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Colts continue to fail off football field

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts have more to worry about than whether the New England Patriots used deflated balls to beat them in the AFC Championship Game.

They need to worry about what's going on inside their organization because they're doing a better job of finding trouble than they did tackling the Patriots last month.

The latest incident occurred Tuesday night, when linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, a stand-up player in the locker room, was arrested and charged with assaulting a man in Washington, D.C. The man, according to ABC 7 in Washington, was a pizza delivery driver.

That brings the number of Colts players arrested or suspended since Jan. 14 up to four.

So often you hear the Colts talk about having high-character "horseshoe" players on their roster. It's time to stop that.

You can't call these players "horseshoe" guys when they continue to get in trouble.

Here's a refresher of the string of issues the Colts have dealt with since March 2014:

  • March 2014: Owner Jim Irsay arrested on suspicion of impaired driving. He was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for six games in September following his guilty plea on one misdemeanor count of driving while impaired. He was also fined $500,000.

  • May 2014: Linebacker Robert Mathis suspended four games for using performance-enhancing drugs.

  • September 2014: Receiver Da'Rick Rogers arrested on suspicion of DUI. He was released by the Colts.

  • September 2014: Safety LaRon Landry suspended four games for using performance-enhancing drugs.

  • January 2015: Linebacker Josh McNary charged with rape and placed on the commissioner's exempt list pending the outcome of the case.

  • January 2015: Running back Trent Richardson suspended two games for conduct detrimental to the team.

  • January 2015: Linebacker Andrew Jackson arrested, his second DUI charge.

  • January 2015: Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson arrested on assault charges.

And what are the Colts saying about their embarrassing string of incidents?

Nothing.

A team spokesman said Irsay and general manager Ryan Grigson are not available for interviews.

The Colts are headed in the right direction on the field because of franchise quarterback Andrew Luck, but they're continuing to fail off of it.