The story of Colts backup defensive tackle John Gill, who was found by Indianapolis police passed out in a ditch Sunday morning, has taken another turn: Colts President Bill Polian said Gill will likely miss the upcoming season so he can get treatment for alcoholism.
“In respect to John Gill, he’s got a problem unfortunately that many Americans are familiar with either in their family or in the workplace,” Polian told the Indianapolis Star. “The No. 1 priority for him is to get treatment and we’re in that process right now.”
Polian said the Colts are in touch with the league office to determine whether they should put Gill on injured reserve or whether there’s a more appropriate roster designation, but he indicated that one way or another, the rest of the year for Gill will be devoted to getting treatment.
“Football is not a priority,” Polian said. “It’s not even a consideration. We’re in discussion with the league office and they’ll let us know what the appropriate roster category is for him, but he’s going into treatment as quickly as possible. That’s being arranged with the appropriate people at the league level and we’ll move on from there.”
For now, the Colts are saying Gill is on indefinite leave.
“We had hoped this would be a good year for him,” Polian said, “but it hasn’t turned out that way.”