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INDIANAPOLIS – It’s a hard balance to achieve, but a necessary one if Anthony Richardson is going to tap into that oozing potential.
First, confidence is no issue for Richardson.
Just watch him go about practice and you’ll see a high-energized individual bouncing around the field.
But every time Richardson exudes that confidence in a public setting, he’s quick to mention the work that has to be put in at the same time.
Yes, Richardson is a QB prospect unlike anything the NFL has seen
However, that doesn’t mean he is a lock to be in Canton, Ohio one day.
“Obviously, I showcased that I can be a huge talent,” Richardson begins, before acknowledging what is needed.
“There’s a lot of things I can clean up. Growing up, I always thought about Tom Brady and the way he worked. He has seven rings. People say he’s the greatest, but I’ve always heard he’s constantly trying to get better day by day and I thought about that. ‘Like, how can a guy that great try and get better every single day?’
“I haven’t done the things he’s done. So I’m like, ‘Okay, I can definitely get better. If that guy is getting better, I can get better myself.’
“So, it’s just a balance of knowing how confident you are in yourself but also being smart enough to understand that you can get better and you’re that person.”
That final comment sums up how Richardson must approach the daunting task at hand.
The newly turned 21-year-old is now the face of an NFL franchise.
Whenever he gets in that huddle for good, 10 sets of eyes will be looking at him for the next (hopefully for the Colts’ sake) decade.
If things go well for Richardson, he will be on the side of Lucas Oil Stadium and the commas will start to add up on that paycheck.
Just ask his boss.
“You play 12 or 14 years in this league and you’re an outstanding quarterback, you’re going to make a billion dollars,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said some 48 hours after the Colts took Richardson 4th overall.
“A billion, a billion,” the owner repeated.
Confidence, the utmost, is an absolute must if you are quarterbacking an NFL franchise.
And Richardson clearly has that.
But, similar to young Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, Richardson knows strides are essential.
Richardson gets that he enters the NFL with a minuscule 13 career starts, a blah 6-6 college record and having completed an ugly 54 percent number of his passes at Florida.
The Colts drafted Richardson projecting what he could be in the future.
And in order for that to be possible, it meant the Colts believed in his work ethic, too.
How Richardson is wired is a big reason why the Colts think he has chance to reach that sort of level.
“I feel like I’ve been dealing with pressure my whole life,” Richardson says. “So, pressure isn’t anything new for me and then playing at the University of Florida, I felt like there was a lot of pressure in that as well. Pressure doesn’t do anything but create a legend. Pressure is only hard if you’re not prepared, so I’m going to make sure I’m prepared to the best of my ability so I can make things work for this franchise.
“Honestly, I feel like if you put pressure on yourself, that means you’re not prepared. So, I want to make sure I’m prepared in the best way, best form, best fashion that I can be. Great quarterbacks played here before I did, and I want to be a part of that list. I will be a part of that list because I’m going to make sure I’m prepared, I’ll put that work in and support my team and support the franchise.”
