In 49 other states, it's just sports.
While the Colts rarely jump into the NFL Free Agent pool, they have made a living signing players who go undrafted, and turn a good number of them into really quality players. With the lockout in place, the Colts Front Office has not been able to sign any player who went undrafted, but that doesn't mean they haven't been preparing for when they get the green light to start signing players.
Colts.com has a good article today, talking about how the Colts usually go about signing undrafted Free Agents, and how that has changed this season. But General Manager Chris Polian says they are ready to go at a moments notice:
"Whenever it comes, it's coming quick and hard and heavy," said Chris Polian, the team's vice president and general manager. "If you look at our history," he added, "there's going to be opportunity here" for players who weren't selected in April's 2011 NFL Draft.
Center Jeff Saturday and MLB Gary Brackett are the biggest names on the Colts roster that were undrafted out of college, but you can add S Melvin Bullitt, CB Jacob Lacey, OT Jeff Linkenbach, DT Eric Foster, WR Blair White, and RB Dominic Rhodes all as players who contributed to the 2010 Colts after being signed as a Free Agent out of college. The Colts, more than any other team, make it a habit of turning undrafted players into significant contributors:
Word has spread far and wide. If a player's representative gets a call from the Indianapolis club after his client goes undrafted, the mood for the agent and player alike is apt to perk up.
An experienced agent realizes that the Colts' management team and coaching staff will welcome his player at training camp, try to develop his skills and give him ample opportunity to make the final roster.
I have no doubt there are two or three undrafted players right now, sitting at home, that will find their way onto the Colts 53-man roster. Year after year the Colts find that player that nobody else seems to see, and he helps them win games. Expect nothing different in 2011. You know, once they resolve this whole lockout thing.
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