Derek Schultz: Seth’s sensational season

For most folks in Indianapolis, there was nothing joyful about the 2024 Colts season. The team struggled with injuries, inconsistency and at times incompetence en route to a disappointing 9-8 showing. Anthony Richardson’s performance was disheartening, and Shane Steichen’s decision-making was often maddening, leading to the franchise’s fourth straight playoff-less January.

Meanwhile, as the Colts and most of their fans were left once again as Super Bowl spectators, Seth Irskens was enjoying the experience of a lifetime down on Bourbon Street. Irskens had been proclaimed the Colts’ 2024 Fan of the Year. Although this past season might not have been particularly memorable for the team and this city, it was unforgettable for Seth Irskens, the creator of viral Colts anthems.

Going with ‘The Flow’

When Irskens started doing weekly Colts’ anthems, he was merely trying to entertain his internet followers. The Greenwood resident and McDonald’s employee has moonlighted for years as a content creator, using his YouTube channel, “The Flow,” to stream his own movie reviews and favorite television episode reactions. Before the 2023 Colts’ season, he added singing about his favorite football team to his repertoire.

Seth’s anthem songs, which are 30 seconds long and follow the same tune as “This is Our God” by Phil Wickham, are performed as follows—punctuated with over-the-top horse neighing (also done by Seth):

This is our Colts,

This is our team,

We bleed blueeee.

This is our Colts,

Whether win or lose,

We love themmmm.

For the Shoe,

Beat the [that week’s opponent],

[something specific about that opponent].

This is our team,

Go Coltsssss!

“I came up with the idea based on [my church’s] worship song,” remembers Irskens, who adds video production director at his church to his lengthy list of occupations. “I woke up one morning after coming home from there and was signing the song with the ‘This is our team, we bleed blue’ lyrics instead, and the idea just shot up from there.”

Catching fire, spreading joy

After receiving modest attention over the course of 2023, Seth’s anthems were embraced by Colts and NFL fans on social media in year two. When his preseason finale video before the Cincinnati game was given airtime on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the roof hadbeen blown.

“It is awesome that the world has gotten to learn more about” these videos, McAfee said on his show back in August. “The Colts need to bring him in for a live performance, because it feels like they are uninspired.”

A few weeks later, on Barstool Sports’ popular “Pardon My Take” podcast, Colts quarterback Joe Flacco was asked if he listened to Seth’s anthems. “These [anthems] will pump you the up, Joe,” Eric Sollenberger, who uses the alias PFTCommenter, told Flacco before his co-host, Dan “Big Cat” Katz, played the song for the former Super Bowl MVP.

Through the quarterback changes and inconsistency of the 2024 season, Irskens kept delivering each week, as his videos cumulatively generated hundreds of thousands of views. The songs were virtually all the same, outside of one altered verse to take a dig at the other team, sometimes at the opposing quarterback. “For the Shoe, beat the Texans, horns down on Stroud’s turf!” was the refrain heading into their Week 9 game in Houston, while Week 15 featured “For the Shoe, beat the Broncos, let’s Nix them in their big fat Bo’s.”

The Colts lost both of those games, but the videos gave fans something to look forward to every week.

“It always goes back to joy for him,” said Zack Wojtowicz, Irskens’ boss at his local McDonald’s franchise and lifelong family friend. “As far as Seth is concerned, the Colts are winning the Super Bowl at the start of every year, but even if they lose, he’s coming right back to how they’re going to turn things around.”

For many fans, it was not the anthems that went viral as much as it was Seth’s enthusiasm.

“I actually understand the fans that are feeling up and down, because I feel the same way much of the time,” Irskens said. “But in my anthems, when I say ‘whether win or lose, we love them,’ … I just want to spread that positivity every time.”

That attitude is also how Irskens has approached each day outside Colts’ Sundays. Irskens, who is autistic, lost both parents a few years apart at a young age. Despite such a loss, he chose a joyful outlook that endeared and inspired those who knew him, long before he became an internet sensation.

“If there was ever anyone that could look at the world and say, ‘This sucks, I’m going to be negative and pessimistic,’ it’s him, but he’s taken those struggles, rallied around it, and his positivity has been overwhelming,” Wojtowicz said.

“When awesome things happen to awesome people—and there’s no better person than Seth—that’s awesome to see,” said Wojtowicz.

Fan on the street

The Fan of the Year program, which was launched league-wide by the NFL in 2020, didn’t pop up on Irskens’ radar until last season, a full year into the Colts’ anthem videos. The nomination was suggested by his brother, Nate, a fellow Indy super fan and regular contributor to his YouTube channel.

Ultimately, Irskens rose above hundreds of applicants to earn the coveted title of Colts Fan of the Year for the 2024 season. The team brought him to their complex under the façade of a photoshoot and allowed Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs to surprise Irskens by singing his own anthem to him. The video shared on the Colts’ social media channels shows Irskens in shock while the players broke the news to him.

“I think what really stood out [about Seth] was just the way that he united our fan base in so many ways,” said Stephanie Pemberton, Colts vice president of marketing.

“It was almost like Seth’s energy translated to fans and maybe they needed that boost [this season],” she said.

The life-changing experience didn’t end there, however, as the prize package also included two Super Bowl LIX tickets and a trip to New Orleans. The team then coordinated with Wojtowicz, whose McDonald’s team threw a surprise send-off party for their beloved co-worker, along with a large group of Irskens’ family and friends, prior to his departure to the Big Easy.

There, Irskens teamed up with the Colts’ mascot, Blue, for several man-on-the-street interviews with football fans who were taking in Super Bowl Week on Bourbon Street.

“When we were doing the ‘Seth on the Street’ videos [on Bourbon Street], a couple of people asked me, ‘Hey, are you the Colts anthem guy? Can I get a photo?,’” said Irksens. “I loved the beignets. I loved the French Quarter. It was an amazing experience in New Orleans, and getting to go to the Super Bowl game was such a thrill.”

Unsurprisingly, Irskens is bullish on next season’s Colts. As far as topping his incredible 2024 season? You guessed it—Irskens has a positive outlook there, too, expressing confidence that the encore will continue to resonate with fans.

“We’re going to bring back the Colts’ anthem for sure, and hopefully we can keep this thing going,” Irskens said. “We just want to inspire Colts fans to support our boys in blue all the way!”•

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From Peyton Manning’s peak with the Colts to the Pacers’ most recent roster makeover, Schultz has talked about it all as a sports personality in Indianapolis for more than 15 years. Besides his written work with IBJ, he’s active in podcasting and show hosting. You can follow him on X @Schultz975.