Colts alum Isaiah Rodgers claps back at NFL controversy after Super Bowl win

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers has been on the road to redemption this past year, and that road took him not only to the playoffs, but to a Super Bowl win. Formerly on the roster for the Indianapolis Colts, he had originally been drafted by the Colts in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He made a huge splash in his rookie season, with a 101-yard kick return for a touchdown standing out in particular, and he was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

In 2022, Rodgers suffered a knee injury in Week 16 that put an end to his season, but the worst was yet to come. In 2023, Rodgers was caught having violated the NFL's gambling policy, having made an estimated 100 bets, including on the Colts. He was then suspended by the Colts for the rest of the 2023 season, and the team waived Rodgers, along with teammates Rashod Berry, not long afterwards.

The Philadelphia Eagles clearly saw an opportunity, though, and signed Rodgers - even though he wasn't eligible to play for another year. In 2024, Rodgers was allowed by the NFL to begin playing again, and slowly but surely, Rodgers began rebuilding his career. Primarily a backup to Darius Slay, he started in Weeks 9 and 13, and made standout plays in the playoffs, including recovering a forced fumble by Jalen Carter that he returned for 40 yards.

Slay specifically said that the Eagles wouldn't have come as far as they did without Rodgers. "When guys go down, you don’t see no kind of drop-off," Slay said. "He’s amazing at what he do, man. I’ve been telling him, if he was on another team, he’d be easily a starting corner. Easily. But he wanted to be here to learn from me, as he told me. He said he wanted to learn from me. "

And to say that Rodgers had the last laugh in this situation is the understatement of the year: he is now a Super Bowl champion. The Colts, who cut him, have not won a Super Bowl since 2007, and haven't been to the playoffs since 2020.

Should the Colts have waived Rodgers? Who knows, and it's not likely that Rodgers staying in Indianapolis would have single-handedly fixed the numerous problems this team has and led them to a Super Bowl victory.

But while Rodgers may have landed on his feet, he hasn't forgotten what happened in Indianapolis. And in his social media posts celebrating his new status as a Super Bowl champion, he didn't hesitate to throw some shade.

Those captions have since been deleted, so it's safe to assume that someone - an agent, a coach, someone - had a conversation with him about it.

Regardless of what happened behind the scenes, though, it's clear that Rodgers has bounced back and has made his redemption arc complete. Rodgers saw action in the Super Bowl, and didn't just ride the bench the whole time. So with Darius Slay potentially leaving Philadelphia, it seems likely that Rodgers is set to have a much bigger role on the Eagles defense in 2025. His career was almost destroyed in Indianapolis, and he hasn't forgotten.