Revenge is a dish best served with a touchdown and an in-your-face jubilant celebration.
In a league where loyalty can be bought and sold to the highest bidder, convincing an unrestricted free agent to stay on your team can be one of the hardest things to do. Throw money, cars, candy, goodies at them, and it doesn’t matter. There’ll almost always be a better offer.
Okay, so that’s a tad too cynical.
The Colts have had their share of drama queens and divas but have also enjoyed fairly successful offseason trades and signings in recent years. So far in 2021, a few free agents have yet to decide their futures. Malik Hooker was reportedly snooping around the Steelers’ playing grounds, and Justin Houston looks close to inking a deal with Baltimore. Depending on the player, though, there can be some “good” in “goodbye.”
Take Anthony Walker, for example, who has earned the love and respect of Indy for years to come and deserves only the best in his post-Colts career. Fellow teammate Darius Leonard even took to Twitter to talk about what a guy Walker was and is, and how Cleveland is blessed to have him.
But – shh – do you hear that?
It’s the hissing of snakes in the grass. It’s that time of year again. Light up the match and pour out the oil because certain players’ jerseys may or may not get burned before next season.
These are three former Indy players who are at the top of our revenge list.
3. Eric Ebron
Eric Ebron didn’t do anything especially atrocious. He was by no means the worst. His career with the Colts just ended with the feelings of a bad break-up: bitterness, resentment, a little bit of love deep down, and a whole lot of drama.
Back in 2018, Ebron signed a two-year, $13 million deal with the Colts after spending his first four seasons with the Detroit Lions. In his Pro Bowl debut season in Indianapolis, Ebron would haul in a career-best 66 receptions for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns, finishing second overall between tight ends and wide receivers in touchdowns in 2018.
But the honeymoon phrase quickly wore off, and Ebron wasn’t producing at the same rate in 2019. He got into disagreements with the front office about getting more targets and about this and that, and some of their fights led to him sitting out a key game. The ultimate kicker was Ebron opting for a controversial ankle surgery that ended his season early.
According to the Athletic’s Bob Kravitz, the Colts felt as though Ebron quit on them that season.
"“He had, I think it was an ankle, that the team wasn’t even aware was an issue and then all of the sudden he said, ‘That’s it, I’m shutting it down.’ ”"
Once things started going south, his relationship with Indy never recovered. Of course, Ebron has his own take on the issue, as he very publicly posted on social media, but the fact is he jumped ship to Pittsburgh in 2020, signing a two-year deal with the Steelers. His numbers last season did improve slightly, but no Colts fan can conscientiously root for the guy.
The Colts have the chance to exact revenge on Ebron and the Steelers this season after last year’s meltdown and to really show him what he’s missing.