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Stephen Holder, ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — If Zaire Franklin ever finds himself lacking confidence in his team’s quarterback, the Indianapolis Colts’ linebacker can simply glance at the offensive huddle for a little reassurance.
There, he’ll often find quarterback Anthony Richardson completely at ease, bouncing to a beat and showing no sign that the considerable pressures of the job are wearing on him.
“Man, when I look over there and [No.] 5 has that swagger in his step, man, I’m just trying to give the ball back to him,” Franklin said. “This goes for me and every other guy in this building, from coach to player: Everybody believes in him.”
There is no shortage of pressure on Richardson, the Colts’ second-year quarterback upon whose shoulders so much of the franchise’s fate rests. And he knows it.
“As the franchise guy,” Richardson said, putting the term in air quotes with his hands, “people are expecting you to win and do great things. So, that’s some pressure right there in itself.”
Especially in Indianapolis. Many see Richardson as the potential savior the franchise has been seeking since the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck in 2019; a young passer the team hopes can end a years-long revolving door to nowhere at the position.
After a single season of short-lived success with Philip Rivers, and calamitous one-year experiments with Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan, Richardson was drafted last year to finally set the franchise on a path forward. In Sunday’s season opener against the Houston Texans (1 p.m. ET, CBS), he is expected to become the first Colts quarterback to start back-to-back openers since Luck did so in 2015 and 2016.
Richardson’s very presence was a major motivating factor behind the Colts doubling down on last year’s veteran roster, committing an aggregate total of more than $180 million in contracts during the offseason to seven in-house free agents to, they hope, set them up for a run at their first AFC South title since 2014.
Meanwhile, Richardson is also a new father and newly engaged, even while he’s dealing with the realities that come with being the face of an NFL franchise. His gigantic likeness currently graces the side of the JW Marriott Indianapolis — a downtown landmark — and he has the marketing and media demands to match that stature, like it or not.
“I’m not really into all the flash and glamour and stuff like that,” he said.
But in the face of it all, Richardson remains unfazed.
“He doesn’t get rattled,” general manager Chris Ballard said. “That’s a good thing.”
Richardson’s been-there-done-that attitude might seem surprising under the circumstances. He is 22 years old and has four NFL starts to his credit after a season-ending shoulder injury last October. This comes after a mere 13 college starts at Florida and a late start to playing quarterback in high school.
How has Richardson managed to maintain so much perspective with so much swirling around him? Others in the Colts’ organization have some theories.
One, espoused by veteran center Ryan Kelly, is that Richardson gained a unique viewpoint last season when he missed 13 games with a sprained AC joint. He’s already overcome an awful circumstance, Kelly said, so the pressures he now faces pale by comparison.
“I’m not saying he was in a shell in his rookie year,” Kelly said, “but you’re feeling the weight of everything. I think now he’s kind of let that out a little bit. So, it’s been a pleasure to see.”
Then again, Richardson has always shown some signs of being a cool customer. There might be no better example than the Colts’ Week 4 meeting with the Los Angeles Rams last season. The Colts yielded 272 yards of offense in the first half while Richardson completed just four passes before halftime. Indianapolis trailed 20-0.
It was the rookie’s third start and circumstances were bleak. Then came the second half.
“There wasn’t a lot of hope,” Ballard said. “Next thing you know, we’re tying the freaking thing up. I said, ‘Okay that’s what this guy can do.'”
After the Colts fell behind 23-0 with seven minutes remaining in third quarter, Richardson helped the Colts mount a furious rally with three second-half touchdowns (one rushing, two passing). The Colts tied the game at 23-23 and ultimately lost in overtime, but Ballard had seen enough — including Richardson’s 38-yard completion to Alec Pierce while being wrapped up by fearsome defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
Off the field, tight end Kylen Granson pointed to Richardson’s upbringing as a factor in his ability to remain even-keeled.
Richardson famously played a critical role in raising his younger brother, Corey Carter, often dashing off after school at Eastside High in Gainesville, Florida to scoop Corey up from elementary school on the handlebars of Richardson’s bicycle. After getting Corey squared away at home — their mother, LaShawnda Lane, often worked multiple jobs to support the family — Richardson would scramble back to school for football practice.
“You’ve got to be the example in the household, and I think that brings a lot of maturity,” Granson said, adding that he’s seen Richardson assert himself more in the meeting room this year.
Bringing it all full circle, Franklin said, is the buy-in Richardson has earned from his teammates, which has garnered their full-throated support. That, in turn, fuels even more confidence and allows Richardson to keep confronting one challenge after another, undaunted.
“Everybody here trusts him,” Franklin said. “And I think with that support, it allows him to go out there and be fearless. He can’t be wrong because we’ve got him, no matter what.”