Matt Taylor Answered Phones for $9 an Hour. Now He Calls NFL Games for the Indianapolis Colts.

It's a very romantic medium because it's just you and the words and the great ones can take you there. It's like watching a movie and then trying to in [music] real time describe it describe a movie to someone that is blind. Yeah, Jonathan Taylor's great, but he's not even the MVP in his own team. It was Jones. [music] Jones unlocked everything. How did you get the call that you were going to be the permanent voice of the Indianapolis Colts?

From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, [music] founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Today, I'm joined by Matt Taylor, the voice of the Indianapolis Colts and manager of radio production. He's a Hooser born and raised. Matt is a Ron Collie High School graduate, the pride of the Southside, baby. He played football at Franklin College, worked in radio before joining the Colts organization in 2012, and is now living out his dream of being [music] the radio playby-play voice of the Indianapolis Colts, and he's done that since 2018.

I'm so excited to dive into [music] what the journey looks like to become the voice of a franchise. I think that's such a cool career path. uh what the ups and downs, the twists, the turns have all looked like in your time with the uh the Indianapolis Colts. And of course, [music] we're going to talk ball. Looking at a preview for the 2026 season, baby. Welcome to the show, my man.

What's happening? Thanks for having me. Let's go. I mean, we have a a season veteran on the mic here. I am uh I'm honored to have you in the studio talking all things Colts. I have to ask, what was the first time you got on the mic?

Like, where were you was it a was it a PA game at a baseball? Where did you first get on the mic and announce something? Well, the first time I can remember like hearing my voice being played back was Do you remember Home Alone back in the day? Like Kevin Mallister's little talk boy machine. Oh, absolutely. You know what I'm talking about?

Yes, sir. Uh, so I got one of those for Christmas or birthday one year and I I would just broadcast games in my living room like as a 10-year-old. You know, that's why during co when we were doing games, you know, remotely watching on TV, that's why I said I haven't done this since I was 10 with a talk boy. [laughter] But yeah, I mean that that was it. Like I knew what I wanted to do kind of career pathwise pretty early on. I was blessed in that regard.

Said, "Keep the change, you filthy animal. Come [laughter] on." Wow. So you from the beginning, you would be watching and and you wanted to be on the call. You were you were a player, right? you were a four-year varsity letter winner at at Franklin, team captain.

And so, while you were going through there, you knew that the the route you wanted to get into was radio was Yeah. announcing. I I knew I wanted to do something in like entertainment. I I I I knew pretty early on I wasn't suited for the real world, you know what I mean? Like I I couldn't sit still. Uh I wasn't really meant for like a nto-five office job, you know?

I knew I wanted to do either something in the entertainment field, you know, um like Jimmy Mad Dog Made us uh you remember him from the Bob and Tom show. He's a big family friend of ours and a big mentor of mine. And so I knew I was going to either be, you know, like career aspiration wise, I was going to be on Bob and Tom or Saturday Night Saturday Night Live, you know, doing impressions or, you know, just trying to make people laugh. But it wasn't until, you know, I became kind of a a pretty decent athlete in college and or high school, then morphed into college that, you know, like I I can discuss c or uh football and sports pretty well. Like I can kind of understand what's being taught to me and then communicate it. And then the very first time I was um behind the mic in college at Franklin College as a freshman, I did a varsity men's basketball game.

I was hooked. Like I was awful. I didn't prep at all. Like I didn't know I didn't know what I didn't know right in terms of, you know, what it what it took to to be prepared to have a good broadcast. But I just remember the high and the adrenaline I got from being behind the mic describing the action and and hearing my voice do playbyplay. It was like this is what I want to do.

And so from that point on, it was uh both personally and professionally taking the steps necessary to try to do this, you know, post college and get a paycheck to do it, to be able to watch sports, talk about it, and get paid to do it. Dude, playbyplay seems like one of the hardest careers because you have to have really good adjectives and and different words that plug in. It's almost like Mad Libs, right? You can't just say he's running the ball left. It's like he [laughter] snatches the ball and he takes off down the left side and he's dancing on the hashes or you know like it's very very descriptive and especially like you know now everyone's watching it and the call kind of like accents like it accents the picture. But imagine the old day like you were like your profession was how people experienced sports.

They didn't get to see it. Yeah, this is like you were painting a picture so that people could like their minds in their imagination. And what you're describing is is what I love about radio. It's a very classic and not to be too dramatic, but it's a very romantic medium because it's just you and the words. Yeah. And the great ones can take you there, you know, like I I've I've studied a lot of great broadcasters over the years.

I've stolen a lot of what they do and made it my own. I think we all do that and we're sort of melting pots of other people. But, uh, yeah, the great ones can just take you there with their words and that description and their tone, their pacing, their energy, using their voice as an instrument. They just take you there. And the great ones leave really nothing to chance in terms of you being able to see the game for yourself in your head based on their narration and their description. Yeah, that's wild.

Like I mean I I can just imagine sitting down there at your first varsity basketball game and you're like, "Let's do this." And like all I had was a roster. I mean had no players memorized. I mean it was a complete utter train wreck. Well, I'd love to see the footage on that one. Right.

But um so talk to me then. How do you practice? Like how do you think of new words? Like do you have like a script written up? Like what does the art of playbyplay really look like? Hopefully people can relate to this.

Like I am my own worst critic. I think a lot of folks can relate to that. And so what I'll do a a good you know practice habit of mine is I mean I go back and I listen to every minute of the broadcast every week. You know to and from work I got about a 25minut drive. Still a southsider. Yeah.

Of course he is. They don't ever leave down there. Yeah. So, I mean, the the the 465 commute during the season is meant for just going back and listening to the game. Yeah. And there's always, you know, half a dozen plays every game that I'd like to have back, you know, just being critical of yourself.

Like, I could have been sharper there or could have used a different word or, you know, maybe I I I fell into a trap that, you know, I'm trying to get out of. But, um, yeah, it's it's a it's a very it's like watching film as a player. you know, you just have to go back and just be self-critical to to know where you need to get better. And to 90 hopefully 98% of the audience would never notice it or wouldn't it wouldn't register for people, but but you you're just you're you're you're chasing that perfect broadcast. And there's no such thing because mistakes are always made and you know, you want to be sharper and be more crisp down down the stretch of of everything that you do. But um listen, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.

You know what I mean? That's that's that's my motto. I mean, failure to uh to prepare is preparing to fail. And another thing that I do, which is going to sound really kind of dorky and geeky, but it really does help, is during uh the season, and it's not every week because life gets in the way, but but one of the exercises that I like to do uh in an effort to get better and just gain that 1% edge is for prime time games, you know, Monday night games or Thursday night games, if I'm home and in in a position to do it, I'll listen, you know, because Sirius XM has every broadcast, every team, right? So, I'll listen to the first quarter of team A and then the second quarter of team B and I just listen to other playby-play guys and I do that on Saturdays for college football and it's just, man, I like the way that guy described that or, you know, he used a word here or, you know, in my case, just juggling so many balls.

You know, I I'm I'm listening for production value, too. you know, I like the bumper music that they used or uh a way to kind of um you know, segue into a segment on their pregame show, whatever it is. So, like I said, I'm just a big melting pot of other broadcasts and other guys that have done it for a long time, and you take and choose what they um are are good at, their strengths, and accentuate that into your your own brand, if you will. If you think about watching sports as a kid, you can remember who's on the call and you can remember the great like and again it is this in a world of of video and picture and watching it. It is this like premium experience like everyone knows you know it's like it's like the bars that don't play game audio and you're like it's just not the same experience you know when you're watching the greatest game the big like the NBA finals last year. I just remember like watching it and it's like who's on the call?

Like what are they saying when Tyrese goes down and it's just like it's like a in that instance it was like an extra knife to the heart and you're [laughter] like oh god wow man. Okay. I want to know you graduate from Franklin. How does someone pursue the career path like like what does it look like to get to an NFL team? I had a lot of part-time jobs right away and this is like 20 years ago and I thought I was going to be like the next Bob Kostas. It was just going to happen because I I had a lot of, you know, for for a college kid, I just had a lot of experience and called a lot of games.

Well, obviously that wasn't the case. Um, so I had a lot of part-time jobs and um, you name it, I was doing it. Dude, I mean, didn't you start in after college in Newcastle? That was one of them. That was one of them. Yeah.

Gig. I mean, I was just sending my resume and making calls and just trying to get an opportunity behind the mic no matter what it was or where it was. Dude, you know, again, Southsiders in broadcasting, Joey Molinaro talks about this. He's a Ron Collie guy and he talks about like I was any shift that was open at any station, I would like go in and be a DJ. Like I he would go do it. I mean, that that's another one.

I mean, I tell this story all the time. Uh, another part-time job I had right away as a pretty young professional, uh, MS Communications, now Radio One in Indianapolis. Uh, they I'm sure they just grab my resume off a stack of papers and they just give me a call and this is like in 2008, so it's pre all this pre, you know, pre-podcast, pre iPhones, no YouTube, Twitter, any of that stuff. And it was a high school sports call-in show, right? I don't know if you are familiar with Bob Levelvel and his Network Indiana sports show, but it's Fridays and Saturday nights from 9:30 to midnight. So, it's in the fall for football and in the, you know, the winter and the spring for basketball.

And so, my job, they call me in or they call me on the phone, they say, "Hey, we need somebody to come in and answer phones." So, that's literally all I did. So, I would answer the phones. People would call the 1-800 number and they would uh I would pick up the phone and they would report the score from anywhere from Jasper to Salem to Sullivan to Terote to South Bend or Fort Wayne. And I would jot the score down on a piece of paper. I'd hand it to the producer.

The producer would then hand it to the update guy and then it would get on the show. I mean, I was part-time as part-time can be. I mean, I'm making eight or nine bucks an hour or whatever the wage was back then. And you know, I'm 21, 22 years old. And you're a college graduate. I'm a college graduate.

And you know, most of my friends that are still around are still in that kind of like go out college mode. You we're going to hit the bars on Friday and Saturday nights. And so to explain to them like, "Guys, I'm going to beg off here. I'm going to go make chump chains answering a phone." And they're like, they look at you like you have three heads, dude. But it was a foot in the door, right?

So if I say no to that really crappy job, I say no to everything that can happen to me afterwards, which is the moral of the story, right? So, you know, soon after that, I'm producing shows and hosting shows and then I'm a full-time employee and I'm, you know, showing my versatility within the cluster of stations that we have. And then I'm there for four or five years and then the Colts call, they notice kind of all that I'm doing and all that I'm juggling and they say, you know, we we we need somebody to to kind of take over our network and uh basically do all of our uh production and planning and research and hosting, basically do everything but call the game. That was in 2012 and I've been there ever since. Wow. Yeah.

Okay. So, this is an interesting piece that I want to talk about is there's outside media like there is, you know, I'll say dom like with get in sports, right? Like there's outside media and then there's in-house media. So, like does a radio station like WIBC or whoever would they have someone at the game calling it or is it just you? So, the Colts, uh, the the dynamic they've always had since I can remember, and that was a a good advantage of mine working at EMS at the time, is they had all the major players in terms of the partners, right? They had the Pacers, the Colts, IU football and basketball, Indie Car, IHSAA, State Finals, you name it.

So, it was a beneficial thing for me to see how all those different partnerships and all those properties, how they were the same in terms of operation, but also how they differed. And the Colts have always done everything in house. Um, okay. So, like they would have an in-house voice that then shares kind of like that stream or that feed to other radio stations. Yeah. So, the Colts own the broadcast, they own the rights, they own the inventory, they keep all the money in terms of the sale, uh, you know, for for with the clients, and they hire the talent.

And so the the partner if you will for uh the Colts in town is or it has been for a very long time communications now radio one flagship station uh is 935 1075 the fan and then there's about 40 plus uh affiliates across the state some in Kentucky Illinois that that carry our games. I got you. And that's like coming again in modern terms it' be like the stream comes from a Colts employee comes from you today and goes out to all those different stations. We we produce the broadcast. Yeah. And then when you cut to your commercial or like your partner they would probably cut to theirs on the station.

There are some local advertising opportunities for the affiliates. Yeah. Okay. That's really interesting cuz I would assume it was like a box with, you know, uh, 1070 has to have someone, so and so has to have someone like, so you come in there, you get your first opportunity with the Colts in 2012, but you're everything but but on the mic. You're just behind the scenes. This is an interesting piece, too.

I think so many people get into media to be the face. like talk about what does it take behind the camera to get your opportunity to get in front of it or for you what does it take behind the mic off the mic to get the opportunity to get on the mic? Well, they knew my career aspirations and you know I was doing a lot of stuff contractwise outside of the Colts uh to to still be on the mic and still get those reps and still you know sharpen things. And so um they they they were aware of that. They encouraged that. They were very supportive of that, but um it made for some very long falls, if you will.

You know what I mean? Like I was doing a full-time job for the Colts that's very demanding in season and then, you know, calling games on Fridays and Saturdays and then traveling with the Colts and getting back at, you know, 2:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning on Monday morning and then doing it all over again. What do you do during the week? And this is probably what you get all the time. It's like, oh, you just probably flip on the st [laughter] You just flip it on and start going. Yeah.

It's just magically there. All that knowledge. Yeah. I mean, obviously tons and tons of prep work, you know, and I think having having been a three sport athlete in high school and then a a college football player, I think just like the preparation part just has always been drilled and instilled in me on just how important that is. So, me, I treat this job like I'm a player. Like you've got you've got processes and you've got benchmarks you need to be at in order to feel like you are prepared.

Yeah. So, and that's how like the best broadcasters can pull off like uh so and so was a a swimmer in high school. Like they have these stat like it's not like they're just solely all knowing. It's like they also have done prep work and no one does it for you. At least no one does it for me. I mean I do it all.

So you got to go in and like kind of sleuth through players on the other team, players on our team. like really learn about them and you have to contextualize everything that can happen throughout the course of a game, right? So, I mean, you've got Colts are playing the the Ravens week one. I mean, obviously, there's a litany of information on Lamar Jackson, but guess what? It's the NFL. Everything gets covered.

So, if if they're starting left guard goes out the first drive and the next guy comes in, I need to know who's playing the backup left guard. I need to be able to give context into why he matters right now. And just like overall where it's like the city of Baltimore, you need to have some like catchy like quips about Baltimore and crab cakes, you know, to like [laughter] to be able to say like our shrimp cocktails hotter than their crab cakes. You can use that. There you go. Yeah, it's registered now.

See, it's a melting pot, right? You just take and grab. It's like you be able to pull stuff like that out and that's like cuz those are the ones where you're you kind of hear it and you're like how in the hell that guy really prepared like he knows his stuff and it's almost like it's like the the old school version of AI like pulls that out and you're like let's go. So that's what you're preparing during the week. A lot of research tons tons of research. A lot there's I mean it's the NFL.

I mean every team gets covered you know this way to Sunday. Yeah. So there's so much information out there. Sometimes it can be paralysis by analysis almost too much and you got to cut it off. Yeah. But uh yeah, I mean I read a lot uh I research a lot.

What sources are how are you learning about the players within the organizations? Uh well I mean we have great beat writers. So I mean that's one of the things that's one of the exercises I do literally every single day. I mean it could be you know March 10th in the offseason. I mean I'm Dude, that's my birthday. Is it really?

My birthday is March 10th. That's a crazy This is an omen right now. [clears throat] We were on the same same wavelength there. Did you research before this? I did not, dude. No, that's crazy [laughter] that you just says my birthday.

Wow. All right. So, it's March 10th in the office. Oh, yeah. I mean, I I read everything that's written about the team every single day. Who's your favorite beat writer?

Pick one. Probably. I mean, if I'm being biased, uh, which I am here, it's got to be Mike Chapel. Yeah. I mean, he's a good he's a good friend of mine. He's been literally doing it since 1984.

He's got so much history of the franchise. So, dude, one of the He writes the way I want to be uh informed. You know who would be great? I'm sure you talk to him when he's in the building. I had John Scott on the podcast. The historic dude, the archavist.

Yeah, that guy subtle blood. Go back and listen to the episode. He was an intern with the Colts when they were in Baltimore. He started his career with the Baltimore Colts and moved with the team. He's the one who gets the call. They're like, "Uh," he's like, "Yeah, I got a call from Jimmy."

Jim Ursi calls him and says, "We're moving the team to Indianapolis." And he goes, "Awesome. When?" He goes, "Tomorrow." [laughter] Like, "What?" Yeah.

Know, he's in the car as they're leaving Owen Mills. Right. When he talks about uh getting like sneaking him out, he has like a blanket over the front seat. And I'm like, "Bro, yeah." He came back to my one-bedroom apartment and slept on the couch. That's nuts, dude.

Wow. Tons of stories like that. You know what I mean? But it's it's a really fun job. It's it's a very unique position. Uh it's hard to describe just because there's really there's only one of me, you know, within the the building, if you will.

32, right? And there's 32 across the country in the NFL. So, talk about a coveted position. Feel very blessed to have it, but it's it's a lot of work. It's a lot of responsibility. I want to know uh what it was about a year and a half, maybe two seasons into your time with the Colts.

You get the call. you get the opportunity to get on the mic after was it two was it the second season? It was uh 20 it was week 17 which back then was the regular season finale uh 2014. Yeah. Yeah. And you get the opportunity.

How does that go down? How do you end up getting your first opportunity to get on the mic? Well, I mean that was it was kind of like you know it's winter time and stuff's going around in terms of sickness. So, uh, unfortunately Bob Lamey had become ill and, um, found out Saturday that, you know, his, uh, state, if you will, just was kind of going going downhill and was probably best for all parties that he didn't make the trip. And so I, you know, the plane for, we were playing the Tennessee Titans, so the plane to Nashville was going to take off, let's say 3:00. I get a call at noon like, "Hey, Bob can't do it.

Can you?" And I'm like, "Bet your ass I can." You know what I mean? Like again, like you're just from a from a professional uh career desire, like this is it. You know, like this is this is a huge audition. So, you know, I'm prepared for a lot of different things just because I'm juggling a lot of balls.

But, uh, there's a difference between being prepared to, you know, plan the pregame show and host the pregame show versus knowing the ins and outs of all, you know, 106 guys that are going to be potentially on the field the next day. In 25 hours, not not even like if you got the call at noon. Well, I mean, our pregame show starts at Oh, yeah. 10:00 a. m. So, you're like in less than 24 hours, you got to know what the heck's going on.

You got to have some some knowledge. Obviously, for the Colts, I got a solid baseline. Not so much solid baseline for Tennessee, even though they're a division team. You're familiar with them. Yeah. So, get on the plane, go straight to the hotel room, and I don't even know what time I went to bed.

Maybe 3:00, 4:00 in the morning, just making sure like I had everything ready to go. Memorizing names and numbers, and you know, the one big thing about each guy that day, the first time they touch the ball or make a play, I've got it ready to go. It's it's, you know, built-in memory. And and I have the utmost respect for that cuz I keep the laptop on just so I can like kind of pull into that stuff. But you're are you no notes? No.

Do you have written notes? I've got Yeah, I've got a ton tons of notes, you know, tons of notes, you know, printed out. You have to just like put this all out of memory, but like to get quick and to be on the call and it's the best ones are probably memorized. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you're on the too deep Yeah.

I I got your name, your number, where you went to school, how many years you've been in the NFL, and the one thing that's important to you that day, cuz the first time you touch the ball, I want to be able to put you into context immediately. And it just makes for a fresh, crisp, sharp broadcast. I don't want to be looking down wondering who number 25 is. I need to know exactly who number 25 is because when you're in the game, I got to be able to identify you and then be crisp and sharp with the description of of the game flow. So, I mean, I was a nervous wreck. I really I mean, obviously, I I was really comfortable doing playbyplay.

I mean, at to that point, I'd done hundreds of games, but just not an NFL game. Yeah. Right. Big difference, right? And so, that's 2014, the season finale. Yeah.

Fast forward to 2018 and Bob retires and you get called in in the season to be the intram voice. Yeah. And were you worried at the end of the like was it a done deal that you were going to be the voice going forward or was it kind of like a try out to see if like were you worried of like I have to crush this so I can I can do this forever? Yeah. I mean there was a lot of uncertainty there. Um, it it was explained to me when everything went down that I was going to do the season, the full season as the interim voice of the team.

I knew as soon as I heard the word interim, like selfishly, like I was really I was really pissed off about that because I knew what that meant for the rest of the season because you're talking about this is just natural, right? family and friends, anybody associated with you calling, texting, wanting updates and knowing I wasn't going to get any. You know what I mean? And so it just I was just left to just think about how it was going to go for 20 weeks. You know what I mean? And so it you just and the reason why I was mad is because I knew I was going to be my own worst enemy in that because I was going to be really hyperritical of everything that I did, everything that I said, wanting to be perfect, wanting every broadcast to go brilliantly.

And I don't know at what point in the season it was. Uh I I I can't really pinpoint it, but I just remember after some sleepless nights and uh a lot of like just worrying about things that I can't control. I just I I said to myself, you know what? I'm just going to live in faith and not fear because I know I can do this. I know I've got the skill set for it. Uh I know I'm built for it.

If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. And here's the deal, like this is not like a um it's it's it's it's just to me it's like a fact. It's not, you know, pointing fingers at anything else. But the reality for my situation was, you know, if you work a corporate job, like a 9 to5, and you're up for a promotion and you don't get it, not many people don't know about it. You know what I mean? Like may you know about it, your boss will know about it, and if you tell your significant other, they'll probably know about it.

In my situation, hundreds of thousands of people would know I didn't get this promotion. And like that's enough to keep you up at night. Like it was a huge shot. Like this is a major opportunity cuz it's like you either have to go back to doing what you were doing or you got to like leave town. Not like leave town or just get out of the business. Go go go do something different because you're like, "Oh, you were you were the voice but they didn't they didn't like you enough to give you the full-time gig."

100%. It's kind of like Yeah. like the the interim head coach thing and if somebody else comes in, you're just like, "Oh, uh, I guess I wasn't good enough." There's just a lot of anxiety there, you know? Plus, I was still doing what I was doing before. Now, I'm calling the games, so my quality of life really wasn't very good.

I was just working non-stop 24/7 for about 6 and a half months. How did you get the call that you were going to be the permanent voice of the Indianapolis Colts? So I get called in the So the Colt I don't know if you remember that year very much 2018 Colts started off really poor one and five and then they go on this run right they win nine of their last 10 games and make the playoffs. So, they actually are going on the road in the postseason that year to play the Texans. And it's a Saturday game. So, we're going to leave Friday, the the day before the game, and I get a phone call to to come down and and talk with uh with ownership and some of the important movers and shakers within the organization.

And I just thought we were going to go over like, you know, playoff messaging, you know, like, okay, if we win the game, maybe we have a home playoff game. the next game we're going to go over how to, you know, uh, approach selling tickets and things like that. But they called me in and said, "Hey, you know, you you've done a really good job this entire season. We're going to take the interim tag off. You're going to be the permanent voice of the Colts." And they they said they they informed me of that information, but they were and I I appreciated them doing this because I think it would have got kind of got lost in the shuffle in terms of the um the news cycle, if you will.

But once the uh once the season ended, then they were going to make the announcement. So, but I internally knew about it. So, like that next game, that next day when we're playing the Texans, like just this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, you know what I mean? I just felt more, you know, naturally I just felt more like myself, uh, in control, more comfortable, and that that to this day is one of my favorite broadcasts and one of my best broadcasts because I just kind of felt like I was free of of having to worry about how other people felt. I knew how other people felt. they approved of me and they were satisfied with the job that I did and uh you know felt like I was going to get better and grow into the role which I'd like to think that I have and uh it that that whole game was just a blast.

Colts won it some big plays with Andrew Luck and Ty Hilton. I mean it was just such a fun day. Wow. That that would you'd be a free a very freeing feeling where it's like I put in all this work to get to here and even though it's not to the public, you know. Yeah. and you're like, "Let's just go out there and and let's just let let it all hang out."

I love that, man. Now, I want to know from your time, what you started in 2012, how has radio and and all of that shifted over the last 14 years? Yeah. Well, certainly, I mean, I think the the obviously here we're sitting here, right? I mean, I think the podcast digital age has just completely exploded. um the way people consume their information and their media and their shows.

Obviously, you can do anything from you know the the device in your pocket nowadays. But I am a firm believer that as long as the people are driving and they're commuting, there's going to be radio and there's going to be a need for radio. And radio is still very, very important. And people still, I mean, the research shows people still consume radio more so than any other audio medium, if you will, or ways to get their information audio-wise. Wow. So, I still think there's tremendous value for the the local shows and the local stations that serve the community.

Um, you know, this this might be like a little nasty metaphor, but I I think radio's kind of like a cockroach. Like it, you know, you can you can it's definitely kind of morphed over the years. Um, and and people are, you know, they're they're spraying their yards for it, but it just like comes back in different forms. It just adapts and it survives. And I just really think it's uh it it still holds uh a special place for a lot of people and it's really important. Well, you think about [clears throat] some of the cool ways it's being used is like your audio can get overlapped on video for social like like it is a very you talk about romantic this very pure it still serves a lot of different purposes.

I mean, some of the favorite ones are um like like Radio Espanol or whatever, you know, like where you get like the the people that speak Spanish and then they overlay that on like the clip. It's like it's electric. That's electric. And different pieces when when the voice of any team gets like you get like a front shot of them in the booth, they're making the call. They see it and they're like cheering and they're going crazy. And then you also like have like a um an up and down like a top and bottom.

You see the highlight. You see the highlight. you see them in the booth like those are electric. They're really really cool. I know just to see people in their natural element and you know like at the end of the day you do all the prep work and you do all the studying and you host all the shows but like there is nothing there's no drug in the world that can replace the adrenaline and the feeling that you get when you are you know subconsciously that you are responsible for a lot of people's take in of the broadcast and it's your job to heighten their enjoyment of being a Colts fan. Right now, you got to be accurate and you got to be professional and you got to check all these different boxes so people can follow along throughout the course of the game.

But it's it's you that hopefully helps people want to come back and consume the Colts. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I think, you know, it's it's 2026 as well. So, I think you also have to understand that most people when they watch football or just watch sports in general, uh they either want to be at the game or in front of their 4K 70in TV. So, I think like I mean I I realize that about 95% of the audience listening on radio is listening because they have to because they're not afforded those abilities.

So when you listen to a game, it's I I call the game how I want to listen to the game. And so I think I'm incredibly fundamental about the broadcast in terms of just always giving you the basic nuts and bolts. Time, score, where's the ball upcoming, down in distance, you know, line of scrimmage, all of that stuff. You can't sacrifice those things. But when you watch a game on TV, what do you always have at your disposal to help you follow along with the game? Your phone.

Well, but you always and on the TV you've got the box, right? The box or the scroll, right? In time, score, timeout situation. My job is to give you the box as often as possible. I was going to say, do you have like an internal clock where like you have to give time down in distance, position on the field, left, right, center? Yeah.

I mean, fundamentally, I mean, I'm going to give you the the uh gain of the play and the upcoming line of scrimmage and the upcoming down and distance every single time and then the analyst will take over. But I do have this I don't have a physical clock in front of me, but I do have like this internal twitch about me like every two plays I need to give reference to the box. And it doesn't have to be I, you know, come out and flat out and say it's 7 to3 with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. You can say the Colts are up by four with, you know, we're halfway through the first quarter, whatever it is, right? It can be more subtle sometimes compared to others, but uh yeah, I mean, I just I call the game how I want to listen to it. Yeah, that is so [clears throat] it's so impressive when you know they break the huddle like Colts break the huddle, come out two two receivers to the right, double backs, like all these different ways that you're just like painting the picture that you're seeing.

It's impressive. Like you mean it's like almost like looking at anything. It's like watching a movie and then trying to in real time it describe a movie to someone that is blind. Yeah. It's like Yeah. I just You know what?

It's funny you say that cuz some of the best some of the compliments for me that have meant the most are from visibly impaired folks that are huge Colts fans. Obviously, it's their main way of consuming the game and taking in the action. And they'll either call or email and they'll they'll say, "Hey, I I really appreciate what you guys do." And that's that's the ultimate compliment because that's you're you're literally filling in their imagination with your work. Have you seen those new boards, too, where they can like experience the game through it's like a it's like an iPad almost, but it like kind of shows where players are going? No, I haven't seen that.

Dude, there are some like clips that they have the broadcast. They're listening to the broadcast. They're listening to like the playbyplay and they can feel it on like a braille board. No way. It's like, dude, it makes you cry. Sure.

Cuz you're like they're they're like getting a 4D sense of football for like the first time ever. And it's like, dude, football transcends all all things. How cool is that? It's just like it you go watch some clips when you get back and it's like your audio like your product, your craft can be paired with modern technology to bring this to life for people that would not otherwise get to experience football the way that the average person. It is amazing, dude. I love it.

Okay, we're talking about some of the compliments that mean the most to you. I want to go through a few highs and lows like uh some of your greatest calls where you're like, "Oh, this was the greatest play I ever called and then a time where I made a huge bonehead mistake." [laughter] So, so what's like when you think about your Mount Rushmore of greatest calls you've ever had, what would they be? The the calls that I'm probably the most proud of are when you when you get everything right. You know what I mean? like what what separates a good call from a great call is when you're able to incorporate uh I didn't come up with this idea or this concept, but I really subscribed to it.

Somebody I it was like a class or something I took or you know I just heard somebody talking about it, but I really kind of dove into it. But like when you think of a uh like the food pyramid, remember like back in third grade you had the food in the health class, you had the the food pyramid, carbs, protein, dairy. Yeah. wheats, you know, all that stuff. And then sugars at the top, right, where you don't need a whole lot of it. But somebody took that concept of like the most important things and made it into like the play-by-play broadcast pyramid.

And at the bottom like your foundational things are like we just talked about time and score, who's important, why does this matter, pinpoint the ball, description words, but and then at the top, you know, things that you can like really incorporate in small doses to bring it all home, you know, like you use your voice as an instrument, time or uh, you know, pacing and rhythm, right? I mean, just things that we we kind of take for granted as people that speak. Um, so the calls that I'm most important, there you go. Right there. Same kind of thing. So, time and score, description, pinpoint the ball.

Oh, you actually pulled it up. I thought you were looking at the uh No. Why does this matter? The health pyramid. Perfect. Who's important?

There you go. Recap and then the recap. So, when you're able to incorporate all of those things into one call, and it doesn't have to be like uh, you know, a twominute drive and a 65 yard touchdown that wins the game. Like those are great moments obviously, but the ones that I mean going back and listen to the game in the car like you just know it when you hear it. Like yeah, nailed that one. Like it was it was good description, pinpointed the ball, you know, used a verb that I hadn't used prior to that point in the game.

Uh but it was an accurate, you know, an appropriate word to use it. You know, just tying everything in in one call is what you strive for. And you have to do that what 150 times a game cuz that's how many plays there are. And then obviously the the the calls you'd like to have back is when like one of those major parts of the period you kind of slip pyramid I should say you kind of slip up in. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And there's always you know like six or seven plays a game. I was going to say has there ever been a time on a broadcast where you like said something you're like in your back you're like I cannot believe I just said that. Well, you know, you unfortunately I think, you know, you you try not to do this, but human nature, you're going to make mistakes and you anticipate things and you anticipate things incorrectly, you know. So, I' I've identified and that unfortunately it's happened in a big moment. You know, you've identified somebody on a catch that's, you know, a huge turning point in the game or, you know, you you get inside the red zone or somebody scores a touchdown and you misidentify the player, right? you know, you're seven stories up.

Sometimes an eight looks like a six or a one looks like a seven. And, you know, body types are are similar with with some players. And so, you know, sometimes it's it's and I've learned this, you know, a couple of times the hard way. just take a beat, take a pause, let the crowd fill in the gap, uh tap dance a little bit because it's it's better to get it right a hair later than to get it wrong instantaneously and then sort of ruin the call or ruin the moment. Yeah. Cuz I mean I would get it would be hard.

Have you had to like check the fandom a little bit? I mean I talked with a lot of broadcasters or not even broadcasters but just journalists in general. Yeah. And you would think the best journalists are the diehard Colts fans or the diehard Pacers fans and it's like well I don't know for you like you obviously are a pro colts individual [laughter] but do you also like I'd be like I mine would be like the mute button where it's like son of a Yeah. I mean it happens. It does.

And you know am I a fan? Yeah. I mean I grew up here. Yeah. You know I mean I grew up watching and and rooting for this franchise. So, I mean, I still have, you know, pinch me moments.

I mean, I get one before every game. Like, holy crap, like, how lucky am I to do this? Yeah, this is going to sound oxymoron, which it is, but you know, to to cover the team while you work for the team, it's like an inherent conflict of interest. Or to describe my broadcast style for the Colts, it would be like objectively biased. Yeah. Because you still got a job to do.

You know, if you're not playing well, you still have to be objective about it. You still don't have to explain why and get into the how. Like what what's going on? Like you can't you can't skirt the bad. I always because you have to have you know professional integrity. I always wonder about that with journalists and in-house communication staff like one I I think being an NFL player ju take off like the on the field stuff.

You talk about Caitlin Clark right now. We we'll put it in a different sport. Halen Clark. It's like everything she does from like how she wears her hair to the three point is scrutinized and like people in the organization have to also like maybe not on the hair and stuff like that but like if someone is playing bad people in your org have to talk about the way that you are playing and like that would just create some like from my perspective on the outside looking in friction. Mhm. It's like, "Oh, I dropped."

Let's say you're a receiver. We're on the same team, but yet here we are. Kind of a divide there. Yeah. You But you like totally talked about how I dropped that wide open pass. Like, what the heck, man?

And it's like, well, how does that relationship work? Well, to the Colts credit, I mean, I'm going into my 15th season. I mean, I can count on like two fingers. the amount of time where someone has called me in to talk about how we're covering something or how we're gonna cover something or something that somebody said like they understand they mean classic case of I think if you hire the right people to do the job um there's a way to do it professionally and tactfully um and so I mean not that I've mastered this over the years but I think I've understood uh gained an understanding of of how to do it uh the right way. You know, like to your point, like let's say, then this is just a madeup example, but let's say, you know, it's it's down the stretch of the season and the Colts defense is just they're not playing well. They're not stopping the run.

Okay, there's a way. I mean, you still have to talk about that. I mean, it's the reason why, you know, you might be losing games, right? You have to cover it. You got to talk about it, right? I mean, people won't come to you and they won't trust you if you don't, you know, you can't be a shill for the squad if you glance over and you Yeah, you're just a everything's fine.

Don't worry about it. It's like what? No, come on. Like, be real here. And so, they trust us to do that. But instead of saying, man, the Colts defense, the rushing defense, the defensive line's terrible and awful.

I mean, I don't use words like that, adjectives like that, but it's rooted in the approach that you take and the research that you do. They need to step up here. Well, not only Yeah, absolutely. They they need like you can kind of infer what you're talking about where it's like this is a key game deciding factor for this defense. Well, I think facts and research are key, too. Yeah.

Because you can't dispute truths, you know. So that's one of the things I've sort of have perfected I think over the years is hey in the last five games again just made up scenario but in the last five games the Colts rushing defense is averaging giving up 142 yards a game which in that span the last five games ranks 30th in the NFL argue in that which fact didn't didn't call out anybody right didn't use adjectives didn't get personal But it's up to them. I mean, I presented the facts. Now you as a consumer or the audience, then you can understand just how good or bad that is. In a world where where journalism is kind of uh wishy-washy, you know, like now what gets views as opinions and takes versus like clearcut like I present the facts, you know, you talk about especially with like the rise of Substack or the rise of like these different like independent mediums like we're we're not journalists here.

were storytellers and but like storytellers kind of like blur the line of getting media credentials at times and it's really interesting. Bloggers. Yeah. And so you and you want that kind of coverage. Yeah. But also like I don't know.

I just think that's a really interesting relationship where you have to be someone who who is you know looking taking a magnifying glass to the organization. Maybe not so much for you but just journalists in general like people in media in general. You can't just be it's so great everything is fine like again at the end of last season we're starting Philip Rivers things are not fine like or like that one you know the season like it's like we're starting Philip Rivers things are not like I wouldn't say how did we get here like how did we end up here right and so it's like how do you say that tactfully and come in like you're going to see these people around the locker room like you can't be like bashing your players again from a journalist perspective cuz then they're not going to sit down and do an interview with you but you also have to be like, "Hey, let's just be truthful and call spade a spade here."

Yeah. I feel like that's like a true mastery of the of the business, you know, a beat writer or, you know, for somebody like me that um has the advantage of I mean, literally studying this stuff and talking about this stuff and contextualizing, you know, the the franchise in the off season or where they're at at any point in the regular season. Like there's just a lot of background, too. So, I think I'm able to provide that, you know, like preface a lot of things with context and that that kind of brings everything home, but you know, and and to the to the players credit too, like they understand that I've got a job to do. Um, and and often times, you know, whether I'm doing a talk show or a podcast, like I, you know, sometimes you got to talk about the hard truths of of uh, you know, team team failures. You know, the Colts haven't made the playoffs since 2020, right?

I mean, the urgency is incredibly high going into the season, but you know, they they understand that um it's a it's a professional relationship. You know, I'm I'm very friendly and and very close with a lot of Colts players, but also too, like I think it's important to whether it's on their part or my part, understand that um you know, we all have a job to do and and I think I think they get that. They respect that and and again to their credit they are. I mean I can go to almost any guy inside that locker room right now and say hey man can I borrow you for five minutes and they'll do it. Very accommodating very good people high character guys that just know how to to play the game on the field and off the field. Yeah I love that man.

I do want to talk a little bit wrapping up last season and looking forward to 2026. So yeah we talked about it like you find yourself one cold start last year redhot. It's like, let's freaking go. And then the wheels kind of fall off the bus a little bit there, you know, injuries and just everything. And we do find ourselves at the end of the season. I wanted to confirm.

I was like, was that last season? Like Philip Rivers starts the final three games of the season, right? [laughter] Or I guess three games. Three of the last four. Three of the last four cuz Riley Leonard the final game. Okay.

So three of the last four cuz we were still in contention. You know, like we're okay, he can come in here. I feel it was the Was it Seattle? Like that was the first game he started. Well, you know, not to interrupt you, but I mean, I think that's what I think maybe people in real time understood it and maybe, you know, time has has gone by and maybe we forget, but you know, I I was like everybody else. Like I was shocked like when I saw the Adam Shfter tweet like Philip Rivers is going to come out of retirement, he's going to quarterback the Colts, like are you blanking me?

Like this is our best option. But when you think about it, you know, I mean, he really was, right? Because uh Daniel Jones had just gotten banged up. Riley Leonard comes in and plays the rest of that Jacksonville game. He bangs up his knee and he's a rookie and you're going into a must-win game mathematically the next week on the road against Seattle against one of the best defenses in the in the NFL and you got a banged up rookie quarterback who's never started a game in the NFL and the trade deadlines in the rearview mirror at that point by like four weeks and uh and your franchise you're Anthony Richardson's banged up got the orbital deal. So, like, who who the hell are you going to sign off anybody's practice squad that that can get up to speed and give you a legitimate chance to to win a really important game against a good team on the road?

Whereas, Philip Rivers knows this system inside and out. Literally invented the offense. That's what I love is he's running the offense. He's running the offense on his high school football team that he's coaching. Like, I mean, he and Shane Stiken like, you know, can finish each other's sentences when it comes to football. And they see the game the same way.

they, you know, again implemented the I mean the offense the Colts run is the offense that he and Philip ran together when they were the offensive coordinator and quarterback with the Chargers. So it was like, yeah, he really is the best option. But it was just such a wild storyline. Unpre unprecedented deal, you know, him coming out of retirement after 4 and a half years. But I mean, what a what a wild uh bizarre unique storyline. And I I did love I mean, it was crazy.

Like absolutely absurd. And I remember like seeing like some of the the news and the tweets and everything around. I was like, "This has to be a joke." But it wasn't. Which is crazy. But like that game was crazy.

Like grant he didn't have any sip on the ball. Like it was tough for him to get it where it needed. There's different ways to skin a cat, right? Yeah. But it's like I mean it's a 161 18 two-point loss and like but I felt like the Colts were in it. They were in it.

like not just me failing, but like it was a wild story. And I think at the end of his three games like in someone's presser, someone's interview, he talks about like being a good example for his teammates, his kids of like don't be scared to step back up and put your name even though, you know, he didn't win a game unfortunately and the Colts didn't make the playoffs. Don't be afraid of the moment. Step back. Don't be afraid of the m like it would it would have been so easy cuz I mean he even reset the clock on his Hall of Fame. retirement too.

Yeah. You know, like I think he was four out of five. It takes 5 years to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. If you say yes to this, right? Everything resets. Everything.

So, he's now not going to be eligible for the Hall of Fame until 2031 or whenever that is. And he just like was a great example and just seems like a really good guy. And I I just wish like we could have figured one thing, win one game that would have been like the most iconic story ever. Well, it's it wasn't just, you know, the the Philip Rivers deal. I mean, the Colts had so many close games down the stretch last year. So, I mean, you know, the 8 and2 start, it was real.

I mean, they were the the average margin of victory for the Colts in their first 10 games, their first eight wins out of 10 games was 14 and a half points. Dude, they were like, who does that in the NFL? When did AD Mitchell fumble the ball into the It was like week three or four against the Rams and lose that one. Yeah, but then it bounced back. I'm like looking at the schedule here. And then it was like after bye the wheels fell off.

That's where you know really the the line of demarcation for me was the fractured fibula for for Daniel Jones. You know, the the dynamic changed on offense, the aesthetics changed. Uh there weren't as many threats being posed in the defense with his lack of mobility. Now, they were still good, but they just weren't hitting on all cylinders like they were when he was fully healthy. Dude, he was dealing. I mean, early in the season, he was like, "Who is this guy?"

Well, you pair him up with Shane Stiken, who is such an above average play caller and and game designer, and he was accurate to all three levels of the defense in the passing game. You had threats outside the numbers with Pierce, you know, stretching the field, you know, outside the numbers and then vertically. And then all of that opens things up for the running game and Jonathan Taylor. So it doesn't really change the math of the defense. I know this is kind of like X's and O's stuff, but like not to get this is very broad, but the the math doesn't change for the defense. It just stretches the defense out towards the sideline and elongates it away from the line of scrimmage.

Yeah. You know, so Taylor's running nuts last year and everybody's saying, "Oh my gosh, he's the he should be the MVP of the league." you know, and and and it's not that I disagreed with that, but it was like, yeah, Jonathan Taylor is great, but he's not even the MVP in his own team. It it was it was Jones Jones unlocked everything. So, that's a huge story line in terms of, you know, how close to 100% is he going to be towards the beginning of the season. Now, there was I mean, some changes in the offseason, right?

We're getting ready uh for this 2026 season. One big one big question mark I'll say is uh Michael Pitman Jr. no longer with the Colts, right? We go all in on Pierce. We can't retain Michael Pitman Jr. like one just being around the organization.

He seems like a great human being. Are there ever times where like someone's with the or you get to maybe know them and you're like it's hard it's business cuz these are guys they're they're good guys. They're human beings. His farm up in like Zansville or you're like ah dude he just seemed like kind of the guy. Yeah. I mean really bought into you know us as Hooers, you know.

He's kind of like one of us, you know, and so it's I mean, every year you you you see guys go through free agency or trades or guys retire and it's it's tough. I mean, the roster turnover every year is like 30%. You know, and it's even I think for the Colts maybe a little bit higher this year, at least at the top of the depth chart, you know, you could have uh like uh almost uh five new starters on the defensive side of the ball, which is abnormal for the core that's been together for a long time. In your time with the Colts since 2012, was there someone leaving that just like what hurt the most? It was tough to see, you know, Jack Doyle retire, Joe Wrights retire. There's just so many guys.

It's It's tough to kind of pinpoint guys. That's a really really good question. I'd have to think long and hard about that. I mean, the clear one is like Andrew Luck, you know, like that got to like take that one out of here cuz that's just like Yeah, that one's on its own island. That one is just like you can't even you can't even really compare that to anything. But it's just like like this one I I had kind of felt like man Pit is just like Sha Sha Leonard was tough.

Yeah. you know, to see how that, you know, the the in I mean, injuries and his nerve situation just completely derailed someone that was so physically gifted and special. And to see him sort of be, you know, uh I would say just sort of uh deprived of that and it's like your body's letting you down and mentally you can't understand why, you know, like why can't I do this anymore? And it was tough to see him internally grapple with that. That's what I feel about like running backs. Like it's been crazy that that JT has been as great as he has been for durable because it's like I feel like you'll see like somebody's at like the top of their game and then they're not resigned on their next deal and it's like you know what it makes impressive Frank Core.

Yeah. that guy [laughter] the longevity there huge like how he was like in the league for forever cuz I'm thinking through like okay like just off the top of my head you think of like the Todd Guries are just like gone one day the here today gone tomorrow Leonard Fornette here today gone tomorrow like Melvin Gordon like all of these these players these running backs it's like JT CMC have just like been around been there and like tried and true it it's kind of crazy when you think about the longevity of like, hey, we can just like plug in a new player at running back. I was I was doing the math the other day cuz a big storyline around here kind of polarizing when they talk about Jonathan Taylor and his greatness. It's like, okay, when you're just kind of waiting for, you know, I think that the pessimistic uh fans out there are saying, "How much longer can he sustain this?" You know, cuz he led the NFL in carries last year, but he didn't show up on the injury report one time.

He didn't miss a game, and he didn't miss a practice all of last year. And he had so much wear and tear on his body, right? I mean, so many Colts fans are like, you know, knock on wood right now. Find something to knock on. Yeah. But like when you do the math, if you go back to his Wisconsin days, I he was the bellcow running back there in the Big 10.

So when you when you factor in Wisconsin plus now what, six years with the Colts, he's like averaging like 275 carries per season in his last nine years of major football. That's a lot. You know what I mean? That's a lot. So, I think the the idea in mind for the Colts is I mean, it's a catch 22. Like, do you want to take him off the field because he's a home run threat every time he touches the ball or do you want to ensure that he's there for the stretch runs of games and for the stretch runs of of a season, right?

So, not decisions I want to have to make. It's a delicate balance, but that is a storyline for the Colts. They got to find that out this year. They got to find somebody on the depth chart that they can trust and be comfortable with given some carries to or heck even given a couple of series to a guy where he can do it all. He can run the ball effectively, catch the ball out of the back field if he needs to, but maybe more importantly as a backup running back is pass protect. Dude, that's if he can't do those things, you can't play.

That actually that conversation takes me back to two seasons ago, the like third string running back, Tyler Goodson. Goodson. Yeah. Like also seems like a great team, by the way. Not his fault. Not his fault.

I mean, listen, I mean, it was named by his fault. If you go back and watch that play, the fourth down play against the Texans. Yeah. You know, it's like what is it? Fourth and four at the 10 yard line. Yeah.

So, Jonathan Gernard gets in the passing window, passing lane of Gardenner Mchu. He has to change his arm angle and it was just slightly behind. It's just nobody's fault. It's just tough tough play. It's just it's just tough play, man. I I felt so tore up for him like cuz he was a rookie, right, that year or maybe he's a young guy at that point.

He was either a first or second year player. Yeah. Like just tough and it's like and everyone blames like the whole playoff like that was that one play. You got the game doesn't come down to one play. You kidding me? Sometimes it gets shaped like that way where it feels like that.

How about over the top? I mean, Nico Collins goes for whatever it was, 75 yards in the first series. Like, that play meant just as much. Yeah. You know, talk to me about what we can expect for the 2026 Indianapolis Colts. Carly Ers Gordon put it pretty um pretty great actually at the uh end of end of the season, beginning of the off season.

I thought the metaphor that she used was just spot on cuz I'm a movie guy. But she said, "Hey, the eight and two start is like a great movie that you've never seen before on Netflix, like this Academy Award level movie, and you have to push the pause button on it and you don't know how it finishes. You You didn't see the end of the movie." That's kind of how Yeah, that's how the season felt last year for the Colts. Tale of two seasons, you know. I think two seasons.

Yeah, it was. I mean, the eight and two it was real. Yeah. just beating the crap out of teams, you know? I mean, offensively, the historical numbers they were putting up, not to get too like nerdy on you, but they were averaging in the first 10 games over three points per possession, which means they were averaging at least a field goal every time they had the ball. Dude, it was crazy.

It felt like they could not they could do no wrong. Yeah. I mean, it was sick. And then, so that was real, but then the 0 and7's real, too. You know, like you're you're banged up. You lose some of the most indispensable players on your team.

On offense, it's Daniel Jones. You played a lot of games down the stretch without Braden Smith at right tackle. On defense, you got hammered big time to Forest Buckner with the neck. Charvarius Ward with three concussions. You trade for S Gardner. No immediate dividends there.

He gets banged up with the calf. So, you played a lot of games without some players that you could really ill afford to lose. But, you know what? Every team deals with key personnel losses. So you lose your last seven games and you lose five of those seven games by one score. So you're right there, right?

No excuses. Just got to find ways to to pull these games out. And had they done that, obviously they would have made the playoffs. So that's the next step for this team. Finding ways because that's what the NFL is, dude. Finding ways to win close games against good teams.

Parody is king in this in this league. All these games come down to the fourth quarter and the final four minutes, right? So last year the Colts were two-8 against teams over 500 who finished over 500 and they were 3-7 in one score games. So you're right there, dude. You're right there. So the belief this off season was is that the Colts are more like the 8-2 team more so than the 0 and7 team.

And that's why, you know, that you're bringing back a lot of the same core pieces. Shane Stiken's back and Daniel Jones resigned in free agency. Pierce is back, right? Those were the the hallmarks of what they did in the off season, you know, to make sure they had, you know, what what they felt they needed intact to to sort of run it back and be that same team. So, you know, Daniel Jones's health and mobility at the beginning of the season, that's the biggest question on offense. Biggest question on defense going into the season is for me, who's going to rush the passer?

Is the pass rush going to be consistent enough? and at a level early in the season where it can affect the game because you're going to play some really good quarterbacks and some really good offenses, you know, those first five weeks of the season. You know, you're playing Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, um you know, you're going to play the the Texans, you're going to play uh you're going to play the the Steelers, Jane Daniels in London. I mean, these guys are they're a combination of savvy, mobile, get the ball out fast, and experienced or all the above. I mean, first four games, Ravens, Chiefs, Texans, Commanders. Yeah, that's good quarterback play.

No doubt. [laughter] Like, that is a question mark. Obviously, the pass rush is going to get better as the season evolves, but it needs to be at a decent benchmark at the beginning of the season as guys step into much bigger roles than they have previously had. Leatu Lu going into year number three, you know, he needs to turn into like that guy, you know, the the guy that the defense uh shifts towards in a big moment and frees up, you know, one-on-one opportunity for somebody else. JT to Amolo or Jaylen Tuolo in year two. I mean, he was kind of roadblocked last year in terms of personnel.

You know, you had Quiddy Pay and Samson Ebom and Taekquin Lewis on the roster. Well, those guys are no longer here. So, I mean, he played roughly 20% of the snaps last year on defense. I mean, that could probably double this year and his role is just going to be dramatically uh more emphasized. So yeah, the the pass rush, I mean, and plus DeForest Buckner's coming off a neck injury, and he's been probably the best pass rusher the Colts have had the last four or five years, and he's a defensive tackle, right? So, you know, any pass rush needs that interior push.

And just when he gets back on the field and what he looks like at the beginning of the season is going to help define how viable that pass rush can be. Well, we're excited to see uh how it happens, how it all comes together. Uh, one final question before we get into our rapid fire thoughts are, uh, what do you think about the Bears potentially coming to Hammond? Trust me, this is not a copout answer. The Bears going to Hammond, I mean, it's I think it's cool for the state. I think it's great for that region of the state.

Um, but as far as it relates to the Colts in in the state of Indiana, if it comes to fruition, really all it means is they're going to play 20 miles closer to to Indianapolis. It really doesn't change anything, believe it or not, because um we as the Colts, uh we we can't market that area of the state. You know, we can't buy billboards up there or, you know, put in newspaper ads or uh add a a radio affiliate up there because the NFL has, you know, for lack of a better term, what they call like geographical uh marketing rights territories. And uh you know, to be quite frank, uh the Colts have one of the worst in the NFL because they're so um blocked by other teams, right? You got Cincinnati down here, you got Nashville with the Titans um you know, just a state or two away, and you got the Bears up north. So, the Colts really can't they can't market Hammond in Indiana as a Colts territory.

Anyways, I had somebody in and they were talking to me about this about how if it was the NFL's choice, like the Colts, they would not want the Colts in Indianapolis. Like the whole moving from Baltimore here cuz it does infringe upon a lot of other teams from that space. Uh, and you're right, like you have one of the worst because you do bump into a lot of teams there. So, we dominate Indiana, right? There's no doubt about that. And I think the Colts, you know, I think our marketing staff does a tremendous job of you blanketing the state with with coverage and um uh advertising and grassroots efforts.

So, we really market us as, you know, the the state of Indiana's team, even though hypothetically the Bears would play in a zip code in Indiana. But to me, it's really, and again, I'm I'm in a blimp, 64,000 ft above this whole Bear situation, right? I've got no dog in the fight, but you know, right now, Soldier Field is very uh I mean, I was just up there a couple weeks ago. It's a tough place to navigate. So, I'm sure there's a section of Bears fans that don't like where Soldier Field is right now anyways. And if you put in Arlington Heights, you're going to piss off some people because it's in Arlington Heights.

If you put in a Hammond, there there's going to be people that are upset about that. So, I mean, it's not like the Giants or Jets play in New York, right? I mean, I mean, Kansas City now Kansas City's going to move. The Cardinals don't play in Phoenix. The Rams don't play in LA. Like I don't really again easy for me to say, right?

But but it's not as I mean I respect the history of the Chicago Bears, but to me they're still the Chicago Bears. Yeah. It's not as deep as we're making it. Yeah. You know, like it is, but it's not. The Patriots don't play in Boston.

Yeah. It is kind of interesting when you look at it that way. I think it would be massive for Northwest Indiana for sure. like that whole Wolf Lake region Hammond like it could do some serious moves if you make it enclosed. Now you're now now you're looking at Super Bowls, Final Fours, Taylor Swift concerts, right? But that's that's where I think it it could affect potentially Indianapolis a little bit.

Man, I love it. This has been so fun. I feel like I could talk for another 90 minutes, but we've come towards the end of the show. We have some Indiana questions for you. So, this next question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart. They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond.

Check them out at homejcart. com. My question for you, Matt, why do you call Indiana home? Born and raised here. Uh I I feel like this state suits me, you know, kind of a kind of a easygoing guy, hardworking guy. Um, you know, I've I've done blue collar before, you know, so, uh, I think, you know, I just sort of resonate with the culture here and the people here.

I like to think I kind of think like people here and talk like people here. I don't know if people consider me, you know, a guy with an accent, but I'm very who's your rooted, you know, like I I I've done a um a Colts affiliate tour across the state of Indiana this summer. So, I've gone to some of our, you know, uh, stations that carry the game. So, I've been from South Bend to Richmond to Terote and Evansville, Bloomington, Louisville, and Kentucky. So, I mean, I've seen literally, I mean, I've I've traversed the landscape of this state in the last, you know, five or six weeks, and there are some beautiful parts of the state of Indiana. I mean, it really is majestic.

Did you end up in any parts of Indiana you'd never been to before? Well, I I drove from Louisville to Bloomington and obviously there's not a direct route there, you know, and you're kind of uh snaking your way through like, you know, southern Indiana. I mean, just the hills and uh the limestone. Yeah, I was going to say I'm like looking at a map to see how you would have gotten there. Did you have to go through like English or I went through uh I kind of got topsyturvied a little bit just with con some construction, but I think I went like through Salem and then Poli up to Mitchell. Bedford.

I mean, is there some And my my folks have a place, too, down in Lake Monroe. So, we spend a lot of summer time down there. The Courthouse Square in Poli is is really, really interesting. It's like really built up and there's those big cannons out the front of it. Like, that one's sweet. Then you go up through Orleans and Mitchell and it's just like you'll see from if you went through like Salem, Poli, Orleans, Mitchell, it's like four quaint small southern Indiana towns like very and they all have so much pride in there.

And you know, as I'm driving through those those cities or those towns, I don't know how, you know, maybe you're the same way, but like in the back of my mind, I'm just always asking myself like, could I live here? Absolutely, I could live here. like yeah the quality of life and the pace of life would just be way different but it's really attractive to me. Yeah. You know I mean there is something special like I that's why I love going to talk sit down at a local dive bar talk to the locals there. Like I'm from a town like that.

Like my hometown is 1500 people in northern Indiana just south of South Bend and it's like I love going in and our bar is Journeys End and we just sit there and drink a couple $2 beers and hang out with the crew. Oh yeah. Okay. That you just defined me right there. Like that is quintessential me at my core. You know what I mean?

It is. I love that. All right, we've come to the part of the show where you get to shed some light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. Yeah. What is a hidden gem in Indiana? Well, like I said, my folks uh we we vacation a lot in the summer to Lake Monroe.

You know, spend a lot of weekends down there just on the water and and uh you know, hanging out in that part. So, we've discovered a place kind of off the beaten path a little bit. So, if you're uh driving down 37, which kind of departs now from the new 69 that was built, the interstate, uh you get just a little bit between uh Lake Monroe and Bedford, you know, go down uh I forget what road it is, but you take a little jaunt and you find this little hidden gym. It's called Holtz Cafe. Holtz Cafe. Holtz Cafe.

And it's a greasy spoon. I don't even know if it's open every single day, but uh we kind of wandered into that looking for some breakfast one day before an IU football game and uh it it it it pulled up on our research and now we make sure we we hit that up uh at least a couple of times a year. Wow. But it's a it's it's it's right off the road, Holtz Cafe. And uh if if you're counting your carbs, this is not the place for you. I can tell you that.

But you will get some good down home cooking. You know, you're talking biscuits and gravy, healthy portions of bacon and eggs and uh sausage. I mean, this place is damn good. Okay. I found their Facebook page, Holtz Cafe. 8.

3,000 followers. So, there's definitely Yeah. Oh, maybe it's not a hidden gem, then. No, no, but it's a hidden gem because I haven't heard of it. You know what I love? 98% of people recommend it.

They have 328 reviews. Bedford address. What I love. So, don't go between July 1st and August 1st. Are they closed? They're closed for their annual [laughter] summer break.

They're off. I told you it's not open every day. Hours are hit and miss. They're off for their summer break, but they will reopen Saturday, August 1st. Damn good, dude. [laughter] It's so good.

Awesome. Yeah, it is so good. I mean, you can like taste the uh the history and the you know, almost like the skillet uh in the food almost. Wow. Holds Cafe. That's a great hidden buddy.

I love that. I'm here for you. All right. Next, you get the opportunity to to shed some light on someone that we need to know about. Uh, this is where we source new guest opportunities and you just hear about people doing amazing things. Yeah.

Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. Well, some of my favorite Hooers, in no particular order, I'll shout out some of my co-workers like the great Casey Valier. He is a uh he's a Hooser through and through from Noblesville. He's on the broadcast with us. He helps me do so much for radio related things for the Colts.

Great guy, great story. Uh Larara Overton, uh she, you know, she's from southern Indiana, you know, sort of the new Albany, Jeffersonville area. Um you know, now she calls Indianapolis home. She's been here for gosh, you know, 15, 20 years almost. And great, great storyteller, too. And she's worked with the Pacers and Fox 59 and now with the Colts.

And then one of my favorite guys, and he's Hooser through and through as well, is uh my old college football coach at Franklin College, Mike Leonard, from Speedway, Indiana. Uh I mean, he's got he's like Forest Gump in terms of football. I mean, he's seen a lot in his uh I mean, he he's coached in Japan. He's coached at Alabama. uh you know, you know, great great quarterback in his own right at Hanover College, then the head coach there, or excuse me, offensive coordinator, and then the head coach at Franklin College. He is Franklin's all-time winningest football coach, which is saying something considering he broke the records of the great red fought, you know, the run and shoot offense.

Um, but he is top two reasons why I went to to Franklin College. And he always says like where you go to school, your decision on on to go to college, if you go to school, it's not the most important decision you make in your life, but it's in the top five. And he really is a huge mentor of mine. He's a friend of mine and just one of the greatest human beings, most genuine guys and, you know, football minds out there. He's he's a great Hooser. Wow.

Mike Leonard, baby. I love that. Yeah. Okay, two questions. I usually ask one more. I have two.

Who's someone who's a player on the Colts that would be a great interview? They don't have to be like the the It doesn't have to be Daniel Jones, but who's someone that just like this guy is electric to talk to? Tanner Borillini is good. Really well spoken. Who's that? He's the starting center.

Okay. And I kind of think he's I mean he's not he's from Wisconsin, but he fits, if you don't mind me saying, he kind of fits your personality, you know, like I don't mind. Super chill, down to earth, good guy, easy to talk to. Like that's Tanner Borini. Okay. Um Dalton Tucker is an offensive lineman.

He's a great uh story and and and just is a super chill guy, too. I mean, you'd be hardressed if you pull up the Colts dep chart. You'd be hardressed to find a guy that actually wouldn't be good for your show. Yeah. Well, I'm just like looking through and it's like, you know, there are Josh DS. He's got a podcast, too.

Yeah, dude. There are great stories that are out there that are not like, you know, everyone's like, I want to hear from Daniel Jones or I want to hear from And it's definitely great stories, you know, but I love finding the people that are like they have made Indiana their home or they just like become like a sim. Drew Ogal Tree. Good guy. Yeah. Wow.

Trying trying to go down the depth chart a little bit for you. You know what I mean? It's like Yeah. the third team. You talk about hidden gems. Long snapper, right?

Hidden gyms. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Final question for you. When you close your eyes and you think about it, from your time on the Southside to Franklin College to being the voice of the Indianapolis Colts, if you had to summarize it all into one memory, one piece, what is your favorite Indiana memory?

My favorite Indiana memory, no pun intended, is going to Indiana football games and basketball games with my dad. Yeah. So, just quick story. So, that that's kind of how I got into all of this. Um, my dad was my coach and uh he's a great player in his own right, you know, when he back in the day. And um that's just what we did.

My dad is huge into golf and I don't do golf. So to my dad's credit, he spent a lot of time playing golf with my brother. That was their thing. Our thing, my dad and I, he made sure he's been a IU football, basketball, and season ticket holder for like 35 years through the bad times. Through the bad times. I mean, he couldn't give him away, but he made sure cuz I I mean, I enjoyed going to the games just for the sake of going to a game, you know, like just the the the atmosphere of it all.

But he made sure that became our thing. and he always made sure that I got to go to the big games, you know, I I I would go to the Ohio State game and I go to the Michigan game or, you know, in basketball, I go to the Purdue game. I always got to go to the big games with him because that was our thing. And so, also to know my dad, you have to know him as the most impatient man in the world. So, he doesn't do traffic and he doesn't do crowds. So, we go down to an IU football game and uh you know, it's not like that anymore, but back in the day, we would always sit through halftime and the the barometer was we'll just we'll see how the first drive of the third quarter goes, right?

They'd be getting house by Wisconsin, we'd be on the road by the middle of the third quarter, driving home. I mean, several instances where we're listening to the game on radio and the game is done, the the gun goes off and we're in the driveway back home. But anyways, just going to games with my dad and talking about the games and talking about X's and O's and strategy and why things work and things like that. And then also too, listening to games on the way home from a game, right? We'd listen to Don Fiser on the call for the IU game or we would scan the radio and we would listen to Joe McConnell call the Purdue game or Don Criky, you know, for Notre Dame or we would turn on Westwood one the game of the week. Just listening to games with my dad going to games is how I kind of got fascinated by all this.

So that's that's my favorite uh childhood sports Indiana memory. That's so great. Yeah. And you never know how like that could be someone's memory for you listening to Colts games. Like there's a kid out there listening to the Colts in the backseat of the dad's car or mom's car driving home from wherever that are like, I want to be like that one day. It's funny you say that because Mike Keith, who is uh who was the play-by-play voice of the Tennessee Titans, just moved on.

and now he's in Knoxville uh working for UT, but he he stressed that and he actually still sends me reminders. Like last year towards the end of the season when the Colts were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, you still got a job to do. You know, you still have 9 hours of game day coverage. You still got to bring your agame. And to your point, he sent me a text message that said, "Remember now." Cuz he knew the context of the season.

He said, "Remember, someone is listening to you today for the first time." Wow. just reminder to to bring it. Treat everything like it's your Super Bowl because you never know. This has been awesome, man, to uh hear about your journey from Ronali, from the Southside through Franklin to become the voice of the Indianapolis Colts. Beats working.

[laughter] Amen. Amen. Man, it's a it's been a pleasure. I'm really excited for this season. If people want to learn more about you, follow the work, how can they do that? Yeah.

Uh colts. com obviously is where we have a lot of our radio shows and podcasts. And then uh I'm most prevalently uh social media wise on X. So Mate Halts. Mate Holtz. I love it, man.

Hey, appreciate you for stopping by and we'll talk to you soon. Appreciate you, man. Thanks for having me. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level. Click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at [music] Sweetwater.

If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and [music] Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great.