Published: April 27, 2009 10:02 pm      

BEAS: Did Polian make a mistake?

It’s common knowledge Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis is carrying around enough cobwebs in the old attic to make a sweater. Make that a bedspread based on the questionable selections made by senility’s poster boy during the recent NFL Draft.

Now the part that frightens me: Could Bill Polian possibly be gaining ground on Davis in the oft-discussed category known as “What was he thinking”??

During his 11-year stay in Indianapolis, most of what the Colts team president touches has in time turned to gold. This isn’t New York, where Jets fans would throw a fit even if their club drafted Jim Brown in his prime. It’s not Philly, where spectators boo Santa Claus and have for years second-guessed every Eagles pick not named Bednarik.

Chicago is tough. Green Bay and Cleveland brutal. By NFL standards, Indianapolis is soft. Your favorite pillow in a bed-of-nails industry comparable to, say, the Houston Texans or Seattle Seahawks. Therefore, Polian isn’t being sautéed, grilled and just plain raked over the coals the way he would be in a larger, more-demanding market after plucking a running back with the 27th overall selection.

Nothing against Donald Brown out of Connecticut, but if there is a UConn athlete being sent to Indianapolis to make a difference, why couldn’t it have been 7-foot-3 interior menace Hasheem Thabeet suiting up for the Pacers?

The Colts needed a defensive tackle. Best one on the board. And because they are the Status Quolts, historically mobile as a park statue on draft days, moving up in the Round 1 selection rotation probably wasn’t a viable option. So Polian nabbed Brown and waited until the team’s next pick, No. 56, to take Fili Moala, the 6-4, 305-pound space-eater from USC. Later, Moala inherited some serious preseason competition when Indianapolis drafted the equally mammoth Terrance Taylor out of Michigan.

Separating the Colts’ opening two selections were 28 other picks, two being defensive tackles in Ziggy Hood (No. 32, Pittsburgh Steelers) and Ron Brace (No. 40, New England Patriots). This begs the question of whether Polian did the right thing by not drafting Hood at No. 27 and then addressing the tailback situation in the second round.

Such discussion is irrelevant if Brown goes on to be a star. Polian will be right once more and some of us will owe him an apology.

Al Davis? There is only one Al Davis. Thankfully, his office is located 2,300 miles west of Indianapolis.

Parting shot

I don’t know whether to admire or be disgusted by the fact that Ohio State’s spring football game drew a crowd of — are you sitting down? ... 95,722.

Yes, the Buckeyes are big in Ohio. Huge, actually. Everything from how high sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor pulls up his game socks to the condition of the field turf at the venerable Horseshoe qualifies as news.

But, people. Is there nothing else to do in Columbus? It’s as if yellow crime tape was wrapped around every one of the city’s other entertainment options. Malls. Museums. Movie theaters. Parks. Oh, but not the Horseshoe.

Tickets to the spring game were $5 per, but even for free, 95-plus would have been a major accomplishment. Great job, Buckeyes fans — I think.

Mike Beas is a freelance writer/columnist and Kokomo native who resides in Carmel. He can be reached at mbeas@att.net.