We knew all offseason that the Indianapolis Colts wanted to come out of the 2023 NFL Draft with their quarterback of the future. We thought they found their man on Thursday night when they selected former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft.
It seemed like the Colts felt really good about that selection, given the way general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen talked him up. Everything seemed crystal clear.
Then Colts owner Jim Irsay opened up the Twitter app.
Colts Fans…would you take Will Levis at #2 if you’re on the board for Colts in 4 hours from now???🏈🏈🏈… and go Montana - Young for Franchise??
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) April 28, 2023
So... that happened. Let's unpack this bit by bit.
First, Irsay is asking Colts fans for tips on draft strategy. Second, he references taking Will Levis "at #2" despite the Colts not having the second pick in the second round tonight or in any other round. Third, he is comparing Richardson (who is on his team's roster) and Levis (a player who has not yet been drafted and may or may not wind up on his team) to Joe Montana and Steve Young, or at least, comparing the situation of drafting Richardson and Levis to the San Francisco 49ers having Montana and Young on their roster at the same time in the 1990s. Either that, or he is trolling Levis and the people who thought the Colts would take him in the first round.
And he is doing all this just hours before Day 2 of the NFL Draft is set to kick off, and less than 24 hours after his team selected its quarterback of the future with the No. 4 pick in the draft. There are lots of things one can say about Irsay, but you can never say he isn't an unending source of entertainment. Maybe it's not necessarily for the right reasons, but the entertainment value sure is there. (At least for people other than actual Colts fans.)
