The 2024 NFL season marks Chris Ballard’s eighth campaign as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts, a longtime NFL powerhouse for the first decade-plus of this century, have won just one playoff game and have yet to win the AFC South title under his watch. Ballard is aware of the franchise’s shortcomings and addressed them with a rather bold quote about his method on Wednesday.
“I’ve always had a strong belief in myself and in those around me. A strong belief in what we do,” Ballard told reporters (via The Athletic). “… The last three years, not making the playoffs, it’s a disappointment. I’m not going to sit here and say it wasn’t, but I still have a very strong belief in what we do, how we do it and how we’re going to get there. And that’s not going to waver. You either believe in something or you don’t believe in anything. It’s easy to waver and follow what the world wants you to do, but you have to believe in something or you don’t do it. That’s what we believe in.
“If this gets me fired, so be it.”
Ballard hasn’t been short of obstacles since arriving in Indianapolis in 2017. When he took the job, he had one of the best quarterbacks in all of football, Andrew Luck, who was entering his prime. But Luck missed the entire 2017 campaign, and after returning and playing all 16 games in 2018, Luck surprisingly retired the following summer.
“If you look at the first few years, we made the playoffs two out of the first four, we had to overcome a quarterback being cut, but we still found a way,” Ballard said. “I thought our 2020 team was great. We had just lost a tough game to Buffalo, but we ended up being a really good team. And I thought in 2021, we had another really good football team, and it all fell apart.”
The Colts enter the 2024 campaign with hopes of finally finding their franchise quarterback in Anthony Richardson, whom they drafted with the fourth overall pick last April.
After seven unsuccessful seasons, Ballard’s job depends on Richardson’s success, and the general manager knows it.
