Who Let Dogs Out When Colts are on Draft Clock?

Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard could be visited by three of man's best friends during the NFL Draft. Despite taking all logistical precautions, his family is entrusted with keeping three dogs from his draft work space in the home basement.

INDIANAPOLIS — In the sanctity of his home basement, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard might not be alone when making NFL draft selections.

In fact, don’t be surprised if he’s visited by more than just family. There’s potential during the selection process for immediate interaction with his dogs.

Ballard has five children and three dogs. And he conceded in a Friday video conference call that, as much as Dad is kinda busy from Thursday through Saturday’s draft, family could venture downstairs.

That’s perfectly understandable. Dogs, as well as children, can have a mind of their own.

“Everything is remote,” Ballard said. “I’ll be alone here at home. If you look, I’m sure they’ll show flashes and you’ll see kids running around during it. It just is what it is. I have five kids and I have three dogs. Eventually, they are going to flash in front of the screen. I mean I’ve been waiting for my dogs to pop up here. They haven’t popped down here in this basement.”

The NFL has gone to great lengths to prepare for a first virtual draft. Canines excluded, Ballard has also extended himself to be extra prepared for possible hiccups. For example, what happens if his Wifi goes out?

“Look, at the end of the day I’ll pick up my phone and I’ll call in the pick,” he said. “But saying that, I mean look, I’ve had a generator put in my house to make sure we have backup electricity and I’ve made sure we’ve had backup internet – all those things.

“We will have a run through internally … and also with the league. We’ll go through every scenario, OK? Let’s say I get dropped off, my internet and my electricity goes down and we’re on the clock, what do we do? I mean we’ll walk through every scenario to make sure we’re prepared for it.”

“We're gonna use every avenue that we can to get better, to get closer, even in these unique circumstances.”

What was Frank Reich’s message to the players in the first virtual team meeting of 2020? Get an exclusive look:https://t.co/9eg2R2JZEY

— Andrew Walker (@AWalkerColts) April 22, 2020

Ballard said a couple members of his staff, with which he will communicate remotely during the draft, have been preparing for any possible scenario.

“Look, I have a couple of guys that are as anal retentive – Ed Dodds does not leave a freaking detail,” Ballard said. “There’s nothing that doesn’t go checked here between him, Mike Bluem and all our scouts. They make sure that we’re going to be covered on that end. They know how I am because I’ll just kind of flip it and smile, ‘I’ll just pick up the phone and make the call. What do you mean?’ But they’re pretty detailed-oriented. They make sure we have everything mapped out.”

Ballard has several video screens at home, but was wary of showing much else of where he’s going to operate during the draft.

“I actually turned around because I didn’t want you to see the rest of the basement that I’m working out of,” he said with a chuckle.

The Colts have seven selections from rounds two through six, which means they might not be on the clock until Friday with the second pick of the second round, No. 34 overall. But the draft often has surprises. Who knows what could happen?

And who knows if Ballard will be safe from his dogs.