Trent Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts are at odds over what happened the weekend of the team’s loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, and now some new information makes Richardson look a lot more sympathetic.
Richardson missed the team’s walkthrough Saturday morning Jan. 17 and was not on the team plane for the flight to New England for the title game the next day. The Colts later suspended Richardson for conduct detrimental to the team for failing to give enough advance notice about his absence.
One report said Richardson was dealing with a legitimate family issue, and now we know what the issue was.
The Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder reported Tuesday that Richardson missed the walkthrough and team flight because of “serious complications” with his girlfriend’s pregnancy.
From Holder’s report:
However, sources said his absence was the result of serious complications with his girlfriend’s pregnancy that could potentially have endangered the life of the child.
These sources said the mother was experiencing contractions and appeared to be in premature labor at just 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Richardson, sources said, rushed her to the hospital in the early-morning hours of Jan. 17 — the same day the team departed for the New England game — missing that morning’s walkthrough in Indianapolis and the team’s chartered flight.
Given that sort of emergency, it makes sense that Richardson would not have been able to give the Colts a warning. But he still should have been responsible and reached out to them to let them know what was going on. If he failed to do that, then their concern would be understandable.
Really this is a matter of two parties fighting over money. Richardson is guaranteed $3.18 million next season, but that salary would be voided if he were suspended by the team. Considering Richardson’s lack of production, he would be lucky to see a fraction of that as a free agent, which is why he is fighting the suspension. The Colts are also supposedly upset with Richardson over his weight and lack of accessibility.
