late to team meetings (something that would have rendered him out of games for some teams) and was fined multiple times for not being in shape.

From Wells’ interview:

"“We had made an agreement where I’d weigh 230 pounds, but it turns out that I was supposed to be 227 pounds and they didn’t tell me that,” Richardson said. “We’ve got a list of things we can use against the Colts where I can get my money back. They were fining me for failing to meet conduct code. Not making weight is not conduct code.”"

Two problems with this. One, it shouldn’t be that hard for a professional athlete to lose three pounds. Two, why is Richardson admitting to weight issues just before he files a grievance? He’s already taking partial blame for the problems with the team.

In 29 games with the Colts, Richardson never rushed for more than 100 yards in a game and failed to crack 1,000 yards total. He finished with 977 yards on the ground and an atrocious 3.1 average.

He was routinely outplayed by players the team considered to be backups and never showed the ability to be the feature back he was billed as out of college.

For now, Richardson will look for another team as he fights to get his $3 million and change from the Colts.