Promotion
Colts harvest Canadian talent

Colts harvest Canadian talent

By Rob Longley

The pain Indianapolis Colts running back Joseph Addai is feeling this week is about to be another man’s gain.

Former CFL star Kenton Keith, who is temporarily at least, on the verge of becoming the featured running back for the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.

With the chest injury to impressive sophomore running back Addai, Keith may get the bulk of the carries as the featured back when the Colts face the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday.

“I’ll be ready to roll,” said Keith, who ran for 80 yards on 10 carries for the Colts in last week’s win over the Denver Broncos.

“I think everybody knows I’ll be ready.”

Keith already knows a little about making the best of an opportunity.

There were raised eyebrows when the power back decided to leave the Roughriders after a 2006 season in which he ran for 1,037 yards to take his shot at cracking the Colts lineup.

There are dozens of stories of players who have had success in Canada only to move south and fail. For each one who made it, there are many more that didn’t.

The Colts are no ordinary team when it comes to harvesting and then utilizing Canadian talent, however.

General manager Bill Polian cut his teeth under Marv Levy in Canada and has used CFL veteran Cal Murphy as a bird dog for years. Several players, including former kicker Mike Vanderjagt, have enjoyed and profited from that pipeline.

A power runner, Keith wasted little time making his presence felt with the Colts and easily moved to second on the depth chart during training camp.

He comes from pretty good running stock as well - Keith is a cousin to NFL running backs Ahman Green and Roger Craig.

Addai is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game as is wide receiver Marvin Harrison. If both are out, it could be a lot more Keith than quarterback Peyton Manning.

As an interesting aside, the injury to Addai and possible promotion of Keith could lead to an opportunity for Toronto native Clifton Dawson. The Harvard grad, who was signed by the Colts in September, could be a candidate to be promoted from the practice roster for Sunday’s game.

Something Special

While the 1-3 start for the Chicago Bears has been anything but special for the NFC champions, Manitoba’s Israel Idonije had had a remarkable beginning to his season.

Special teams ace Devin Hester gets all the flash for his two kick returns for touchdowns, but Idonije is having a serious impact as well.

So far this season, Izzy has blocked three field goal attempts including two in last week’s loss to the Detroit Lions.

An imposing presence up the middle, Idonije gets a big jump and his huge hands up in the air to make even the shortest field-goal attempts an adventure for opposition kickers.