On Saturday, the third day of the NFL Draft, numerous teams were spotted wearing coral. It turns out, it was all due to the Indianapolis Colts, and for a very emotional reason.
The entire Colts staff wore coral in the war room to honor Coral Terpening, wife of Matt Terpening, the Colts director of college scouting. Coral died unexpectedly on April 12 while attending a volleyball tournament with her daughters; she was just 45 years old.
Monday, general manager Chris Ballard opened his pre-draft press conference by acknowledging the Terpening family's loss.
"It was a hard week for all of us," he said. "Our prayers go out to Matt and his two daughters. It was a hard week. The light was watching a community of Westfield come out to support this family – watch the organization support the Terpening family. Our prayers go out to all of them. It was a hard week. It was a hard week, and something we had to work through, something we'll never get over. We'll get through it. We'll always be here for all of them."
In the war room with the Colts were the Matt Terpening and his daughters, Stella and Gwyneth, all there to honor their late wife mother.
The Terpening family had touched many people across the league, as evidenced by the number of people outside the Colts organization who also chose to wear coral shirts in Coral's honor. They included the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Commanders.
As draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who said he had known Matt Terpening for over 20 years, said during the NFL Network broadcast that "it's our way of giving Terp a hug." Jeremiah, along with Rich Eisen, were noticeably emotional during the broadcast as they spoke about the Terpening family's tragedy.
"I know that you guys are hurting, but I wanted to let you know that all of us here, around the entire league, we're here to love on you, we're here to support you," Jeremiah said. "Terp, we love you, buddy."