As the Colts try to rebuild a franchise that went 2-14 in 2011 and that lost its franchise quarterback prematurely and that cut or didn’t re-sign various other key contributors, the team insists that it’s not rebuilding.
“Too old to be rebuilding,” Reggie Wayne said recently, via Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star. “The only thing I’m rebuilding is the cars in my garage.’'
New quarterback Andrew Luck agrees, with a less entertaining description.
“I don’t think anybody is viewing it as a rebuilding season,” Luck said, via Chappell. “There are great players on this team, guys that have made the playoffs for x-amount of years in a row and then maybe missed out last year. I know they are hungry. I just hope that I can help them achieve that goal.”
Meanwhile, coach Chuck Pagano is trying to convince the new players that they can become the next wave of great players.
“We said, ‘You wouldn’t be sitting in this room if someone didn’t see something in you . . . somebody in here is going to be the next Dallas Clark, and somebody is going to be the next Joe Addai,’” Pagano said.
As long as Luck isn’t the next Curtis Painter, the Colts should be fine. Still, even Manning was 3-13 as a rookie, and he had Marshall Faulk and Marvin Harrison.