Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Complaints about food, roommates, and a lack of first-class seats pushed the Indianapolis Colts to the middle of the pack of an NFL Players Association survey.

The survey, released Wednesday as the NFL Combine was set to begin in Indianapolis, ranked the Colts 16th out of 32 NFL teams.

The survey, based on anonymous responses from about 1,300 NFL players, judged teams on eight different categories, ranging from team travel and treatment of families to food service/nutrition.

“The two main issues that players have are the food – so much that some players prefer to pack their own lunch rather than eat at the facility – and the feeling that the team should significantly improve its travel policies for players,” the NFLPA study reported. “They are one of seven teams that do not offer first-class seats to their players (reserving them for coaches and staff instead), and one of six teams that force many players to have roommates.”

The survey also noted that Colts players generally “feel well-supported by their team’s owner, Jim Irsay, as 97% of player respondents believe he is willing to spend the money necessary to upgrade the facility.”

The Colts tied for first overall in the survey for Training Staff. 

“The players spoke very highly of their training staff. They believe they go above and beyond for the locker room and they significantly add to their individual success,” the NFLPA report noted.

NFLPA president JC Tretter insisted the survey isn’t meant to shame teams. 

Tretter told the Associated Press the survey is intended to highlight teams that treat players and those that need to improve by highlighting the best practices and standards. 

“I think the recommendations will be fairly clear when they read the reports,” Tretter said. “There’s not much lost in translation.”

The Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders were the top three teams while the bottom three were the Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders.

Other findings include:

• Six teams don’t fly players in first class.
• Seven teams don’t arrange for players to have roommates on road trips.
• Eighteen of 32 teams offer family rooms in stadiums where families can go with their children.
• The Philadelphia Eagles offer a stadium family room just for coaches’ wives and children, not players’ wives.

The full report/rankings can be found on NFLPA.com. 

The Colts report card can be found online.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.