I was 12 when the Colts moved to Indianapolis. It was a formulative time for me and I dove into being a Colts fan with the passion and obsession that only teens have.
When the Colts opened up their W. 56th St. complex they had an open house. I had cut the tip of my finger off two days before. I was not going to miss it though and I stood in line for 3 hours with my finger throbbing just so that I could see my favorite player, Nesby Glasgow. I missed him but I did meet Mark Herrman.
The following August I met Mark Herrman again at training camp and he remembered me and had a rather lengthy conversation with me about my finger and took a good look at it. It impressed him that I was such a fan. An NFL quarterback was impressed with me. At 13, that was cool!
That memory alone puts Glasgow and Herrman on my list of favorite Colts!
Training camp was an annual event for my family and I. It was a time during my teens when my Dad and I could find common ground. Most of my early Colt memories are of training camp.
Jack Trudeau will always be a favorite of mine for a couple of reasons. I was there the very first day he arrived at camp. A holdout had him a few days late and I was amongst the throng wanting an autograph. I was about 15 at the time. I made a joke about his first NFL injury would be writer's cramp. He scowled at me.
It was at that moment that I realized he wasn't anything special. He wasn't much bigger than me. He wasn't better looking than me. He didn't look more athletic than me. Well shoot, if he could be an NFL quarterback than I could be an NFL safety! (turns out, I couldn't be... but it was that thought that led me to understand that I really could be anything I wanted to be... heck, Jack Trudeau was an NFL quarterback and I'm pretty sure I could take him )
So for that lesson Jack Trudeau will always be on my list.
