When wide receiver Reggie Wayne signed with the Patriots recently, the reaction in Indianapolis was not popular.
Seeing the longtime Colts star sign with a team that has been a frequent playoff opponent and recent vanquisher of the home team lead fans and media members to wonder if Wayne was a traitor for joining up with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Eisen asked Luck for his feelings on that topic.
“There’s a lot of things said and written about a lot of people, but Reggie will always be one of the great Colts in my mind and a great, great teammate,” Luck said. “You can’t control what people write. It doesn’t really matter what’s fair or not fair, necessarily, but I know Reg is no traitor to me at all.”
Luck’s right, of course. Colts fans may not like seeing Wayne in a Patriots uniform, but that doesn’t make him a traitor to the organization any more than the Colts were traitors to themselves for not making an offer that ensured Wayne would remain in Indianapolis. Both sides made business decisions about what they thought was best for them in 2015, just as the Colts, Texans and Andre Johnson made business decisions that left Johnson in a Colts uniform.
That won’t make it any easier to take should Wayne help the Patriots beat the Colts in October, but that outcome wouldn’t make it any less true either.