The 2024 NFL season marks the eighth campaign Chris Ballard has served as the Indianapolis Colts' general manager.
The Colts, a longtime NFL powerhouse in the first decade-plus of this century, have won just one playoff game and have yet to claim an AFC South division title under his watch. Ballard is aware of the franchise's shortcomings—and addressed them with a rather bold quote about his method on Wednesday.
"I've always had a strong belief in myself and those around me. Strong belief in what we do," Ballard told reporters [via The Athletic]. "... The last three years, not making the playoffs, it's a disappointment. I'm not gonna sit here and say it wasn't, but I still have a very strong belief in what we're doing, how we're doing it and how we're gonna get there. And that will not waver. Either you believe for something or you believe nothing. Like it's easy to vacillate and go with what the world wants you to do, but you need to believe in something or you don't. It's what we believe.
"If it gets me fired, so be it."
Ballard has faced no shortage of obstacles since arriving in Indianapolis in 2017. When he accepted the position, he had one of the best quarterbacks in all of football, Andrew Luck, entering the prime of his career. But Luck missed the entire 2017 campaign, and after returning and playing all 16 games in '18, Luck surprisingly retired the following summer.
"If you just kind of look through the first few years, we made the playoffs two of the first four, had to overcome a quarterback retiring on us, still found a way," Ballard said. "I thought our '20 team was excellent. We just lost a tough game to Buffalo that ended up being a really good team. And I thought in '21 was another really good football team, and it all kind of fell apart."
The Colts enter the 2024 campaign with the hopes that they finally found their franchise quarterback in Anthony Richardson, who they drafted with the No. 4 pick last April.
After seven unfruitful seasons, Ballard's job depends on Richardson's success—and the general manager knows it.
