Interviewing Two Colts Superfans

In the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to interview two die-hard fans of the Indianapolis Colts. They are both a ton of fun to follow on Twitter, and I’ve tweeted back and forth with both of them several times. Although the interviews were conducted at separate times, I asked them both the same questions and included their answers together below each question.

Jess Schriner is a long time Colts fan and season ticket holder, and is the co-founder of the website gocoltsdammit.com. She travels from her home in Ohio for every Colts home game, and will make the ~6 hour drive to Baltimore for this weekend’s playoff game against the Ravens. You can follow her on Twitter @coltsblue45.

Cecily Doyle cheers the Colts on from up north, residing in Ontario, Canada. She also runs her own site, couturewriter.tumblr.com. She, like me, is too far away from Indianapolis to be able to frequent Lucas Oil Stadium on a regular basis, but she frequently live tweets games and other events (such as Chuck Pagano’s first press conference after returning to his position as coach). You can follow her on Twitter @couturewriter.

GO COLTS!!

1. How did you become a Colts fan?

Jess: Growing up in Northwest Indiana, halfway between Chicago and Indianapolis, you typically picked one. I chose the boys in BLUE!

Cecily: This story is pretty girly of me, but when my family was watching football I needed a team to cheer for and didn't necessarily want to cheer for the same team as them. I liked horses, and the colour blue (give me a break, I was super young) so I decided that I was a Colts fan. Over the years, with Peyton as QB I was hooked.

Now there's a great bunch of rookies, so I think I'm stuck with them.

2. Other than Peyton Manning (who I'm assuming would be #1), who is your all-time favorite player to wear the Colts uniform?

Jess: I think my favorite player to wear the uniform (outside of PM) would be Anthony Gonzalez.  Having watched him at OSU and being my favorite player while he was here, draft day 2007 when we took him in the first round was the best situation for me that could have happened...my favorite college player going to my favorite NFL team!!!  Sad he's no longer in the NFL but happy to have amazing guys that are current favorites :)

Cecily: I would have to say Reggie Wayne. He my favourite WR in the league and he is consistently a game changer. He was a great weapon for Peyton, and is now one of the best targets that Andrew Luck has on on the field at any given time. This might sound weird, but I think he's a great confidence booster for Luck, because Wayne is able to make those crazy catches and play through any mistakes that Luck might make.

3. In your opinion, does Reggie Wayne belong in Canton? Why or why not?

Cecily: It's hard for a WR to get into the Hall of Fame for some reason, but I'm not taking anything from Reggie Wayne (obviously). I think he's a great WR and will no doubt be in the Colts Hall of Fame. Like I said, his ability to grab those tough passes is amazing and extremely helpful, especially to a rookie QB, but he's never had the best WR stats in the league. If he retired TODAY, I would have to say that he's not going to the HOF, but no one can say how long his career is going to last and what's going to happen in the future.

Jess: I do believe Reggie belongs in Canton.  He's had an excellent career in Indy and continues to break records. Can't imagine him not getting in.

4. Use once word each to describe the following people:

Cecily:    

• Jim Irsay = Risky. I think we all know why.
• Peyton Manning = Legendary. There are so many words, but this is definitely the first.
• Andrew Luck = Calm. Videos of the kid, he hardly ever panics. When he does you can't tell.
• Reggie Wayne = Low-key. He's about football, not anything else.
• Marvin Harrison = Productive. One of the most productive WR the Colts have ever had. We'll ignore the drama in 2008.
• Chuck Pagano = Inspirational. All of Indy is inspired by the guy and he's only been there for a season.
• Dwight Freeney = Intense. He's what a linebacker should be. He'd intimidate me.
• Bob Sanders = Injured.
• Tony Dungy = Leader. He is a great coach, and proved that he knows how to win.
• Tom Brady = Tears. Haha, the guy cries a lot!

Jess:

• Jim Irsay generous
• Peyton Manning legend
• Andrew Luck unbelievable
• Reggie Wayne spiderman
• Marvin Harrison beast
• Chuck Pagano fighter, inspirational, hero (I could go on forever!)
• Dwight Freeney monster
• Bob Sanders great (when healthy)
• Tony Dungy winner
• Tom Brady PUKE ;)

5. Time to put on your ESPN caps and do some analyzing! Peyton Manning & Pierre Garcon, both former Colts who signed with other teams after last season, are having great seasons for their new teams (the Broncos & Redskins, respectively). In your opinion, how big of a mistake did the Colts make in letting a future hall-of-fame quarterback, as well as a dynamite receiver walk away?

Jess: I don't think it was a mistake at all. Yes, it was hard to swallow when it initially happened, PM for sure, but the business side of this game doesn't work out the way our hearts want it to.  I think Irsay did what he had to do for the future of the team.  Garcon chose not to stay and go where the extra money was so that was on him. I think that allowed the Colts to, outside of Reggie, start fresh with new receivers for Luck, allowing the chemistry to grow and last for years to come. 

Cecily: This question keeps coming up, especially regarding Peyton Manning. Letting Peyton go was the right choice and was in no way a mistake. The Colts needed to make a decision; keep a QB that they've been happy and successful with for years, or pick up the rookie that they can rebuild the team around. I'm not saying that Peyton's career is going to end tomorrow, or even next year, but he's 36 years old. Every great career comes to an end at some point, and the Colts keeping Peyton and missing out on Luck would've just been prolonging the eventual rebuild process. They made a calculated risk in picking up Luck, and it's paid off immediately.

As for Garcon, I can't say much else other than, "Oh well." You win some and you lose some. As far as I'm concerned the Colts aren't hurting for a WR. It was more of a concern that the Colts keep Reggie Wayne. The rookies that we picked up this season have made our offense pretty strong. Guys like Fleener, Ballard, and Hilton are carrying the offense, not to mention Wayne. The only thing keeping our offense from being really strong is the O-line.

[Editor’s note: Please remember that this next question was asked of each of them before the Colts’ season ended and the AFC playoff picture was finalized.]

6. If the playoffs began tomorrow, the Colts would be in as a wild card. Based on the way they've been playing and including other factors (such as injuries), how good do you think the team's chances are of making and advancing in the playoffs in 2012/2013?

Jess: The way the team has united together and grown over this season, I think we will make the playoffs and believe we can win at least the first game ... realistically, I give them one win then out.  However, with this team, the sky is the limit and anything can happen!!  Can't count out the boys in BLUE!

Cecily: I'm super proud of what the team has done this year. They've improved their record tenfold, and it's closer to the Indy that we're used to seeing as fans. I remember when people were saying that it would be amazing if Indy won 4 games, and here we are at 9-5. I think closing the season at 10-6 is very possible, and quite probable based on their season so far. I've been saying that since Week 9.

BUT, do I think that they'll do well in the playoffs? No, I don't. They'll make it to playoffs, but up against offenses like Denver, New England and Atlanta, I think our defense would really struggle. Our O-line isn't strong enough to give Andrew the protection he needs to keep up with a high-scoring offense. Plus, we need a defense that can force turnovers and that's been something that the Colts have struggled with all season.

 I'm not taking away from what they've done this year though; they beat the Packers (which was an emotional game for me), they stayed close to the Texans during an away game, and again they're 9-5.

Next year I think we have a really great chance at being a legitimate playoff threat, but this year just isn't our year.

7. In your eyes, who wins the league's MVP trophy, based on the season so far?

Cecily: The league's MVP trophy better go to Peyton Manning. He brought the Broncos back from the dark Tebow ages after multiple neck surgeries. People were saying his career was done, and look at the Broncos' record. I'd say Peyton Manning all day, but that could be a biased opinion.

Jess:  I'd like to think PM would win it but I'm sure it'll be someone else, in which I wouldn't care about the winner.