The Indianapolis Colts held a press conference on Wednesday to address the sudden re-opening of their head coaching search, and general manager Chris Ballard did a good job of showing no animosity toward Josh McDaniels or the New England Patriots. That is, until he was about to walk away from the podium.
Right after Ballard fielded his last question from reporters, he pronounced that “the rivalry is back on” and then walked away from the podium.
Colts GM Chris Ballard had an epic mic drop moment at the end of his press conference: “The rivalry is back on” pic.twitter.com/7j6VmeODcO
— Steve DelVecchio (@SteveDelSports) February 7, 2018
Ballard said that he wishes McDaniels well and that he did not care to hear an explanation for why the offensive coordinator bailed, but that final remark showed that the Colts are taking things personally. Naturally, Twitter had a field day with Ballard’s dramatic mic drop moment.
Congratulations on the new banner, @Colts!
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
| RIVALRY |
| BACK |
| ON |
| 2018 |
– – – – – – – – – – – – –— SportsPickle (@sportspickle) February 7, 2018
Chris Ballard: the rivalry is back on
Patriots fans: pic.twitter.com/EYGGbdP09o
— Feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) February 7, 2018
Patriots better double-check their air pressure gauges next year https://t.co/Trsx8e2IGo
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) February 7, 2018
Chris Ballard wrapped up the presser by saying “The rivalry is back on.”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/wWpopaHvrv
— Michael Grady (@Grady) February 7, 2018
Chris Ballard's closing line today: 'The rivalry's back on.' pic.twitter.com/pNBZdrtHLj
— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) February 7, 2018
Ballard did great in that press conference. Clearly not happy and yet took the high road. Ballard leaving saying, "the rivalry is back on" was great! Colts are in good hands! pic.twitter.com/hrzlQJZklR
— Jason Hampton (@hamptonsports) February 7, 2018
“The (Patriots Colts) rivalry is back on.” pic.twitter.com/yPCztLkk0d
— Shellz (@ShellzHD) February 7, 2018
“The rivalry is back on.” – Colts GM pic.twitter.com/iyljzOy4Fr
— Kelli (@KELx14) February 7, 2018
You can understand why Ballard is angry and trying to rally his team’s fans, but that last tweet pretty much sums up where the “rivalry” currently stands between the Colts and Patriots. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady had some great battles back in the day, but New England beat Indy the majority of the time then and has owned the Colts in recent years.
There have been indications that Patriots owner Robert Kraft intentionally stuck it to the Colts with the McDaniels disaster, but New England is still in much better shape than Indy heading into next season. That renewed “rivalry” may have to wait a few more years.
