The guy squirting water into Zach Ertz’s mouth is Joe O’Pella. He’s an athletic trainer that’s been with the team for over 15 years at this point.
NFL teams don’t really have water boys, athletic trainers are usually the ones responsible for having water on the practice field and during games, but this post is absolutely hilarious.
A guy who rehabbed my ACL tear in my second year, has a masters degree from Pitt, and has years of experience keeping Eagles players healthy and on the field being called a “Waterboy” is crazy, and I’m already giving him shit for it, but good lord this post is so wildly misleading.
Either way, thought I’d clear the air, that the people with Water Bottles during games actually serve much bigger roles on NFL Teams.
The Stars honored head athletic trainer, Dave Zeis on his 2000th NHL game.
Jamie Benn gifted Zeis a trip to Buffalo to see the Bills play, and Jim Nill a Stars jersey No. 2000.
Really cool moment pregame. Works dang hard.
Breaking: Tennessee is moving on from starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel informed the team of the decision at a team meeting. Iamaleava missed meetings and practice on Friday, which was the driver of this decision, sources told @PeteThamel.
Win or lose today, we celebrate the stellar career and final game of our Sr. Head Athletic Trainer DAVE HAMMER—-41 yrs in the trenches, great teammate, ALWAYS putting The Horseshoe first. ❤️
I’ve said what I believed to be the truth about the team.. & a bunch of “Colts fans” on the internet were trying to get me booed out of the city..
Current players, who have won nothing during their entire tenures, started using me and my face to try and paint me as the enemy in the city I’ve committed my life to.
And in the end… everything went.. just like I fucking said it would
In the biggest moments everybody with a brain knew they’d crack.. and they did.
A blind person could see the red flags on this team.. Work ethic questions, NEVER happens on good teams.. Preparation commitment questions, NEVER happens on good teams.. Late to meetings, NEVER happens on good teams.. Late to/skipping treatment, NEVER happens on good teams.. The franchise QB tapped out of a game.. on 3rd down.. in the red zone.. because he was tired… NEVER HAPPENED in the history of the NFL.
That’s literally the only thing you need to tell someone (who knows ball) and they could tell you everything about this team…
“Hey the franchise quarterback, who’s a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars, and the face of a multi billion dollar franchise tapped out of the game because… because… because he was tired in the middle of the season”
“Oh wow.. that team has no chance” would be the immediate response..
And to the surprise of nobody.. that was the response by everybody who’s ever played/coached the game before but.. Colts blogs and fans who have been covering the Colts since 2020 and more recent knew better than everybody… Started personally attacking me and trying to kick me out of town.
When I said Joe Flacco gives us a better chance to win than AR immediately after the tap out.. I would’ve said whatever backup QB we had on the roster. That can’t be what the face of your team is doing.. just can’t be.. and to a bigger aspect of it all, somehow AR thought it was ok to do that. That’s a locker room issue.. that’s a culture issue.. thats an indicator of a loser attitude radiating thru a building that was built by greats.
I have no idea how they fix it.. I don’t think it’s like a light switch. “Alright, we’re gonna become Pros now” but… maybe it is, but what do I know?
Oh wait….. how this was all gonna work out. I knew that.
As a multiple year season ticket holder (not renewing).. and someone who has actively, daily, attempted to be an additive to this beautiful city. I hope they become a good franchise again.. this city deserves it.. the OGs in the Colts building deserve it (equipment managers, trainers, ticketing, PR, sales).. and on the flip side the players/coaches in that building deserve whatever happens to them. Your unwarranted arrogance, laziness, and lack of professionalism has lead you to ANOTHER early vacation… which is probably what most of you entitled bums have been hoping for.
I don’t speak for the city.. and I don’t speak for all ex Colts players because I was only a punter.. nominated for the HOF 3 times now but nonetheless.. I speak from my own perspective.. I’ve never seen a group waste opportunities/talent/money more than this group.
Cheers… #ForTheShoe #LahdHahse
#ForTheBrand #Pittsburghese