It is hot outside in Indiana. As we complete July and head into the dog days of summer, everyone is feeling the heat. No matter how hot you get, no one is feeling it as much as Chris Ballard. At his press conference, he understands the pressure is on and only increasing. He just found a release valve that is going to ease things a bit and gained the upper hand on the Indianapolis Colts in the process.
Would you sign a two or three-year contract for millions of dollars? That’s the question. For you and
me, the answer is yes, assuming everything is above board. Ballard said he wasn’t looking for an extension and would decline one regardless. In the last year of his deal, he feels he has too much to prove to sign one now, and it wouldn’t be good for the organization without results this year to back it up. He has been around a long time and believes no one puts more pressure on him than himself.
See what he did there? He just set the stage. Some of you may be yelling how dumb it is to turn down an extension. Take the money! That’s assuming there is an extension to be signed. This type of rhetoric leads one to believe there is no current offer from the Colts, no deal at all. He has been willing to sign an extension before. Wasn’t he in the last year of that deal too? Maybe that had a fresh playoff win behind it, but the level of success hasn’t necessarily taken a tremendous dip.
He knows without a shadow of a doubt this is it. I highly doubt ownership has plans to extend him before the season. If things go well to start the year, they might, but not before. If things fall apart and Ballard is shown the door, he can leave with some sense of understanding, or at least perceived understanding, that he was part of that decision. It’s like when someone at your company leaves and the corporate memo spins it, but you know they were canned due to performance.
Maybe Chris Ballard is being noble. Maybe he feels he really doesn’t deserve it. I am not in his brain. I have, however, seen a lot of sports professionals cash checks they really shouldn’t get. He wouldn’t be the first or last to do so. Turning any potential offer from the Colts down would be foolish. The only thing more foolish is expecting us to believe there was an offer on the table to begin with.
