Soon after joining the Indianapolis Colts, wide receiver Keenan Allen, a longtime veteran who hasn't had any public run-ins due to legal issues, had just that when he was arrested for DWI. His court date for the incident is unknown, but he is free to play professional football, and Indy is just fine with him doing so.
General manager Chris Ballard said as much in his press conference before the 2026 season begins. Ballard said he wouldn't comment on the legal proceedings surrounding Allen (which is the right move; Ballard works in football and not as an attorney or judge) and said whatever punishment the team might mete out to the player has been or will be handled internally.
But Ballard didn't stop with that. He said multiple times that Allen just needs to be given a chance by the fans of his new team. Although, to be fair, the fans should be the least of the player's and GM's worries.
Indianapolis Colts moving forward with having Keenan Allen play in Week 1
Ballard said, in part, "Give (Allen) some grace...Good people make mistakes...14 years in the league with no issues...Philip (Rivers) holds him in extremely high regard (and) we feel good about who he is...We wanna kill people who make one mistake in a 14-year career."
Well, "kill" is a bit strong, of course. Ballard obviously meant it in terms of public perception, but the issue has something to do with the general manager needing to win games and then signing a player who immediately has an off-field problem. That isn't Ballard's fault, necessarily, but that will be true in terms of, again, public perception.
While head coach Shane Steichen worked with Allen for several years while both were with the Los Angeles Chargers, the team clearly sought the input of quarterback Rivers, too. Ballard did his due diligence about Allen as best he could. As he said, the player had not had any public legal issues in his career up until last week.
One question that won't be raised, but is still important, is whether the Indianapolis Colts would have handled the situation differently if Keenan Allen were a late-round rookie or an underperforming player. Is Allen getting a break because of how good he has been in the NFL? Most likely.
Indy isn't the only team that would approach the Allen situation by giving the player a break. Maybe he deserves that since his DWI appears to be a first offense. As Chris Ballard said, everybody makes mistakes.
What is obvious is that Keenan Allen will play in Week 1 when the Colts play the Baltimore Ravens. He will continue to do so until he gets injured (which hopefully doesn't happen) or he is suspended by the NFL (which likely won't happen soon).
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