Doyle on Taylor presser

[JAFF]

Doyel: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor doesn't want to be here anymore and all but said it
Gregg Doyel
Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS – Colts running back Jonathan Taylor doesn’t want to be here. Not today, not tomorrow, definitely not next year. He didn’t come out and say that Thursday, but he didn’t deny it either. Behave like he behaved in front of cameras, say the same nothing sandwich over and over and over, and you leave it to us – that’s me, and sure, that’s you as well – to interpret what just happened.

And what happened Thursday was pathetic.

Give Taylor credit, I guess, for meeting with reporters, but deduct those points for the way he handled himself, the way he ignored the questions he was asked – and then answered what he wished he’d been asked. And Jonathan Taylor really wished we’d asked for his No. 1 goal throughout these last few months, when he asked for a contract extension and then a trade, and tried to use a small January surgery as leverage.


It started from the beginning, with the first question:

Jonathan, do you want to be here?

“Number one, first off, it feels really good to finally be healthy,” he said, smiling brightly. “Number one, the whole time the goal was to be healthy.”


Here’s another question:

You asked the Colts to trade you. Have you rescinded that request?

“The number one thing was me getting healthy,” he said, smiling brightly.

Do you want a contract extension? Do you want it from the Colts?


SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
News Across the U.S.
Access the digital replica of USA TODAY and more than 200 local newspapers with your subscription.
Click "Universal" in the eNewspaper
“I’m not going to get into any contract stuff,” he said, smiling brightly. “The number one thing was continuing to attack rehab every day. The number one goal was to get healthy.”

That’s how it went for 10 or 12 minutes until the empty vessel that used to be Jonathan Taylor stepped away from the podium and walked out the door.


What Jonathan Taylor meant: 'I'm gone'

The only way to make sense of what we just watched is to ignore what Jonathan Taylor said – you're not missing anything – and focus on what he didn’t say.

Jonathan, how committed are you to the Colts?

Taylor’s answer: “How committed am I? I’m here today. I don’t think it matters if I’m saying I’m committed or not. I’m here. If somebody wasn’t committed they wouldn’t be here. Right now I’m here and my number one goal is to attack this first practice."

What he meant: Not committed at all.

Jonathan, your surgery in January typically requires four weeks of rehab. Why were you still not ready nine months later?


Taylor’s answer: “The answer to that question would be if I asked James, ‘Hey, what’s the difference between you and myself getting surgery?’ Well, he got a surgery and I got a surgery. At the end of the day, everyone heals different.”

What he meant: Leverage, obviously.

Jonathan, what has changed in your relationship with the Colts?

Taylor’s answer: “The number one thing that changed is I’m finally able to step back on the practice field.”

What he meant: See this smile?

Jonathan, why weren’t you here – not watching practice, not attending games – for much of the last month?

Taylor’s answer: “I’ve been around. The number one goal was for me to get healthy.”

What he meant: It's a bright smile, isn't it?

Meet IndyStar's Colts Insiders: Talking Colts football with reporters Nate and Joel

When did Jonathan Taylor become selfish, self-centered?

Whoever’s advising Jonathan Taylor – whoever has brainwashed him – is doing him a disservice. That you, agent Malki Kawa? Could be you. Could be someone else. Someday we’re going to find out what happened to the Jonathan Taylor the Colts drafted in 2020, a lovable young man who was faster than all of us and smarter than all of us and somehow, despite those enormous gifts, more humble than all of us.

For now we’re left with this empty husk, this bizarre person who entered this news conference with a handful of talking points and repeated them over and over, regardless of the question asked.

Doyel in July: Jonathan Taylor joins Andrew Luck, Victor Oladipo as star athletes receiving bad advice

Doyel in August: Colts don't trade Jonathan Taylor, so we're stuck in nightmare of his creation

Doyel on Wednesday: Wayward RB Jonathan Taylor is back at the Colts complex, ducking the media

Teammates seem to be fine with Taylor. And unlike when it’s Taylor talking, I believe veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson when they talk about this situation.

Said Franklin: “We love J.T. We care about him more than a player but as a person – his family, his wife and all that stuff. It’s deeper than that. Obviously, we know that he’s got things going on, but we’re here to support him any way we can.”

Said Richardson: “He’s a great guy. I love him. We talk almost every other day, whenever I see him.”

Colts news:Jonathan Taylor returns to Colts, Pat McAfee and social media react

How do fans feel? They – you – seem to be a mixed bag. Some see what is actually happening, that Taylor has one foot out the door, and they don’t like it. Others do that thing people do these days, and side with the most famous person in the room. They vote for those people, follow those people on social media and root for those people no matter what. Because fame is a virtue. Or something.

Taylor had one special moment in his news conference, when he was asked for the fourth or fifth time – because he still hadn’t answered the question – if he wanted to be here.

“Listen, like I said, I’m here right now and my number one thing is to take care of my teammates,” he said. “A lot of people worry about what I want. It doesn’t matter what I want. What matters is what this team wants and what this city wants and what this city needs, and this city needs a championship.”

See, that’s likeable. Does it make up for months of his me-first, self-centered nonsense? Not for me, but maybe for some of you. Taylor’s famous, see. His No. 28 jersey might even hang in your closet. Case closed: He’s a great guy!

Whatever he is, whoever he is, he was asked one final question Thursday.

What’s your message for fans?

Taylor’s answer: “I’ve definitely seen some fans out in person, and they show me a lot of love and support.”

What he meant: It’s not about them. It’s about Jonathan Taylor.

[Kray007]

Greg Doyel…front runner in the contest to see who can be the biggest terd in the bowl.

[Brylok]

OMG...I agree with Gregg Doyle.

[JAFF]

Originally Posted by Brylok

OMG...I agree with Gregg Doyle.

Go take a shower

[Racehorse]

What a shitty article. I guess we should all expect this garbage from him.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

What a shitty article. I guess we should all expect this garbage from him.

Doyel is such a douche. He couldn't have actually thought JT was going to apologize for everything that's gone down and completely commit to the Colts for the rest of his career. At least you would think he's not that stupid.

[CletusPyle]

A woman destroyed Kaepernick's career, well that and he sucked....has JT hooked up with anyone new lately? He's here, but he isn't even trying to heal the wounds!

[nate505]

Even if I agreed with Doyel, and I do get some of the points he's making, he comes off like such a snide cocksucker that I really don't want to agree with any of it.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by nate505

Even if I agreed with Doyel, and I do get some of the points he's making, he comes off like such a snide cocksucker that I really don't want to agree with any of it.

Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. I think you nailed it perfectly with Doyel.

[Chromeburn]

We have two players wanting the same thing, albeit at different positions. JT and MPj

They went about achieving that goal in very different ways.

I guess I don't blame JT for being pissed, it's not his fault the RB market has fallen off. Also he has a point that the Colts rewarded similar behavior and production with an early contract.

But I do think his attitude sucked and this current version seems immensely fake to me. I have to question your judgment when you go with a clown instead of the best agent in football. Perhaps Shaq had some influence there, I don't know. But I do know that what occurred during training camp is not something I would like to see again.