Colts mini-camp shows fans promise

A sea of blue and white consisting of excited fans young and old filled the seats Saturday of Franklin College’s Stewart “Red” Faught Stadium, where spectators got an early look at their 2009 Indianapolis Colts on Friday and Saturday.

For just the second time in the franchise’s history in Indiana, the Colts took part in a public mini-camp practice outside their Indianapolis headquarters. About 4,500 fans attended the public practice in Franklin, Ind.

The gates at Faught Stadium opened at 12:30 p.m., though fans arrived at the gates as early as 7:30 a.m. The Colts arrived on Franklin College’s campus at about 2:15 p.m. and had a half-hour autograph session with the fans before they kicked off a two-hour practice at 2:45 p.m.

The event also included official merchandise sales at the Colts Pro Shop truck, the in-depth “Colts in Motion” trailer that showed fans everyday happenings within the organization, meet-and-greet with Colts cheerleaders, a viewing session of the Lombardi trophy from the team’s victory in Super Bowl XLI in 2007 and prize giveaways such as hats and jerseys autographed by players.

Several personalities closely associated with the Colts were also on hand Saturday, including “Voice of the Colts” Bob Lamey, who served as public address announcer for the event and read the prize giveaways.

“(The fans) are such a big part of this franchise,” Lamey said after the Colts finished practice.

The Colts are entering 2009 with many major changes. They have a new coach for the first time since 2002 in Jim Caldwell, who took the job in January when Tony Dungy retired from coaching after seven seasons in Indianapolis. Caldwell hired Larry Coyer and Ray Rychleski to fill the defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator positions, respectively.

Caldwell said the camp was an opportunity to see how rookies would perform in front of fans and adapt to a different schedule.

“It kind of gives us a chance to see how they’ll react to a road trip,” Caldwell said.
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison, who had spent his entire 13-year career in Indianapolis and had formed one of the greatest passing duos in history with quarterback Peyton Manning, was released in February for salary cap relief.

And just last month, two long-time Colts offensive assistants, offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd decided to retire as a result of the NFL’s altered pension plan. Two in-house coaches, Clyde Christensen and Pete Metzelaars, were promoted to coordinator and line coach, respectively.

For the Colts, the camp was good enough to get exactly what they wanted out of it.
“We’ve not really adjusted anything except for the stretching,” Caldwell said. “But it’s a great opportunity for community relations, for people to see us perform up close that may not get to see us during the course of the season, particularly with the way things are going (economically).”

– The Associated Press contributed to this story