Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels turned down the Indianapolis Colts Tuesday night after the team officially announced him as their head coach earlier that morning. It led to general manager Chris Ballard holding a press conference Wednesday to address the situation.
Colts GM declares ‘the rivalry is back on’ after Josh McDaniels decides to stay with Patriots
McDaniels has stirred up a renewed rivalry between New England and Indianapolis.
At the end of his press conference, Ballard began gathering his things to leave, and said, “The rivalry is back on.”
It seems like a long time ago at this point, but the Patriots and Colts used to be one of the AFC’s greatest rivalries during the 2000s and early 2010s. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady used to go back and forth as the conference’s two best quarterbacks, but the New England would almost always get the best of Indianapolis.
Of course there was also Deflategate. Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson picked off Brady during the AFC Championship game in 2015, and noticed a difference in the air pressure of the football. He took the ball to the Colts’ equipment manager, and it went up the chain of command and back to the NFL. Tom Brady would be suspended four games as a result of it.
After McDaniels rescinded his acceptance to coach the Colts, reasons started flying as to why. One of them appears to have to do with revenge on Deflategate:
Kraft reportedly “sweetened” up McDaniels’ deal to keep him, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
In the past 48 hours, Patriots owner Robert Kraft began talking with McDaniels and ultimately wound up sweetening his contract, helping to entice McDaniels, who had yet to sign a contract with the Colts, to remain in New England, a source said.
So, yes, with all of that said, you could definitely say that the rivalry is back on.
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