Peyton Manning gets most of the credit for the Colts decade-plus run of excellence, but don't kid yourself, Edgerrin James was perhaps the second most important piece to the franchise turning the corner. In fact, I believe, if the Colts had a better defense when James was healthy, the franchise would have more than one Super Bowl victory.
As the Colts prepare to induct James into their prestigious Ring of Honor this Sunday during their game against Jacksonville, I find myself reflecting on both what James did statistically, and what he brought to the Colts from a personality standpoint.
Let's make no mistake about it, the numbers James put up in an injury shortened career were pretty staggering:
--Franchise best 9, 286 yards rushing
--Franchise best 2, 188 rushing attempts
--Franchise best 49 100-yard rushing games
--Franchise best 5 1,000-yard rushing seasons
--Ranks 11th All-Time in the NFL with 12, 246 yards rushing
--Only player to lead the NFL in rushing his first 2 years in the NFL
He was so important to the Colts that the year he first suffered a season-ending knee injury (2001), turned out to be the only year the Colts missed the playoffs from 1999 to 2010. He was so important to the Colts that even while he was finishing his career with the Arizona Cardinals, Colts owner Jim Irsay sent James a Super Bowl ring, after the Colts beat the Bears in 2007.
And yet even with all of these numbers, and with his humongous role on the field, it was his personality that I have missed the most. James seemed flamboyant with the famous dreadlocks. But the truth is, he was one of the most honest athletes I have ever been around. He showed up to training camp in Terre Haute one summer in a taxi cab, and with camera's rolling, got out of the cab, giggled and said, "this is what happens when you lose your license."
The very next summer, he showed up in a yellow school bus, with a hoard of underprivileged children who were his special guests.
During one interview session in Terre Haute, a nervous reporter asked James how he would "prefare" (instead of prepare) for the coming game, and James smiled and said "Man you gotta get it right!" He then proceeded to give the reporter an incredibly well thought out response. He liked to have a laugh, but it was all in good fun.
Another summer as the team prepared to play a pre-season game in Japan, James admitted that a friend of his had told him to get a message, and ask for a happy ending. He smirked when he said that, like a 10 year old child would who had just said something he probably shouldn't have.
James loved a challenge off the field as much as on it. He would welcome strangers to his dorm room at Rose-Hulman during training camp if they were competitive Madden video game players (James played Madden as the Jets, never as the Colts). And he was routinely spotted playing pool at BW3's throughout camp in Terre Haute, never one to stay in his room for fear of being recognized.
There was an true innocence to his personality that led to honesty, and likability. He said what he thought, he was always true to himself, and true to who he was as a person and athlete. I have missed that ever since he left.
Congrats to James, truly my favorite Indianapolis Colt of all-time!
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