As one of the few players remaining in Indianapolis who played in two Super Bowls with the Colts, wide receiver Reggie Wayne says he doesn’t like the way the team has been described as depleted. Instead, Wayne says the Colts have gone from a veteran team to a youthful team, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Some people say depleted, I say younger, hungrier,” Wayne said today, in comments distributed by the team. “I mean, I love the teams of the past, but we know once we sign those contracts anything can happen. I wanted to be here. I wanted to help build this foundation, and keep it going. Bring Colts winning back to the old winning days, and just do some great things. We’ve got a nice young team, but we’ve got a hungry team.”
Wayne said he has enjoyed playing a mentoring role with younger players, who come to him with questions about his career.
“It starts off just by asking how I’ve stayed in the league so long, how I’m able to have so many consecutive games played without missing a game,” Wayne said. “Then it goes to on the field stuff. It’s a whole barometer of things that they ask. It’s kind of like I’m getting a Q&A for a job or something. Those guys, they want to know what it takes, and I love giving that information. The more information I can give them I feel like the better they can be. I just want to see these guys continue to grow, continue to get better, and continue to do great things.”
When Wayne signed a contract extension to stay in Indianapolis, he did so knowing that he was going to be part of a rebuilding team after spending most of his career with a perennial playoff team. And that’s just fine with him.