Patriots fans mimic stoic coach, shrug off rivalry with Colts

Indianapolis Colts fans hate the New England Patriots.

The feeling is not mutual.

It may be even worse.

It is said the opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference—and that’s exactly what many Pats fans say they feel toward the Colts.

According to on-air folks on the Boston sports-talk station WEEI-FM 93.7, there’s not much hatred on the part of Pats fans for the Colts these days, and there hasn’t been much since quarterback Peyton Manning left for Denver.

The reason, WEEI jocks said, is because the current iteration of the Colts don’t pose much of a challenge.

During Manning’s heyday in Indianapolis in the 2000s, the Patriots held a slim 8-6 lead. But since 2010, New England is 6-0 against the Colts. And in the Andrew Luck era none of the games has been particularly close. The last was a 45-7 drubbing in the AFC Championship game in Foxboro last year.  

The DeflateGate controversy likely pumped up the ill will coming from New England a bit, but according to WNDE-AM 1260 afternoon co-host Derek Schultz, it’s not nearly as much as Indy fans feel toward the Patriots.

Schultz, a Connecticut native who still keeps in contact with numerous Pats followers, said New Englanders have bigger targets for their venom. The Colts, he said, don’t register in the top 3 of most Pats fans’ most-hated list.

No. 1 on that list is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has sought to punish the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady in particular for their part in deflating footballs used during their games last year. The Colts, by the way, were the ones who first accused the Pats of underinflating footballs during last year’s AFC Championship game.

No. 2 on the list of New Englanders’ most hated list is the New York Jets, according to Schultz.

No. 3 on the list is New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Schultz said.

Not only is there a natural East Coast rivalry between New York and New England, but Patriots fans are apparently still sore about the two Super Bowl victories Eli Manning helped engineer against their beloved team—with one spoiling an undefeated season.

The Colts and Patriots face off again on primetime Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Patriots come in undefeated and looking like a solid bet to repeat as AFC champs.  

Colts fans would love nothing better than for their team to get revenge for last year’s playoff slaughter and establish themselves as a serious AFC contender.

The irritation level of many Indy locals is on the rise. But that streetcar named Ire appears to be on a one-way street.

In the wake of another Colts beating on Sunday, New England fans are promising to be about as expressive as Patriots Coach Bill Belichick at a postgame press conference.

That type of smugness is bound to get Colts fans’ blood boiling even hotter.