When Indianapolis Colts veteran receiver Reggie Wayne signed his contract extension earlier this offseason, he knew he was going to be a part of a team in transition after spending the majority of his career playing for a perennial playoff contender.
Photo Credit: Colts.com
However, the 6-0, 198-pound wide out isn’t too keen on his team being described as depleted.
“Some people say depleted, I say younger, hungrier,” Wayne said today, in comments distributed by the team.
“I mean, I love the teams of the past, but we know once we sign those contracts anything can happen. I wanted to be here. I wanted to help build this foundation, and keep it going. Bring Colts winning back to the old winning days, and just do some great things. We’ve got a nice young team, but we’ve got a hungry team.”
Sounds reminiscent of the once “youngry” Tampa Bay Buccaneers under former head coach Raheem Morris.
Before being replaced by Greg Schiano, Morris went 3-13 (’09), 10-6 (’10) and 4-12 (’11) in three seasons.
So while it’s safe to say referring to the team as “young” and “hungry” is no cause for concern, unless they start to mix the two terms.
Wayne added that he has enjoyed playing the role of a mentor with younger players that come to him with questions about his career.
“It starts off just by asking how I’ve stayed in the league so long, how I’m able to have so many consecutive games played without missing a game,” Wayne said. “Then it goes to on the field stuff. It’s a whole barometer of things that they ask.”
“It’s kind of like I’m getting a Q&A for a job or something,” Wayne continued. ”Those guys, they want to know what it takes, and I love giving that information. The more information I can give them I feel like the better they can be. I just want to see these guys continue to grow, continue to get better, and continue to do great things.”
In 11 seasons in Indianapolis, Wayne, 33, hasn’t missed a start since his second season (2002) and has amassed a total of 862 catches for 11,708 yards and 73 scores. Without Peyton Manning leading the charge, last season was the first time since his third year (2003) that Wayne fell short of a thousand-yard season, as he racked up 75 receptions for 960 yards and four scores.
Nevertheless, Wayne still has something left in the tank and looks to be a strong veteran leader and the Colts’ No. 1 receiver this year for star rookie signal-caller and the No. 1 overall pick out of the 2012 NFL Draft in Andrew Luck.
Behind Wayne will be veterans Donnie Avery, Austin Collie and Quan Cosby, as well as first-year tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen and rookie receivers T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill.
Verse of This Piece: “Doing right brings freedom to honest people, but those who are not trustworthy will be caught in their own desires.” —Proverbs 11:6
Michael Gartman is a College Football and NFL Senior Writer, the AFC South and NFC West Lead Writer and the Founder, CEO of GridironGrit.com. He also writes for RantPolitical.com, where he reports on topics across all sides of the political spectrum and analyzes important issues in the liberty movement. Follow @_MichaelGartman, @RantPolitical and @GridironGrit on Twitter!
