I'm not a poker player. Spades and Hearts are my games − maybe Solitaire or Go Fish with the kids.
But I’ve seen “Rounders” and “Casino Royale” and enough coverage of games of chance and skill on ESPN and other outlets over the years to know that when you’re pot committed, you better not overplay your hand.
Unfortunately, the Indianapolis Colts’ decision to sign 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers to their practice squad Tuesday seems like a strong tell that the organization and longtime general manager Chris Ballard did exactly that.
On one level you have to feel for the Colts. Ballard seemed to inherit a full house when he took the job in 2017 – then-quarterback Andrew Luck seemingly worth three aces on his own. But Indy was dealt a very bad hand when the oft-injured Luck shockingly retired two weeks before the 2019 season – Ballard and Co. chasing a better one ever since, the Colts languishing outside the playoffs since Rivers last led them there in 2020 in what was purportedly his 17th and final NFL campaign.
Expectations for the team entering the 2025 season seemed modest at best, Ballard diversifying his QB options between Anthony Richardson − the tantalizingly gifted but raw, inexperienced, inconsistent and occasionally immature talent he chose fourth overall in the 2023 draft − and reclamation project Daniel Jones, once viewed as the future of the New York Giants.
