The Indianapolis Colts grew increasingly frustrated with Trent Richardson throughout the course of the 2014 season, and there is more to it than the former first-round pick’s inability to carry the ball beyond the line of scrimmage.
Mike Wells of ESPN.com reports that the Colts were upset with Richardson over his weight issues and “accessibility” in addition to his absence from a walk-through the day before the AFC Championship Game.
As we learned after the Colts were eliminated from the playoffs, Richardson has been suspended for two games for breaking team rules. He served the first game of his ban when he did not travel to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots. According to Wells, the Colts could look to Richardson’s alleged insubordination as a reason to void the $3.1 million he is owed next season in guaranteed money.
Richardson supposedly began gaining weight after he injured his hamstring in October. He reportedly weighed in at 240 pounds toward the end of the season after beginning the year at 225.
While it was initially reported that Richardson missed practice before the AFC Championship game because he was dealing with a serious family issue, Wells is told the former Alabama star went AWOL until 1:00 p.m. the day after the game. Richardson claimed he had a family emergency and used “phone problems” as an excuse for not calling or texting anyone on the team.
Richardson was a surprise inactive for Indy’s divisional round playoff game against the Denver Broncos and later said being benched will “never happen to me again.”
The more we learn, the more it becomes obvious that Jim Brown’s assessment of Richardson was accurate. The Colts must be livid they gave up a first-round pick to acquire Richardson from the Cleveland Browns. He defines the term bust.
