INDIANAPOLIS — AD Mitchell knew he had to say something to his teammates and coaches. He owed them that much. The Indianapolis Colts wide receiver suddenly became the talk of the NFL for all of the wrong reasons. A few seconds was all it took for Mitchell to turn the best play of his career into the worst. A dazzling catch for what should have been a 76-yard go-ahead score, his first touchdown in the NFL, in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, was reduced to a 75-yard reception and touchback when Mitchell celebrated prematurely by sticking the ball out near the goal line and fumbling it through the end zone.
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There were no excuses for what he’d done. No justification to mitigate his mistake.
Colts coach Shane Steichen had just gone over the team’s “letters and logos” slogan that was implemented to remind players to run the ball into the end zone, where a team’s letters and logos are painted, and Mitchell still committed the ultimate football sin.
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