As a rookie in 2012, Colts tailback Vick Ballard played an important role for a playoff team, leading Indianapolis in rushing.
But since then, Ballard has had simply awful injury luck. A right ACL tear ended his 2013 campaign after just one game. And on Friday, Ballard suffered a left Achilles tendon tear, an injury that ends his 2014 season, coach Chuck Pagano confirmed.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, who was the Colts’ offensive coordinator and interim head coach in Ballard’s rookie season, took the news of the tailback’s injury hard, telling reporters he “cried” after hearing of Ballard’s plight, according to Darren Urban of the Cardinals’ website.
Publicly, Ballard has stayed upbeat after his latest setback. On his verified Twitter page, he linked to a photo of him being carted off with the caption: “Gonna have a great story to tell one day...”
And Ballard will have no shortage of supporters as he works to get back on the field to author a happy ending to that story.