ColtsSpeak: Steven Dodson

PhilB: What’s the first thing that comes to mind today when I ask you about the Indianapolis Colts?

Steven: Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is just how much better I think they’re going to be this year because of the draft picks they got and the talent they have with the players and the coaches.

PhilB: There’s definitely positive momentum from the offseason. Do you have one move you like the best? I guess we could start with All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. How did you like that?

Steven: I loved that move. I wasn’t expecting it.

PhilB: I wasn’t, either. You know as well as I do that general manager Chris Ballard doesn’t like to part with draft picks, but he made a bold move there in parting with a first-round draft pick.

Steven: That’s right. It surprised me. It probably surprised everybody. In the past, you wanted some playmakers and would always pretty much disagree with who they got in the draft before Chris Ballard came along. Since he came along, he’s just made some awesome picks, picks that most fans would want.

PhilB: I predicted wide receiver and running back in the second round. I didn’t get the two guys right, they were both gone before, but they did address the two positions I thought they needed to address. What do you think of second-round picks Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor?

Steven: I like both of them a lot. Pittman was one of the wide receivers I was looking at and wanted the Colts to get. Jonathan Taylor, I really wasn’t thinking about him. He’s a great player. I’m glad we got him.

PhilB: The Colts went out and got a quarterback for one year. How do you feel about Philip Rivers?

Steven: Well, you know he’s an N.C. State boy. He’s always been trouble when the Colts met the Chargers. So I think he’s great. I like him. I like his fire and his gut, his competitiveness, and his talk. I like all that. I think he’s a great acquisition for the time being.

PhilB: What else do you think about the team? The offense, they’ve tried to put weapons around Rivers to make it easier on him. They’ve got the seventh-ranked rushing offense from a year ago and an offensive line that didn’t have a missed start, so it’s set up for Rivers to succeed. Then you’ve got a defense with a new anchor in DeForest Buckner in the middle, and maybe you’re a little worried about the secondary, I know I am, but your front seven looks better on defense. So do you agree or disagree?

Steven: I agree 100 percent. I think getting DeForest Buckner with him playing alongside Darius Leonard, Kemoko Turay, Bobby Okereke, Tyquan Lewis, I think it’s going to be a great defense. Everybody knows how good the offensive line is. I felt the same way when the Colts picked (All-Pro guard) Quenton Nelson. I was hoping they would get Quenton Nelson. I didn’t think they would, but they did. Last year, we had kind of a down year. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was playing good, but then after he got hurt and he just didn’t look like the same guy. I know he’s a good quarterback. He’s an N.C. State guy, too. I know he’s a good guy. I feel like Chad Kelly is a good quarterback. I know he’s had some issues, but I think he’s a good quarterback. I’ve heard good things about him, what (head coach) Frank Reich has said about him. I really feel like he’s always been a good quarterback, if he would just get his act together. I know (fourth-round pick) Jacob Eason has got the arm talent and the potential. That’s going to be interesting to watch.

PhilB: Yeah, I’m kind of curious to see who gets the third quarterback spot. They’re spending a lot of money on quarterback, $25 million on Rivers, $21.4 million on Brissett. They could have cut Brissett and saved a little bit, but they were like, ‘No, we want to keep him because you never know what could happen.’ I get that. But then you draft Eason, and the best he can be is a third and has to beat out Chad Kelly to get it. That probably surprised me more than anything this offseason.

Steven: I feel the same way. I’ve been wondering who is going to come out on that deal between Eason and Kelly. It’s going to be fun to watch. I’ve got an interesting story to tell you. I’ve been to two Colts games in my life. The first one was in 2005, the Monday Night Football game, when Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison broke the TD record in the old RCA Dome. I paid for my whole family to go up there. It pretty much took all the money I had. We had fun watching that game. I also remember one year when the Colts were good and lost to Pittsburgh in the playoffs.

PhilB: Yeah, I remember that well. I was there, January 2006.

Steven: I’m retired now, but I worked in the golf course industry for a while and I was working in Atlanta at a golf course. That was after the Super Bowl, I think Pittsburgh won that Super Bowl, didn’t they?

PhilB: Yeah.

Steven: That spring, I was at that golf course in Atlanta and (Steelers running back) Jerome Bettis was playing golf out there by himself. And I was out there by myself. He was teeing off on a hole. I went over and asked him about the Super Bowl. He said, ‘How did you like it?’ I said, ‘Well, I didn’t like it that good. I’m a Colts fan.’ He just laughed. I didn’t get his autograph or anything, but he was a nice guy. It was fun.

PhilB: He’s a super nice guy. I talked to him that year, the week leading up to that game, I went to Pittsburgh and interviewed him. I was doing advance work. I interviewed him back-to-back days in the locker room. He couldn’t have been nicer to me, even though I was from Indianapolis. We closed the locker room both days.

Steven: He’s that kind of guy. He’s very personable.

PhilB: The Colts players I’ve talked to since then have said that was the best Colts team in the Manning era, the one that lost to Pittsburgh.

Steven: They just got off to a slow start, then almost pulled it out there at the end. I think (Ben) Roethlisberger saved it, didn’t he? (Laughs.)

PhilB: Yeah, he did. That damn tackle. Bettis fumbled and his career could have ended right there if the Colts drove to a score. I’ll never forget that. I’ve talked to so many Colts who said that was the best Colts team, better than the one that won the Super Bowl the next year. That was tough. You worried about this season, if the NFL can pull it off?

Steven: I am, a little bit. Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. It’s kind of got me worried a little bit.

PhilB: A doctor up here told me he doesn’t see how it happens. I know people don’t want to hear that. They think someone in my profession is just writing something to get clicks and be sensational, but I’m just quoting a doctor who has been an infectious disease doctor for 20 years. He thinks the risk is too great. Now the NFL keeps saying it’s going to do it. They made another statement that the league is doing everything it can to get ready. I don’t know. Believe me, I hate the thought of not having a season. The minute the NFL says there’s no football, fan interest is going to drop way off.

Steven: I agree with you.

PhilB: The Colts have a really good chance to be decent this year. I’d hate to see it get ruined.

Steven: I feel the same way. It’s hard to believe. I’ve been watching the draft ever since they ran the ticker and I kept up with who the Colts got in the draft back in the early 1980s. I couldn’t wait until the draft to see who they got. It’s just a crazy year. I hope they can get it done.

PhilB: Anything else you’d like to say about your Colts?

Steven: I’ve been a diehard Colts fan, my brother is, too. We talk about them a lot. We live apart but talk a lot about them on the phone. I remember when they drafted Peyton Manning, I told my dad and my brother, ‘I know this guy is going to be good.’ He ended up having a Hall of Fame career. It was an unbelievable career. I kind of envy you because you’ve all met these guys and I just see them on TV.

PhilB: Yeah, I see ‘em as flesh-and-blood human beings. I’ve had stories to tell about all of them. It was a lot of fun to watch Peyton play. You knew if he played well, they could beat anybody on any day. It was kind of fun walking into a stadium knowing that.

Steven: You’ve been to a lot of games and worked the games, but we went to the RCA Dome in 2005, I bought tickets off eBay, and I didn’t know exactly where they were. We could almost touch the ceiling in the RCA Dome. That’s how far I was away from the field.

PhilB: You were up in the nosebleeds.

Steven: We went to a game later, when Andrew Luck was playing, we saw the Colts in Jacksonville and were right beside the field, which was pretty awesome. I’ll be a Colts fan forever.

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