Kool-Aid pickles anyone? At least one Colts player loves 'em
The Indianapolis Colts media guide is at least one-inch thick, if not more, which means many hard-working people go to a very detailed and lengthy extent to provide a lot of information that otherwise might not ever see the light of day.
That’s why, as the Colts (3-2) enjoy a bye week off, it’s as good a time as any to share some of that info with fans. Let’s break from the usual routine. Here’s a shout-out to the Colts communications staff of Steve Campbell, Matt Conti, Christian Edwards, Pamela Humphrey, Hayden Clark and Kaila Lewis. We’re always asking for stuff, so this fun sidebar is as much for you for these tidbits.
Let the fun begin, starting with Kool-Aid pickles. Yeah, you read that correctly.
Linebacker Matthew Adams deserves mention for one of his favorite foods. Has anyone ever heard of Kool-Aid pickles? Under the clever headline, “Dill With It,” Adams explains, “I love Kool-Aid pickles. It’s exactly what it sounds. It’s just pickles that you soak in Kool-Aid. It’s not cucumbers you soak in Kool-Aid. It’s straight up pickles in Kool-Aid. Delicious.”
Some might know this already, but guess what Colts head coach Frank Reich did after he retired as an NFL player in 1998? He joined the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., and his three-year RTS leadership included being a pastor at a local church.
And in keeping with the off-the-wall spirit, what was his first concert? Al Jarreau in 1983.
Most are aware by now that quarterback Jacoby Brissett has an interesting personality, wearing unique jerseys in the locker room, among other habits. Asked if he could have lunch with three people, living or dead, Brissett responded, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jordan and Warren Buffett.”
Left tackle Anthony Castonzo has always been a fun guy to chat with about non-football topics. He prides himself in cooking, listing that as one of his hobbies. He give’s his mother a shout-out for his favorite food: “Mom’s Sunday red gravy.” His favorite music: “Anything but country.” Amen to that. Asked about pets, he said, “I have a dog named Charles. He like a fourth generation mutt. So he has like 30 breeds in him.” One more fun response pertained to a pet peeve, “People who don’t how to drive on the highway.” LOL.
When cornerback Pierre Desir was sitting out from football for a year, he worked at a temp agency in Saint Charles, Mo. What stands out about that experience? One day during flooding season, he was handed some boots and told, “You have to get all this stuff from the basement out and you have to get all the water drained from the basement area.” It’s fair to say Desir didn’t enjoy the experience. The filth was up to his knees. He says the worst job of his life kept him motivated to play football.
Tight end Jack Doyle is a humble hometown hero from Cathedral High School. So his answer to the question about having dinner with three people shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering he’s all about family and typically has one of the largest cheering sections of family and friends: “I would choose four, all four of my grandparents.”
Tight end Eric Ebron provides an amusing answer when asked what would be his dream superpower: “I’m a huge Marvel and DC Comics fan. My superpower would either be the ability to teleport or to fly.” That factors into his explanation for who he would trade lives with for one day: “It would be two people — Will Smith and Robert Downey Jr., simply because (Downey) plays Iron Man. I’ve always looked up to Will Smith and who he is as a person and as a father. Nobody’s perfect and he explains his journey and he’s such an intelligent person.”
Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton keeps his pregame ritual simple: “I listen to gospel music getting ready and then, once I get to the stadium, I call my wife and talk to her.”
What was the best advice center Ryan Kelly has received? “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say,” he said. “And that’s from (Alabama head coach) Nick Saban. He uses that all the time. I love that piece.”
Anything involving linebacker Darius Leonard is bound to be worth reading. The 2018 NFL tackle leader is nicknamed “The Maniac,” which he says came from when he was in college. He wanted to play for Clemson, but ended up at South Carolina State. When he played Clemson, he had 19 tackles. “The next day on campus, everybody was calling me maniac, so it kind of just went from there,” he said. “If you see me at 5:30 in the morning at practice, you will see why they call me Maniac because I scream at the top of my lungs, just having fun and doing crazy stuff.”
Because guard Quenton Nelson has already made such a splash with his penchant for pancake blocks and nasty physicality, his answer for what superpower he’d like to have qualifies as funny: “Probably laser vision.”
Last but not least, when you’ve been around as long as the NFL’s oldest player, 46-year-old kicker Adam Vinatieri, simplicity is usually best. What’s his favorite food? “Anything cooked for me,” he said.
