Reggie Wayne
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne entered the National Football League in 2001 and he has lived up to the expectations that were placed upon him and then some. When the Colts drafted Wayne they were hopeful that he would be a player that would be able to offset wide receiver Marvin Harrison. It took Wayne some time to get his feet wet, but by 2003 he started in all 16 regular season games. Wayne’s breakout season came in 2004 when he tallied 77 receptions for 1,210 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. By 2006, Wayne led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,510 to go along with 10 touchdown passes and he earned his first Pro Bowl selection. To culminate that season Wayne caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl 41 as he helped the Colts knock off the Chicago Bears for their first Super Bowl Championship since 1970. For his career Wayne has eight seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards and four seasons of at least 100 receptions. Before one myth was that Wayne was a good receiver simply because he played opposite Harrison. But Harrison has not played since 2008 which has paved the way to make Wayne the go-to-guy with the Colts. The other myth was that Wayne put up big numbers primarily because he played with quarterback Peyton Manning. But Manning has not played with the Colts since 2010 as he is now the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Wayne’s new soul mate on the football field is Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and they are now producing big things in Indianapolis.
The Colts would use the first overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft on Luck as he was expected to be the next great franchise quarterback in Indy. After the 2011 NFL season Wayne could have left Indianapolis as a free agent as the Colts were rebuilding, but he instead chose to stay on board and the results have been extremely positive. Wayne has become Luck’s security blanket as the youngster has been able to depend on the veteran wide receiver. In Luck’s first season with the Colts he helped the team go from 2-14 in 2011, to a record of 11-5 in 2012 which resulted in a playoff berth. That season Luck completed 339 passes while throwing for 4,374 yards. 106 of those completions by Luck went to Wayne while he was also the recipient of 1,355 receiving yards.
Wayne was once again Luck’s top receiver last season until Week 7 when the receiver suffered an ACL injury that abruptly ended his year. Wayne was 34-years old at the time of the injury and the odds were against him as far making a strong comeback to the NFL. But somebody forgot to get that message across to Wayne.
Wayne rehabbed last off-season and he has come back strong in 2014. Through six games this season Wayne has 34 receptions to go along with 419 receiving yards and a touchdown. So far this season Wayne’s biggest performance came in the Colts Week 4 victory over the Tennessee Titans where he had 7 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown. Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton might be the deep threat in the Colts passing game, but Wayne is the guy that consistently moves the chains.
Wayne came to the NFL from the University of Miami at a time when the school was a pipeline to the league. While in college Wayne was teammates with former NFL players such as Clinton Portis, Ed Reed, Jeremy Shockey, and current Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson. The players from Miami would always push each other in practice and that trend continued when they got to the NFL as it was always a competition between them to see who would get to the Pro Bowl. And being that Wayne’s 1,040 receptions are seventh all-time in NFL history and his 13,985 receiving yards are ninth all-time it is safe to say that he ranks up there with any of the great Miami players that went on to play in the NFL.
After losing their first two games of the season, the Colts have rallied to win their last four. And after quickly spotting the Texans a two-game lead in the AFC South, it is the Colts who are now sitting atop the division. The AFC South is the Colts for the taking as they appear ready to seize the moment and Wayne will have a huge say in it. For 14 NFL seasons Wayne has flown under the radar as he just continues to go about his business. But for a Colts franchise that has seen great wide receivers such as Raymond Berry, Roy Jefferson, and Harrison play for them, Wayne can more than hold his own with them.
Source: Pro-football-reference.com
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