Colts’ recent pattern of bad press concerning

There have been some events happening around the Colts organization that have resulted in bad press. The pattern is concerning.

The Colts are an organization that prides itself on not having too many off the field problems. They want to be low-key and keep a low profile off the field. But recently, that hasn’t happened. There have been several incidents that have been contrary to that policy.

First, they drafted Bobby Okereke after there was an allegation of a sexual assault against him while he was at Stanford, where three out of five people on a council found him guilty. Ultimately he was not charged with anything, and was allowed to play football.

Then the team signed Chad Kelly. Kelly has had a myriad of off the field problems dating back to college. He was then suspended for the first two games of this season because of actions resulting in a misdemeanor in October of 2018.

Most recently, tackle Antonio Garcia was suspended for the first four games for violating the league’s PED policy. While Garcia and Kelly will likely not play or even make the team, this pattern of bad behavior off the field is extremely concerning.

Chris Ballard said he did his due diligence before drafting Okereke and signing Kelly. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be questions about their actions from the past. There also could be future incidents that further embarrass the organization.

Every organization in the league takes some character risks on players. It’s part of the game. But if these risks don’t pay off, then Ballard needs to be able to take the criticism that will come his way. He needs to own it and realize that mistakes were made.

Maybe these moves work out and no one will be talking about this come December. But if they don’t, there will be a lot of questions that need answering.