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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > August > 31 > Entry
Josh Betts: He’s baaack!
REUNITED WITH COLTS
AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
FOR EX-MIAMI REDHAWK
SIGNED TO PRACTICE SQUAD
FOR JOSH SAKES,
HE’S NEXT ‘BETTS’ THING
BEHIND MANNING, SORGI
===LUDWIG AT LARGE salutes Josh Betts, who never gave up, and the Indianapolis Colts, who came to their senses and signed Betts to their practice squad. The swashbuckling young gun is back where he belongs, firing passes for Indy, and making sandwiches and Smoothies for starter Peyton Manning.===
And you thought Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna was the NFL’s “un-crush-able” cockroach because he kept getting stepped on, and kept springing back to football life.
Well, there’s a New “Cockroach Kid” on the Block.
He’s Josh Betts, who is back — once again — with the only NFL team he has ever known … the Indianapolis Colts, who should never have let him go in the first place.
The former Miami University star quarterback from Vandalia Butler High School was signed to Indianapolis’ practice squad on Sunday, Aug. 31, after the Colts knifed Jared Lorenzen and Quinn Gray, a pair of disasters from the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pitching for the men in blue and white will be starter Peyton Manning, backup Jim Sorgi and Betts.
When the Bengals faced the Colts in the preseason finale on Thursday night, Aug. 28, the Indianapolis mascot — a crazy horse named “Blue” — galloped into the grandstands at “The Luke” — Lucas Oil Stadium — and pushed a massive cream pie into the face of a young Cincinnati fan who had the audacity to wear a Bengals jersey into enemy territory.
(P.S. From LUDWIG AT LARGE: I SURE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THAT KID’S NAME…I’LL FIRE IT INTO MY BLOG!)
At any rate, what “Blue” did with that cream pie is exactly what the Colts did to Betts on July 24 when they handed him a pink slip, showed him the door and said, “See ya, kid.”
Betts got stepped on, but just like Kitna, his football life wouldn’t die.
A month and a week later, the Colts came to their senses and re-signed Betts, who has one year of eligibility remaining on the practice squad. He had been signed to the club’s 80-man offseason roster on Jan. 14 after two seasons on the practice squad.
At Miami, Betts passed for 7,029 yards and 54 TDs as a two-year starter. He finished his career as the RedHawks’ second-ranked passer in completions (541), passing yards and passing TDs.
Betts, the Cockroach Kid, is a winner. He has a strong arm, the savvy of a seasoned veteran and a gunfighter’s mentality. What’s more, he has the respect of his teammates — the ingredient every QB needs to succeed.
Hats off to Indy president Bill Polian and Colts head coach Tony Dungy for doing the smart thing, for doing the right thing, for giving a kid with a dream another chance, an opportunity he surely deserves.
LUDWIG AT LARGE has only one thing left to say …
Love and honor to Miami … Forever and a day.
Listen to the RedHawks Fight Song at:
http://muredhawks.cstv.com/trads/mioh-fightsong.html
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: NFL
Comments
By NCC
September 1, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
Oh, when the Colts released Betts, we slammed Dungy’s religion. Now Betts is back, and we forget about Dungy’s religion. Or has Dungy become an atheist?By Thurman
September 2, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this
What?! The kid jumps when he throws and throws from his back foot? A strong arm? Against who? University of Buffalo? Ball State University? A seasoned veteran? He has never played in an NFL game, let alone take a snap, or make a team. You should be looking more at his ability to take stats or get coffee. That’s more relevant. Josh was a stud at Miami, but not everyone is cut out for the team, especially a team in the AFC South and who is an AFC contender every year in the Manning-era.