The Indianapolis Colts aren’t likely to bring running back Trent Richardson back next season, and are upset with him over weight gain.
Last year, the Indianapolis Colts acquired running back Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns for a first-round draft pick. He as expected to be the missing piece to the Colts’ puzzle, but he has been anything but the missing piece. Richardson has been a huge disappointment, and it doesn’t appear that the Colts will be bringing him back next season.
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According to a report from ESPN, the Colts are very upset with Richardson over a 15-pound weight gain throughout the course of this past season.
Richardson showed quite a bit of talent during his rookie year with the Browns, rushing for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns. He came up with a disappointing season in 2014, carrying the football 159 times for 519 yards and three touchdowns.
Indianapolis is also upset with Richardson because of accessibility and an absence later in the season. It was bad enough that he didn’t travel with the team in the playoffs. There aren’t many ways for him to come back from all of those issues, and quite frankly the Colts likely aren’t going to give him that opportunity.
It is a shame that things didn’t work out. If Richardson had been able to live up to the potential that he showed in Cleveland, the Colts would have been a much more complete football team.
That being said, gaining that much weight throughout the course of an NFL season is simply unacceptable. It shows a complete lack of effort, and a lack of care about the season. Those are the two main things that make players successful, and lacking both of them tells you all you need to know about Richardson.
There are plenty of talented running backs on the free agent market, and Ryan Grigson has his choice of who he wants to replace Richardson. Dan “Boom” Herron also had quite a few flashes of brilliance throughout the season, and he is a candidate to be the Colts’ starter next season as well.
At just 24 years of age, there is plenty of time for him to figure out what is important in his career and fix whatever the issues are. If he doesn’t do that next season, then it might be too late for him to get his game together.
Don’t expect to see the Colts bring Richardson back next season, and he will be yet another interesting running back option for another team on the free agent market.
H/T ESPN
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