I guess that it must be like this for most NFL towns, but in central Indiana, the Colts are really important in a lot of different ways. Players have a long history of community service in the Indianapolis, much of downtown’s revitalization over the last two decades was built around the Colts and Lucas Oil Stadium as centerpieces and owner Jim Irsay has shown himself to be a committed philanthropist who takes up many local causes. Even Colts training camp is hugely important around here, and not just because that’s when we finally get to hear some news about how the team is shaping up.
Currently, the Colts train at Anderson University, where they also held camp from 1984-99. When the team moved back to Anderson from Rose-Hulman last year, the general sentiment was that it was, at least partially, a gesture on the Colts’ part to help the city which lost thousands of jobs during the near-collapse of the auto industry a couple of years back. A recent series of reports by WRTV-6 in Indy details the impact of training camp in Anderson and estimates that last year’s edition brought about 80,000 people and $6.5 million to town. That’s huge to a struggling economy and makes the resolution of the lockout all the more important to people in the area, many of whom are counting on the Colts again.
We’re all chomping at the bit to get some real Colts action rolling, but no one is more anxious than the folks in Anderson.