INDIANAPOLIS — An NFL player’s brilliance can be dimmed by his team’s struggles.
Especially if it’s a player who doesn’t particularly seek the spotlight.
Colts left guard Nelson Nelson was appointed to his seventh Pro Bowl Thursday, making Nelson the 20th player in history to make the Pro Bowl his first seven seasons.
Thirteen of these players are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Five others are not yet eligible.
Nelson is on this kind of track.
But his position, his reluctance to become more of a public figure, and his team’s relative lack of success during his tenure have made Nelson somewhat underestimated by the outside world, even if he doesn’t. It’s not inside. Colts changing room.
“It’s definitely one of my goals every year,” Nelson admitted Thursday.
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A secondary objective, of course. When Nelson made the Pro Bowl in 2023, he declined interview requests about the honor, saying he would rather focus on a win-and-win situation against Houston that week.
Nelson hasn’t been so lucky this season. The Colts blew both chances to stay in the playoff race in December, missing a golden opportunity against Denver and then getting passed by one of the league’s worst teams at the Meadowlands last Sunday.
“It’s really hard to deal with, especially after the Giants game when we got knocked out,” Nelson said. “I just try to do my best every day, and I can look in the mirror and know that I’m giving it my all.”
Nelson knows that while he is a Pro Bowler, he has been a vital asset to his team, a presence pushing the Colts toward victory rather than away from it.
“He’s just everything you want,” said Indianapolis center Danny Pinter. “As a leader and a teammate. »
In the wake of New York’s loss, everything from the team’s talent to its culture was called into question, and as teammates answered questions, they highlighted two veterans who set the standard at follow for all others.
One of them is defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
Nelson is the other.
“Obviously he has the physical attributes that we look for at that position… but it’s also his mind, the way he sees the game,” said Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen. “The ultimate student of the game. He always watches the tape. I mean, you spend a Tuesday there, whatever day it is, we’re done with meetings, he’s in that offline room, studying and grinding and improving.
Nelson was fortunate to spend the last five seasons going up against the other standard-bearer in the locker room, alongside nose tackle Grover Stewart.
Taking on Buckner and Stewart, Nelson has the perfect opponents.
“He’s always working on his game,” Buckner said. “How he’s going to prepare, what he’s going to do. The technique he’s going to use in the game, he’s going to do it in training, you know what I mean? Say he gets beat in practice with a technique, he’s going to keep doing it, because that’s how he’s going to sit on a certain guy (Sunday). And that’s what I love about Q and going against him every day.
And when he arrives on Sunday, Nelson remains one of the best offensive linemen in the league.
Nelson has struggled with penalties at times this season — he’s been flagged for seven false starts, the most of his career — but he’s allowed just one sack, according to Sports Info Solutions, and remains the weapon the best and most versatile of the Colts. ahead of Jonathan Taylor in the running game. An Indianapolis offense that has gotten poor play from its quarterbacks all season still ranks eighth in the NFL in rushing, and Taylor’s 1,254 yards earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl.
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Taylor always knew who to follow.
“Whenever feedback comes in, I always tell them, ‘Look, when in doubt, you know 56 will lead you to the light,'” Taylor said.
Nelson is also the team’s best player.
He hates leaving games. Nelson has played 1,005 of a possible 1,009 snaps this season, and when a Titans defender rolled over his leg two weeks ago, Nelson was so frustrated that he nailed his helmet as he walked off the field, the hitting him so hard that he almost hit him in the face on the rebound.
Even though Indianapolis held a sizable lead at the time, Nelson immediately sat down and asked the trainers to re-tape his left ankle so he could get back in the game. Offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. appeared to tell coaches to stop taping Nelson’s ankle, aware that the Colts needed him healthy; When Tennessee scored again, putting the game in doubt, Nelson came right back into the lineup.
“He’s going to fight no matter what,” Steichen said. “I mean, he’ll go there with probably a broken arm, a broken leg. He wants to play for his teammates, play for his guys and that’s the ultimate competitor that he is.
Famous for his stoic demeanor and being a reluctant interview subject, Nelson’s emotions almost always have to be seen on the field.
If you want to see what makes Nelson happy, just look a few steps behind the ball carrier during a touchdown in Indianapolis. One way or another, Nelson is almost always one of the first players to celebrate.
“It’s really cool,” Nelson said. “It’s special. It was 11 guys doing their job with one common goal: to score a touchdown and win the game.
The Colts didn’t win enough games for Nelson to maintain the household name he had when he arrived in Indianapolis as the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft.
But he’s been exactly what the Colts needed him to be, and that’s putting him on a historic pace.
This article was originally published on the Indianapolis Star: Colts Quenton Nelson: Even in a difficult season, he earns a Pro Bowl berth
