Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts are excited about 2024, even though they lost a potential standout defensive player. But the Colts’ quarterback dropped an eye-opening truth bomb about Tom Brady that signaled his seriousness about following the GOAT’s footsteps.
In an interview with ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark, Richardson said Brady’s success started with a mental process.
“It was his ambition for the game, and the amount of love you gotta have for the game, ” Richardson said. “For it to really like mean something, (the love has to be) astronomical. A lot of people love football, but do you love it to the point where it’s like, if it’s taken away from you, you can’t really live without it.”
What does football mean to Colts QB Anthony Richardson?
Richardson added that he learned some time ago what football meant to him.
“I’ve been to that point,” he said. “My mom pulled me out of football just because I had a C on my report card. I was like, dang, I want to play football so I gotta do better.”
Brady rose to NFL greatness not because of his talent, but for other reasons, Richardson said.
“Seeing Tom, he wasn’t the most physical dude,” Richardson said. “He wasn’t the fastest dude. He couldn’t throw it the furtherest. But he always made it look easy. It was like, dang, how did he do that. He just dove into learning the game and tried to be better than he was yesterday.”
And Richardson takes his view of Brady and molds it into something he can use to better himself as a player.
“It’s like, OK,” Richardson said. “I know what I can do. I can run and jump and throw the ball far. If I can take that small little piece from him, the rest is gonna be history.”
Shane Steichen compared Richardson to NBA great
Early in training camp, Steichen said Richardson told si.com that Richardson will make plays people haven’t seen before. And then he dropped the big truth bomb, comparing his young quarterback to NBA legend Steph Curry.
“People ask this a lot, like, ‘Hey, are you gonna limit the run game?’” Steichen said. “And I kind of think like, ‘Shoot, are you gonna limit Steph Curry from shooting 3-pointers?’ Well, that’s one of Anthony’s strengths, right? So we’re not gonna get away from that. That’s what he does well.”
Probably the best news for Richardson this season is his pairing with two legitimate NFL stars. He has Michael Pittman at the wide receiver position to make big plays. And when Richardson isn’t running wild on his own, he can hand off to Jonathan Taylor for what should be a potent ground game.
