Chris Rainey was having a pretty impressive camp for the Colts, at least when you consider that he stood a great chance of making the roster after Vick Ballard went down with a season-ending injury. Rainey even drew high praise from head coach Chuck Pagano in one of his press conferences. And then, out of nowhere, the Colts released Rainey. Reports soon came out that Rainey had violated a team rule, but no specification was given as to what rule was violated and the Colts said it was an in-house issue.
Chris Rainey, on the other hand, might have given it away. Rainey took to twitter last night during the Colts game to take shots at the Colts and running back Dan Herron, who had a very good game in last night's preseason opener. Furthermore, it seems Rainey gave an indication as to why he was cut. He has since deleted said tweets, but not before I got a screenshot of them (interestingly, Rainey has since made his twitter private):
Welp. Sounds like we now know the reason Chris Rainey was released. #Colts pic.twitter.com/VfJKZ0o0tX
— Josh Wilson (@Coltsfanwilson) August 8, 2014
So, it sounds like Rainey was cut for something related to a fire extinguisher - you could speculate on what exactly was going on, but it sounds most likely that it was a prank. With a fire extinguisher. It sounds like a silly reason for a release, but more than that, it sounds like a dumb move - and rules are rules. If Rainey broke a team rule (while he claims he didn't, I tend to trust the Colts on this one), then the Colts were completely justified in releasing him and Rainey just made a dumb move.
Besides, he was on thin ground anyway. An arrest and charge for a simple count of battery last year resulted in him getting cut from the Steelers. Rainey got another chance with the Colts, and a dumb move resulted in him getting cut. If he's hoping for another chance with another team, well, the tweets last night weren't a very good idea.
So let's recap - Chris Rainey was cut for reportedly violating a team rule. Chris Rainey wasn't happy he was cut. Chris Rainey took to twitter to express that unhappiness, giving insight as to what actually happened and then saying that he didn't break said team rule. Chris Rainey also decided to take a shot at the Colts (for cutting him) and at Dan Herron, who Rainey claims was in on the apparent prank too.
It's safe to say that regardless of the circumstances surrounding Rainey's release it appears to be just a dumb move, and taking to twitter to rant against his former team and teammates was as well.