Did The Colts Handle The Trent Richardson Situation Wrong?
Former Indianapolis Colts running-back Trent Richardson filed a grievance against the team Friday evening, after being waved Thursday.
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Richardson is filing the grievance over his suspension from the team this past January, in which he didn’t travel with the team to New England for the AFC Championship game in what he claims were “personal reasons.”
According to Richardson, he had to rush his girlfriend to the hospital the morning that the team was leaving for new England, for what was said to be complications from pregnancy. The only problem was that he failed to contact the team at all during that time. In fact, the organization didn’t even here from Richardson until the day following the loss to New England.
“We always talk about faith and family around here but when I tried to put my family first, it was a big problem.”
When Richardson opened up about the situation he explained how faith and family are important in the Colts‘ organization, but it was apparently a problem when he put his family first.
There are two things that I can take away from this.
The first being that perhaps there’s some sort of sourness that Richardson had with the team due to his reduced role in each of his two seasons with Indianapolis. Maybe there was some sense of frustration after Richardson was reportedly fined multiple times throughout the season for being overweight by a few pounds.
The second thing to take away from this is that there is no exception that Richardson couldn’t have contacted any of his teammates or any of the Colts‘ staff shortly after the event to let them know that he wouldn’t be making the travel with the team. The fact that he failed to contact anyone affiliated with the Colts organization in that two-day period is mind-boggling to me.
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Now, I’m fully aware of the seriousness and severity that Richardson was faced with during the time and would agree that family is above everything. What I do not agree with is him failing to report the incident to anyone and go M.I.A.
Do I think the Colts have handled the Richardson situation wrong?
Not one bit.
Some might concur that Richardson’s release by the team would be solely for the January incident but anyone who has followed the Colts the last two seasons would know that is was due to a number of factors, mainly being Richardson’s poor lack of production.
In 29 games with the Colts, Richardson never eclipsed 100 yards in a single game and failed to pick up 1,000 rushing yards in the same span.
His tenure in Indianapolis was very disappointing to say the least, which was the main reason that the Colts’ front-office decided to part ways with the back.
Nov 24, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson (34) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Colts 40-11. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Richardson vows that wherever he plays next, it will be the last place he plays and that he will never be traded again “unless he wants to be traded.”
“I’ll be one of the top running backs from here on out,” Richardson said, via ESPN’s Mike Wells. “They ruled Marshawn Lynch off in his third year. Look what he’s doing now. My next stop, I’ll be the starter. I still have pride and I know who I am.”
To me, Trent Richardson seems like he does not want to fully admit his lack of production thus far in the NFL and is instead putting the blame on the team as not being a “good fit.”
As Stephen A. Smith says, this is just merely blasphemous.
Richardson claimed that Cleveland wasn’t a good fit and now we hear that Indianapolis wasn’t a good fit as well. It certainly is a head-scratcher that he would say that whilst he has Andrew Luck as his quarterback. That seems like enough as it is to make a good fit.
In the grand scheme of all things given, Richardson’s reason for his release was more for the fact that he was unable to produce. Even after continuously given the opportunity to prove his worth on the team, and that is why I believe that the Colts did not handle the situation with Richardson wrongfully so.
Wherever Richardson heads next, he needs a reality check and needs to take some of the blame and accountability for his misfortunes with the Colts. He may not fully understand the reality of having to work his way up the depth chart if he is in fact picked up by a team in the coming months.
If he doesn’t get his head straight, he could face the danger of never playing for an NFL team again.