INDIANAPOLIS – For a split second, there was silence and a blank stare. DeForest Buckner needed time to digest the question.
It had to do with assuming the role Philip Rivers owned in 2020.
You remember Uncle Phil, right?
Michael Pittman Jr. does and sees similarities that have much more to do with gravitas than age.
Meet Uncle Buck. The defensive cornerstone of the Indianapolis Colts, not the 1989 John Candy movie.
Stick with us, we’ll get to that.
As the Colts wade into the first week of their offseason workout program, coach Shane Steichen and four players were made available to the media Tuesday afternoon.
The headliner might have been Buckner, who saw his place in Indy solidified Monday when he signed a two-year, $46 million extension that ties him to the Colts through 2026.
He’s heading into his fifth season with the team following a 2020 trade with San Francisco that cost the No. 13 overall pick in the draft and a four-year, $84 million extension.
Buckner insisted Monday’s extension was an easy decision. His routine after each season includes a lengthy sitdown with general manager Chris Ballard to determine how each envisions the future unfolding.
“He asked me if I was happy being here and I said, ‘Of course,’’’ Buckner said Tuesday. “I love the relationships I’ve built, my teammates, the way this team is going, I can see it.’’
There are more than a few veterans who ask for a trade when their current team has been unable to reach the playoffs or has no direction. That was the case with cornerback Stephon Gilmore following the Colts’ chaotic 2022. He was traded to Dallas.
Ballard asked Buckner to trust him during their post-2022 meeting. He obviously obliged.
“Like I said, I can see the projection of where this team is going,’’ he said. “Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener. For me personally, I’m just a loyal person. That’s the way I am.’’
He mentioned being part of a Colts defense that takes another step in ’24. He yearns to get back to the Super Bowl. In his fourth season in the NFL, the Niners reached Super Bowl LIV where they were whipped by Kansas City 31-20.
Patrick Mahomes probably was the best player on the Hard Rock Stadium field in South Florida. Buckner was a close second.
“I know he’s looking to get back to the promised land,’’ linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “He’s doing everything he can to get to that level. He sets the tone with his work ethic.’’
Listen to Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly.
“He’s always got the first parking spot out there because he gets here at like 5:30, 6 in the morning every single day,’’ he said. “A lot of us early in our careers come into the NFL and you hear that term ‘Be a professional. Be a pro.’ He’s the epitome of one.’’
And that brings us back to Michael Pittman Jr. and Philip Rivers and Uncle Phil.
Buckner is one of a small handful of 30-something Colts. He joined the 30 Club on March 17.
He’s also established himself as one of the true leaders in the locker room, meeting rooms and on the field.
“When it comes to great men that’s been in the building, DeFo is in that class with the Jack Doyles, with the (Anthony) Castonzos, those guys you can just hang your hat on every day,’’ Franklin said. “DeForest is a guy that I follow. He’s a guy that checks me. ‘Hey, Z, c’mon.’ ‘OK, my fault.’ If DeFo yells at me, that means I need to stop talking.’’
Pittman put a more interesting spin on the intangibles that separate Buckner from so many.
“DeFo is like the ultimate team leader,’’ he said. “He’s taken over that Uncle Phil role.’’
Pittman saw Uncle Phil up close and personal. When the Colts turned to Rivers in 2020 to be their latest quarterback of the present, they turned things over to a 39-year-old with elite leadership skills.
Pittman was 23 and the Colts’ wide-eyed second-round draft pick.
“Philip was almost like the team dad,’’ Pittman said with a smile. “That’s kind of what Buck has taken on that role where he’s that super vet that guys look to. He’s always doing the right thing. It’s almost like he never messes up. He’s perfect, I guess. We all look to him for advice when we don’t know what to do with ourselves.’’
Pittman was reminded there’s an Uncle Buck movie.
“Really? We need to get a T-shirt,’" he said.
Buckner – 6-7, 295 pounds – probably needs a XXXL.
“That’s where we are now?’’ he said. “It’s all good. I guess that’s a role that I have to play.’’
As much as Ballard and the Colts prefer rewarding their own – even if that player was acquired in a trade, not via the draft – they don’t simply hand out millions to whomever is next in line.
Buckner has been available – he’s missed one game, that in 2020 due to COVID – and productive during his four years in Indy: 32.5 sacks, 87 quarterback hits, 42 tackles for loss, 1281 total tackles, six forced fumbles, 16 passes defensed (batted down). He was first-team All-Pro in 2020 and a Pro Bowl selection in ’21 and ’23. He’s been a team captain for the past three seasons.
“I want to go down as one of the best ever to do it at my position,’’ he said. “To one day have my name in that picture with those guys would be awesome. I want to leave my mark. Part of leaving the legacy behind is being right here in Indy. That’s one of my main goals, being the best player that I can be for this organization and show them that they didn’t make a mistake in investing in me. I’m going to earn every cent of that contract they gave me just like the last one.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.