INDIANAPOLIS — Shortly after the phone rang with Colts general manager Chris Ballard on the other end, Caden Curry walked to his boyhood closet and reached his arm deep in the back and pulled out a jersey.
He’s owned it for years, not long after his favorite NFL team made its second trip to the Super Bowl in four seasons. The royal blue jersey with the famous ‘1-8’ stitched-on numbers and the Super Bowl patch on the chest still fits, as does the Colts hat the Ohio State edge rusher donned while chatting with reporters about how his hometown team had just made him its latest draft pick after a single season starting on the edge for the Buckeyes.
The goal for Saturday afternoon, Curry said, was just to get drafted after leading the Big Ten in sacks in 2025 with 11. Getting the call from the team 20 minutes up the road who he spent his childhood living and dying with each fall made the lasting memory all the sweeter.
Curry watched raucous Colts games inside Lucas Oil Stadium as a kid and won state titles there as a high schooler. With hard work and some luck, he hopes to make his NFL debut there in September, too.
“This is just the next step of my career, and I just can’t wait to do the most with it, and I just can’t wait to be able to do it in a city I grew up in and to do it for the people around me who always believed in me while being so close around them,” said the Greenwood native who shined at Center Grove High School before embarking on a college career in Columbus, Ohio.
“All the way from being a little kid and going to the Combine and watching all those great players before me. I was a Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis fan; those were the (defensive) ends that made me want to play this position. There’s really not just one (memory). It’s everything I’ve grown up seeing and watching. It’s honestly a surreal moment to have watched and learned from those guys growing up, and now to be able to ply in the same shoes they were in, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
Curry comes to the Colts at a time where they have a serious need for an edge rusher – whether that be Curry’s Buckeye and now Colts teammate Jaylahn Tuimoloau, the 2025 second-round pick, or any number of the team’s depth pieces already on the roster or acquired this spring in free agency. Curry profiles as a player whose relentless motor and refined technique has so far overcome his sub-31-inch arms and otherwise stockier frame that, on paper, could be an uphill battle for on-field wins at the pro level.
But Curry has overcome a struggle for playing time before. The 22-year-old spent four seasons in Columbus but made his first collee start this fall after Tuimoloau moved on to the NFL. In the meantime, Curry made his presence known as a standout special teams contributor – something the Colts took notice of during the evaluation process, which could pay dividends as he fights for a roster spot this summer.
“I feel like I’m somebody you can put anywhere out there, and I’m going to be productive,” Curry said. “I’m the type that’s going to work his tail off in practice and do whatever with the opportunity he gets and make the most of it, and I feel like I’m going to bring an edge to the defensive end room and the whole D line room, and we’re going to compete together. (Tuimoloau) is already there, and he has the same mindset as me, so we’re gonna bounce off each other and make everyone around us the best versions of themselves.”
The biggest question facing Curry now?
Continue living at home with his parents in Greenwood and save some cash as an NFL rookie on a non-guaranteed contract, or spring for his own place just a short drive from home?
“I don’t know. At this moment I’ve gotta figure it out and take it one day at a time,” he said. “I hear a lot of players live up in Noblesville, so I might have to make the move to the north side.
“Being back home in Indy (with my parents), (the Colts) were their favorite team growing up, so seeing their son go there was definitely a special moment. I’m thankful that I could make that happen for them, and I’m glad I can do it for myself, too, to come back here to the city of Indianapolis and provide for this city and be a player who hopefully everybody enjoys watching. Hopefully I can make the most out of my career here.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caden Curry getting drafted by hometown Colts is ‘a dream come true’
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
