Getty Image
Indianapolis Colts Chris Ballard — who is hoping that he found the franchise’s next long-term option at quarterback after selecting Anthony Richardson with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft — slammed the sports media landscape for negative pre-draft coverage of potential prospects.
Perhaps annoyed by the painful and highly-publicized slide of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, who was heavily linked to the Colts prior to the draft, Ballard blasted NFL media for all the “crap that comes out about these kids.”
“I get frustrated. All the crap that comes out about these kids. It’s crap. Like, it’s BS. I’m sorry, but it’s BS. Like people that leak these stories, these negative stories on kids. I just don’t — I don’t agree with it. It’s BS,” Ballard told reporters following the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 27.
“These guys work their a** off to get where they need to be, and then all week you’ve got to read . . . and then they’ve got to answer questions. So, anyway, not on Anthony it’s on some other kids in the draft that are good kids, and I thought had to take a little bit of a beating that they shouldn’t have had to take.”
Ballard certainly has a point, as the media — of which this website is undoubtedly a part — played a role in what happened to University of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, who was talked about as a potential top-five pick but ultimately wound up falling out of the first round entirely.
The 2023 NFL Draft — which is being held at Union Station in Kansas City, home of the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs — will resume on Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m. with rounds two and three before concluding on Saturday, April 29 with rounds four through seven.