My Farewell to Stampede Blue

What a run we’ve had, eh?

My first Fanpost was on April 22, 2008. I loved the community and wanted to get more involved, but the site manager encouraged me to start my own Colts blog.

Coltzilla grew, but I had a broader vision that came together with help from others within just a few years. Nate Dunlevy, Kyle Rodriguez, and several others (Stampede Blue alum Laura Calaway for instance) eventually came together to form Coltsauthority.com. We created content I was proud of and gave the Colts community additional voices outside the mainstream.

I joined the Stampede Blue team as a writer in April 2017 and took the reins as site manager on July 1, the same year Josh Wilson left to pursue his calling in the seminary.

• I’ve created over 2,000 pieces of content at Stampede Blue.
• We partnered to create custom apparel.
• We created a podcast network, branded it with vinyl backdrops, and even live-streamed the NFL Draft. Primary contributors included the talented Matt Danely, Jake Arthur, Zach Hicks, Jared Malott, Stephen Reed, and even Stephen Holder (for a while).
• We’ve delivered content from diverse writers from the UK, Canada, and Argentina. Anyone who has missed the opportunity to read Ana Krasuski’s work here should check it out - she’s incredibly talented.
• We published the only Colts-focused NFL Draft Guide I’ve ever seen produced. We delivered it specifically to the Stampede Blue community and in honor of a previous Stampede Blue community moderator Anthony Arena.
• We’ve produced the most in-depth film review and football academy series I’ve seen anywhere - let alone explicitly focused on the Colts. We brought talents like Zach Hicks, Chris Shepherd, and others to make it possible.
• We’ve earned a table at Colts events, including covering Training Camp, helped the effort to earn credentials for other team interviews and events, earned membership into the PFWA, and established a good relationship with numerous mainstream Colts writers (giving this community more access than ever before).

While I’ve served as site manager, I’ve been blessed to see numerous writers get opportunities many aspiring journalists could only dream of.

Jake Arthur wrote for Colts.com and now writes with SI, has a running podcast, and is frequently on the field to cover the team on the local news. Zach Hicks has joined Jake at SI, including on his podcast, and continues to build a name for himself — well beyond the Colts community.

There are too many people to thank.

My wife and my family. You’ve entertained my unorthodox game-day rituals, early mornings to put up links pieces, half-time trips to the computer to push out content, and post-game rants that took time away from socializing and spending time with you - including my dad to my brothers- and sisters-in-law, and my friend family.

Stampede Blue community, you’re fantastic. So many great people are here, and the personalities have been incredible. We’ve lost members, some who have passed away and some who have moved on. George Costanza III is cherished. I miss Doss’s more frequent contributions. We lost Anthony Arena. There are too many others to list.

Joel Thorman gave me the opportunity. Thank you, sir. Thank you for inviting me to visit when Andrew Luck and the Colts traveled to Kansas City for a pivotal playoff game (too bad a blizzard blew that).

Members of our writing staff have all been incredible.

Chris Shepherd’s football mind and talent for educating others and coaching have been incredible. I’ve learned so much from you. Thank you. Also - don’t ever stop the conspiracy theories post or your pre-draft predictions. No content, anywhere, is better.

Stephen Reed has been around forever. We’ve visited at home games, and you’ve always been an incredible sounding board for ideas—an unsung hero, without question.

Luke Schultheis has been as reliable and active a breaking news and story contributor as anyone could ask for - and that’s amazing, given that he is also an attorney.

Elliot Denton-Singh has helped grow the social media presence on Twitter significantly since he joined our team. He even launched the Stampede Blue Instagram page.

Andrew Thomison is a journalism grad who has greatly complemented Luke Schultheis in covering breaking stories. His background, credentials, and content are so good he even earned a paid opportunity for the Tennessee Titans — but no one would wish that on anyone.

Mateo Caliz has increased his production and improved as a writer every year since he joined the team. He even has a podcast with Jared Malott as additional content for our community.

Jared Malott is one of my best friends, was in my wedding, and has helped establish some interesting gambling content at Stampede Blue, at least since the partnership with DraftKings - if not before.

Faraz Majid has helped keep our content updated on Facebook and shared Fan Shots during games to inform the community of the latest social media chatter.

How we convinced T. Troy Russell to produce content on the front page actively is beyond me, but the Stampede Blue community has significantly benefitted from A Beautiful Mind.

Troy has refused to receive any compensation for his time here. Thank you so much for improving this place, for the best statistical content ANYWHERE, and for leading the way. I hope others will give you the recognition you deserve at some point. I see you, sir. Thank you.

Other behind-the-scenes contributors include Greg Rader - who has helped edit and schedule our content for years. Richard Clark has helped monitor the comments section to ensure the community is inclusive and invites people of all backgrounds and levels of fandom to chime in. Andrew Aziz has been another regular contributor without any compensation. While he brings a particularly Canadian perspective, his contract breakdowns and positional reviews have always been fun to read. Thank you all.

Jake Arthur, Chris Blystone, Matt Danely, and Zach Hicks all moved on but were incredible assets while they were with Stampede Blue. Thank you all so much for your contributions.

Destin Adams and Rashaad McGinnis were as “insiders” as Stampede Blue has seen since its inception. Our time together was short, but thanks.

The list would go on. If I’ve missed you, I’m sorry. I’ve not forgotten you, but this isn’t an award show. I hear the music playing.

Thank you all again. Go Colts!