Horseshoe Heroes
FanSided

Colts: Rodrigo Blankenship has excellent reaction to winning starting job

By Adam Weinrib

Rodrigo Blankenship #98 of the Georgia Bulldogs prays before the game during a game between Texas A&M and the Georgia Bulldogs. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Rodrigo Blankenship #98 of the Georgia Bulldogs prays before the game during a game between Texas A&M and the Georgia Bulldogs. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Colts have found a good (and humble) kicker in UDFA Rodrigo Blankenship, who was very ready to make the roster.

New Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship is ready to answer the bell.

From 2006 until the 2019 season began, the Colts were comforted by the rock-steady presence of Adam Vinatieri, whose foot dictated all pressure situations whenever fate tried to intervene.

But in ’19, Vinatieri finally began to crack, his age manifesting in a rapid decrease in accuracy.

Ultimately, it became his final season in Indianapolis, pockmarked by an unexpected 68% on field goals for the year, and culminating in a fond farewell letter from the fans he so perfectly represented for so long.

But here’s the kicker: The fight to find Vinatieri’s replacement may not have lasted very long at all. The Colts imported Blankenship, the former Georgia Bulldogs marksman, as an undrafted free agent in April, and the bespectacled beast extended Indy’s 22-year streak of breaking camp with a UDFA when he made the team on Saturday afternoon.

How did Blankenship take the news? With his typical good grace, and with a declaration that now was the time to work, not rest.

Blankenship has kept his nose to the grindstone since long before he was assured a roster spot in Indy, beating out Chase McLaughlin in the process.

The kid is simply built differently. He spent his entire SEC career feeling pressure-less in big moments, despite the fates of Modern Athens constantly weighing on his shoulders.

His feats have bordered on the superhuman — his knuckling, double-clutch kick against Tennessee to extend his record streak is the stuff of legend, and his booming leg has set records in numerous environments, both friendly and hostile.

Consider him well-prepared for the controlled chaos under the hood of the Dome.

In 2020, the Colts will have an entirely different type of confident man taking their most important kicks.

Someone who often becomes the center of attention for all the right reasons, even if he doesn’t ask for it.

Indy’s going to love him. The kid is ready.

Home/Colts News