Indianapolis, IN
Colts GM Chris Ballard: 'I don't run from the criticism'
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Colts general manager Chris Ballard had a clear message to the Colts fan base.
He said he understands where the frustration comes from. He doesn’t blame the fans for being mad.
But, he isn’t going to hide.
“I don’t run from the criticism,” Ballard said.
Ballard decided after the 2023 season to run it back with a similar roster in 2024. He regrets that decision now.
“Instead of really creating competition throughout and throwing new blood into the locker room, new players in the locker room, I said you know what? We’re going to run it back,” Ballard said. “That was a mistake.”
“That’s probably the biggest miscalculation I made is you know, my vision since I’ve been here has been to take care of our own guys,” Ballard said.
Ballard said that he did not create enough competition on the roster. He added that there has to be real stress within the locker room.
Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner brought up issues with complacency and ego, specifically within the defense. Ballard said that Buckner was right about those things.
“Ultimately, what I’ve done is created an atmosphere that wasn’t competitive enough,” Ballard said.
Ballard said there was an entitlement among the players that returned. Ballard noted they deserved to be back, but there’s also an expectation and a standard that needs to be upheld.
At the quarterback position, Ballard said they will be bringing in competition. He gave two reasons for that, saying competition makes everybody better and that Anthony Richardson has not proven that he can play 17 games.
He did give any details on where they would be looking though.
“We’ll bring who we think is the best guy we can bring in,” Ballard said.
He also went into more depth on why Richardson was benched in the middle of the season. He said Richardson was “drowning.”
“I thought he needed to take a step back and breathe a little bit,” Ballard said.
Ballard said they had a meeting with leadership, which Richardson was a part of. The meeting was about an hour and a half long, and there were honest conversations about where they were and what they needed to do. Ballard noted that the players let it be known what the expectations were for Richardson.
As for Colts owner Jim Irsay’s message to Ballard, it was clear: “fix it.”
Ballard said that Irsay said that he needs to get it going back in the right direction, and they need to win.
Ballard was clear that he is still confident in his abilities as a general manager. He was also clear about where he thinks the Colts are right now.
“Right now, we’re not close, Ballard said. “I’m going to make this really clear. Close is losing on the last play of the Super Bowl. That’s close. Going 8-9, that’s not close.”
Ballard has been the general manager for the Colts for eight seasons. In those eight years, the Colts have never won the AFC South. The other three teams in the division have all won the division multiple times. He has two playoff appearances and just one playoff win.
Colts owner Jim Irsay decided to keep Ballard around for a ninth season, writing on a post to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday that he believes in Ballard and the collective ability to make improvements for the 2025 season.
The Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year in 2024, the longest drought in 30 years for the franchise.
More Colts coverage
Jim Irsay addresses Colts locker room after season finale
Shane Steichen sends strong message to Colts fans
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis councilman says ‘No Data Centers’ note was left at his home after someone opened fire
The home of a councilman in Indianapolis was shot at early Monday in what local police said was an “isolated, targeted incident.”
The incident came less than a week after the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission voted 6 to 2 on April 1 to approve rezoning to allow the construction of a data center.
Ron Gibson, a Democrat who represents District 8 on the council, spoke out in support of the rezoning and the efforts to build the data center in his district.
“Earlier this morning, between approximately 12:45 a.m. and 12:50 a.m., just a few hours after Easter Sunday, an individual fired 13 rounds at the front door of my home and left a note on my doorstep that read, ‘No Data Centers,’” Gibson said in a Monday statement.
Councilman Ron Gibson
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said it was called to the home on Monday morning, and officers found evidence that gunshots had been fired at the house. Police said no injuries were reported.
“I understand that public service can bring strong opinions and disagreement, but violence is never the answer, especially when it puts families at risk,” Gibson said in his statement.
The Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The data center is set to be built by Metrobloks, a data center developer based in Los Angeles. Following the vote last week, Gibson shared a statement on social media promoting the project.
“Metrobloks has the potential to bring significant investment, create jobs, and generate long-term tax revenue that supports infrastructure, housing, and essential services,” the statement said.
A data center boom is happening across the US, with companies pouring billions into building the infrastructure to keep up with demand in the era of AI. The data centers have faced increased opposition, with critics pointing to the high resource costs, from water to energy, and other issues like noise pollution, as detailed in a Business Insider investigation.
Indianapolis, IN
Recorder Rewind: NCAA Division III basketball championship (Photos)
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis City-County Councilor says IMPD officer shoved him during protest
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis City-County Councilor says he was shoved by a police officer during a protest Saturday night.
In a post on Facebook, Jesse Brown — who represents council district 13 — indicated that a member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department approached a group of protestors and began shoving and grabbing them.
“Tonight, an IMPD officer approached a group of protestors from behind/beside them, did not identify himself or issue verbal orders, but started grabbing and shoving people and cussing at them to move (we were stuck behind other people blocking the sidewalk),” Brown wrote on Facebook.
Brown added that he asked the officer for his badge number and told him he was a City-County Councilor.
“I told the IMPD officer who was shoving people that I wanted his badge number,” Brown wrote. “He refused to give it. I told him I was a City Councilor. He said that he didn’t care WHO I was and grabbed my arm to shove me as well.”
Brown finished his post by confirming that he filed a formal incident report on his encounter with the officer. He also offered some criticism for the officer in the final sentence of his post.
“Officers have a difficult job, but if this is how he treated two white male candidates / elected officials, I do not trust him to serve the public and de-escalate tense situations.”
Jackson Franklin, who is running for Indiana’s fifth district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was also involved in the incident. He made a Facebook post with greater detail on the incident.
Franklin said he, Brown and others were protesting near Lucas Oil Stadium ahead of Saturday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four games. Franklin said he and other protestors were at the Final Four “to demand the NCAA stop using the same airliners that ICE uses to break apart and deport families in this racist injustice system.”
A report from The Athletic that was syndicated by Yahoo Sports indicates that at least one airliner has contracts with the NCAA to transport student-athletes to tournaments and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport undocumented immigrants.
In his post, Franklin said the officer involved in the incident “shoved/assaulted many of the protestors, including Indianapolis City-council person Jesse Brown.” Franklin added that the officer did not provide any warnings before he began shoving protestors
“I thought initially it was going to be some MAGA person just walking past that was offended by our anti-ICE chants, but I turned around and noticed that he was wearing a uniform,” Franklin wrote in his Facebook post. “It was only then he gave his commands to continue to move and he immediately went to push around many others, using his uniform as an excuse to harass those he disagreed with politically.
“There was absolutely no need for violence and the protest organizers filed a complaint, but I have no hope of any action occurring because of this complaint. While the lone officer assaulted us, there were about 10-15 other officers looking around awkwardly unsure of what to do, not protecting our first amendment right while also probably realizing the officer was way out of line and should have just asked us nicely to keep the movement on the public sidewalk going quicker rather than using violence as the first and only answer.”
FOX59/CBS4 reached out to IMPD for a statement on Brown and Franklin’s comments. As of this article’s publication, the agency had not responded to those inquiries.
Brown has been at the center of multiple city-county council disputes over the last 14 months. In February 2025, Brown — whose district encompasses portions of downtown and the near east side of Indy — said the city-county council’s democratic caucus expelled him from their ranks.
Brown also introduced a motion to remove the council’s president and vice president in July.
As of this article’s publication, no additional information on the incident Brown, Franklin and others were involved in had been made available.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
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