On ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ former Indianapolis Colts All-Pro punter Pat McAfee recounted an incident presumably back in 2013, when former NFL Pro Bowl safety LaRon Landry ‘made a debut statement’ by unnecessarily laying out his new teammate, future Hall of Fame wideout Reggie Wayne.
The incident occurred during an early season walk-through—which was later confirmed by their former head coach Chuck Pagano:
Hoping to add a ‘Bob Sanders-like’ enforcer to the backend of the Colts secondary, ex-Indianapolis general manager Ryan Grigson signed the free agent Landry, coming off a Pro Bowl season with defensive minded head coach Rex Ryan’s New York Jets defense, to a 4-year, $24 million contract (with $14 million guaranteed).
Featuring giant bulging biceps and sheer size at safety, Landry certainly looked the part, even though he didn’t consistently play it. He lasted just two years into his then-lucrative Colts contract, until he was released after being suspended four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
As a free agent, Landry would test positive two more times for PEDs, which resulted in an indefinite league ban.
The former 6th overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft by Washington was out of football after turning 30-years-old.
For what it’s worth, McAfee indicated that Landry was a great teammate, even volunteering to be a heat-seeking missile on special teams as a defensive starter.
Unfortunately, his short-lived tenure in Indianapolis didn’t work as well as either side had initially planned, but at the very least, there is now a funny ‘friendly fire’ war story to come from it—much to Wayne’s dismay to this very day.
