Indianapolis Colts Should be Steaming About NFL Primetime Slight

INDIANAPOLIS — Now I know to whom Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay was giving the evil eye in his new Twitter profile pic.

That would be the NFL schedule-makers, who dissed his team yet again on Thursday night. Only one primetime game, and on the road again, same as the last five appearances.

Yep, stare ‘em down, Mr. Irsay.

I'm afraid that lost in the schedule release clamor will be Jim Irsay's new profile pic. pic.twitter.com/Ka6iSKpop4
— Collin (@cmccollo) May 8, 2020

The Colts' last home primetime game was on Thanksgiving in 2016. The last time Lucas Oil Stadium hosted a Colts primetime game on Sunday or Monday was 2015.

Retired Colts star wide receiver Reggie Wayne couldn't resist reacting to the snub.

@Colts players should take it personal. Their only true Prime Time game is the Thursday Night game. The same game every team has. No Monday Night. No Sunday Night... #NoRespect #EarnRespect #TakeRespect Str8 Up@
— Reggie Wayne (@ReggieWayne_17) May 8, 2020

That’s perfect ammo for the ‘mo,’ Reg. Nothing fires up an NFL player like disrespect. Just say the word to some. That’s all it takes.

The Colts and Mr. Irsay should be a bit fired up, especially after looking at what other teams received. Brace yourselves. I know it inspired a bit of a loud rant from yours truly in the video above (turn your volume down).

We understand from the days of Wayne, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis that the better teams with high-profile players build the NFL brand in primetime.

So looking at Super Bowl champion Kansas City with quarterback Patrick Mahomes getting five games makes sense. Same with the Baltimore Ravens, who had an NFL-best 14 wins with quarterback Lamar Jackson.

That New England received five raises an eyebrow since quarterback Tom Brady departed for Tampa Bay and the Patriots look like they’re in for a rough year. Fine, folks in Indy won’t mind seeing the hated Pats lose a lot in primetime.

Brady’s new home translated to five primetime games for the Bucs, of course, although coach Bruce Arians’ team is coming off a seven-win season, same as the Colts. Brady in a new locale is TV ratings gold.

Why the Las Vegas Raiders got four games also doesn’t need much explanation. New city, new stadium, OK. Need that exposure.

But what first set me off was the New York Giants. They got three games? What? All because of running back Saquon Barkley? Gotta appease that “Big Apple” market, although the team plays in New Jersey?

Then there’s the Cincinnati Bengals, the NFL’s worst team with just two wins last season. Each win translated to a primetime game in 2020.

Whatever.

The Cleveland Browns won six games while the L.A. Chargers and Arizona Cardinals had five victories, yet they received two primetime games. Scratching the head has turned into rubbing the face intensely in disbelief.

Perhaps Colts fans should just be glad their team isn’t as bad off as Detroit or Washington. The Lions and Redskins got nothing.

Now we know why Mr. Irsay was a bit miffed earlier this year about the Colts not having a home primetime game last season, although quarterback Andrew Luck was still on the roster when the 2019 schedule was announced.

“One thing I’m disappointed with, that I don’t understand, is why we were what we were, which was a playoff team winning playoff games, and we didn’t have one home game on national TV last year. That’s unprecedented,” Irsay said. “I don’t understand that. So it’s something that I just have to pursue, and you know me, I protect the Colts, and I will fight as hard as I can to accomplish the things we do.”

Evidently, Mr. Irsay, you’re going to need to fight a bit harder and louder.

This isn’t just disrespect, to use Reg’s tweet word. It’s an insult, plain and simple.

As some Colts fans were quick to say on social media, so be it, this team can fly under the radar with quarterback Philip Rivers, reclaim the AFC South Division title, and be rewarded in 2021.

But based on how these primetime slots were allotted this year, it doesn’t appear the NFL thinks much of Rivers in terms of TV ratings and exposure. So we can’t presume anything would change a year from now.

Mr. Irsay’s next Twitter profile pic needs to show him ripping off his shirt in a mad frenzy like wrestler Hulk Hogan.

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)