I got early on Tuesday morning. I couldn’t sleep. I’m not sure why, but I woke up at 5:30 a.m. Maybe it’s because I was excited to have the opportunity to attend Indianapolis Colts training camp. PR Ted worked with Colts PR Director Craig Kelley and they let me come down for the day and hang out and watch the Colts practice.

He picked me up around 7 a.m. at the house and we made the hour or so drive from Avon to the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre-Haute, Ind. The Colts have held training camp at Rose Hulman for the past eight years. Once we found where to go, we got our credentials and then parked and headed over to the practice fields.

Since moving to Indy, I’ve turned into a Colts fan. I try to go to as many games as I can. It can be tough when we’re on the road, but I usually get to four or so games a year at the RCA Dome. The Monday Night Football games are a blast. Now that the Colts are associated with Lucas Oil, I can be an even bigger fan. I’m really excited for Lucas Oil Stadium to open up in a few years.

We tried to go to training camp last year, but things just didn’t work out with our schedule. Larry Dixon goes to Raiders camp every year in Napa, Calif., so it was about time I went. There were a good number of fans on hand since the practice is open to the public. I really enjoyed watching how the coaches ran practice and the drills. Training camp is a bit slow-paced, but Tony Dungy definitely rules with an iron fist. It’s a very discipline bunch. With 80 guys vying for 53 roster spots, it’s really competitive. Jeffrey Gorman, who works in the Colts broadcasting department, gave us a ton of insight into the team. It was neat to hear about a lot of the younger guys like rookie running back Joseph Addai. He’ll play a major role with Edgerrin James now a Cardinal.

A few of the bigger names like Dwight Freeney, Cory Simon and University of Iowa alum Bob Sanders took the morning session off to nurse injuries. It’s quite obvious who the team leader is. When Peyton Manning talks, people listen. I can bet he’ll be a coach once he retires.

Practice ran for about two hours and 20 minutes. After that, we got back in the black Chevy shop truck and drove home. We made a quick pit stop at KFC for lunch and then I had errands to run and PR Ted had to get to the shop to work. So, thanks to the Colts for letting me have a fun morning. Let’s make that Super Bowl run in ’06.