Tales from the Indianapolis Colts Sideline

by Mike Chappell, Phil Richards

Professional football arrived in Indianapolis after a midnight escape from Baltimore in 1984, but the vision, brains, and talent to produce a consistent winner and a championship contender were not delivered until almost 14 years later. December 22, 1997, was a day to remember at the Colts' West 56th Street complex. After years of experiencing pro football as only the son of the owner could--water boy, general gofer, ticket manager, accounting and public relations offices, youngest general manager in the NFL in 1984--Robert Irsay showed that, finally, he was in charge. Irsay slid into the driver's seat and took the wheel. He backed up the truck. He fired director of football operations Bill Tobin and head coach Lindy Infante and hired Bill Polian as team president--all in a day. Those who knew Irsay, who knew Polian and the Colts, hailed the move. "In 1998, in any segment of business or industry or sports, there will be no better hire. This was a coup," said Ralph Cindrich, a player agent whose many negotiations with Polian have included "a few wars." One of Polian's first decisions was to select quarterback Peyton Manning with the first pick of the 1998 NFL draft. Since that time, an increasingly more capable cast has surrounded Manning. A franchise that failed to win more than nine games in any of its first 15 seasons in Indianapolis has won 10 or more four of the past five years, including a 14-5 run that reached the AFC championship game after the 2003 season. Tales from the Indianapolis Colts Sideline takes readers inside the Colts' Union Federal Football complex, onto the RCA Dome sidelines, and into the huddle, inside the decisions, the strategies, the players, and personalitiesthat have made the Colts one of the NFL's most exciting teams.

Genres: Sports, Football

200 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is worth reading for any Colts fan - both to relive notable moments and to learn about some interesting snippets about players. I was gifted this book and enjoyed reading it.

The problem with the book is in the approach. Instead of presenting any kind of coherent narrative, the authors jump around with small snapshot stories. For the chapters about specific players it makes some sense - but for the topical chapters there was no sense of storytelling or chronology.

[Matt Kratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! I enjoyed learning about the Colts and their history.

[Kyle McGinty]

When reading this book, it felt more like a documentary that you would watch on television. It explained in very good detail what was going on with each player on the team. In very good detail it explained how they felt, how they played, and what they were doing at that time. It explained how the Colts started with being losers and losing every game until getting Peyton Manning, then they became winners. They go from player to player asking them how they felt when they played the game and how they felt when some of the players won the Super Bowl.
I like that it also had pictures of each player so you knew what they looked like and how good they were. There was also pictures of games that players played in together and showed how much fun they were having in the pictures and how they worked together as a team. They started the book with the bios of players describing on how they got Indy and how they felt about playing for the city and the fans. Then got into the playoff runs and how they got to the Super Bowl. Then described the after years and how Peyton Manning was getting older and how he suffered his neck injury. Which affected how the Colts decided to use him in the years to come.
In my opinion it was an enjoyable book to read if you are a colts fan of course. But if you like reading about the history of the game of football this book is for you as well. It describes how the game has evolved and how it will keep evolving. I liked how they used stats in this and how they used bios in this. A very good book to read!

[John Goebel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok

[Bonnie Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dated and no stories on Bill Brooks or Chris Hinton. Mostly on the 98-04 colts and backstories on the usual suspects, but all in all a good read.