INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans are set for their 2018 Wild Card Round matchup on Saturday at NRG Stadium.
It's that time of the week where we Connect The Dots between the two teams, presented by Venyu:
Indiana/Texas Connections:
- Colts QB-Andrew Luck is from Houston, Texas.
- Indianapolis T-Le'Raven Clark is from Rockdale, Texas, and attended Texas Tech from 2011-15.
- Colts DE-Margus Hunt played at SMU from 2009-2012.
- Indianapolis DT-Hassan Ridgeway is a native of Mansfield, Texas, and played collegiately at Texas from 2012-15.
- Colts LB-Matthew Adams played four seasons (2014-17) at the University of Houston.
- Indianapolis General Manager Chris Ballard is a native of Texas City, Texas, and served on the coaching staff at Texas A&M-Kingsville for seven seasons (1994-2000).
- Colts Assistant General Manager Ed Dodds is a native of Kingsville, Texas, and served as a student coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville from 2000-03.
- Indianapolis WR-Ryan Grant is from Beaumont, Texas.
- Colts Wide Receivers Coach Kevin Patullo served as a senior offensive analyst at Texas A&M in 2017.
- Texans Tight Ends Coach Tim Kelly served as a graduate assistant at Ball State in 2011.
- Houston C-Nick Martin was born in Indianapolis, Ind. and attended Notre Dame from 2011-14.
- Texans Defensive Line Coach Anthony Weaver also attended Notre Dame from 1998-2001.
Former Colts/Texans:
- Colts S-Corey Moore played three seasons (2015-17) with the Texans.
- Texans Special Teams Coordinator Brad Seely was the special teams and tight ends coach for the Colts from 1989-1993.
- Houston Senior Defensive Assistant/Outside Linebackers Coach John Pagano was a defensive assistant with the Colts from 1998-2001.
- Texans LB-Tyrell Adams spent the 2018 offseason with the Colts.
College Connections:
- Indianapolis G/C-Quenton Nelson played at Notre Dame with Houston C-Nick Martin in 2014.
- Colts CB-Jalen Collins (2011-14) was at LSU with Texans RB-Alfred Blue (2010-13) and S-Tyrann Mathieu (2010-11).
- Indianapolis G/T-Le'Raven Clark and Houston WR-Keke Coutee were at Texas Tech together in 2015.
- Colts G-Braden Smith was teammates with Texans DE-Angelo Blackson at Auburn in 2014.
- Indianapolis QB-Andrew Luck (2008-2011) and TE-Ryan Hewitt (2010-13) were teammates with Houston CB-Johnson Bademosi (2008-2011) and OLB-Peter Kalambayi (2013-17) at Stanford.
- Colts RB-Jordan Wilkins and Texans S-A.J. Moore were at Mississippi together for four seasons (2014-17).
- Indianapolis DT/DE-Denico Autry and Houston ILB-Benardrick McKinney both attended Mississippi State from 2012-13.
- Colts Tight Ends Coach Tom Manning coached at Toledo when Texans C/G-Greg Mancz played there from 2012-14.
- Indianapolis LB-Ahmad Thomas and Houston CB-Aaron Colvin spent one season (2013) together at Oklahoma.
NFL Connections:
- Colts K-Adam Vinatieri spent five seasons (1996, 2001-04) in New England with Texans Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Romeo Crennel. Houston Special Teams Coordinator Brad Seely was also in New England from 1999-2005.
- Indianapolis CB-Pierre Desir (2014-15), DE-Jabaal Sheard (2011-14) and Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone (2009-2012) spent time with Houston CB-Johnson Bademosi (2012-15), QB-Brandon Weeden (2012-13) and Defensive Line Coach Anthony Weaver (2014-15) in Cleveland.
- Weeden also played with Colts WR-Zach Pascal in Tennessee in 2017.
- Bademosi also spent one season (2016) with Indianapolis TE-Eric Ebron in Detroit.
- Indianapolis DE-Al-Quadin Muhammad and Houston G-Senio Kelemete spent the 2017 season together in New Orleans.
- Colts Defensive Backs/Safeties Coach Alan Williams coached Bademosi in Detroit in 2016.
- Williams worked for the Vikings when Houston QB-Joe Webb III played there from 2012-13.
- Colts Assistant Special Teams Coach Frank Ross and Ventrone worked for the Patriots when Bademosi was there in 2017. Ross also worked with Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien in New England in 2011.
- Indianapolis Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus and S-J.J. Wilcox were with the Cowboys when Weeden was there from 2014-15.
- Colts DT/DE-Denico Autry (2014-17), LB-Ahmad Thomas (2017) and Assistant Offensive Line Coach Bobby Johnson (2015-17) were with the Raiders when Texans WR-DeAndre Carter (2015), Assistant Special Teams Coach Tracy Smith (2015-17), LB-Tyrell Adams (2016-17) and Seely (2015-17), were there.
- Indianapolis Running Backs Coach Tom Rathman (2009-2016) spent time with the 49ers when Seely (11-14) and Smith (12-14) were there.
- Smith also worked with Colts Assistant General Manager Ed Dodds in Seattle in 2011.
- Eberflus also worked with Smith from 2009-2010 in Cleveland.
- Colts Head Coach Frank Reich (2013-15), Offensive Coordinator Nick Sirianni (2013-17), CB-Pierre Desir (2016), WR-Dontrelle Inman (2014-17) and Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo (2016) spent time with Texans CB-Shareece Wright (2011-14), Assistant Secondary Coach D'Anton Lynn (2017), Senior Defensive Assistant/Outside Linebackers Coach John Pagano (2002-16), LB-Josh Keyes (2017) and Inside Linebackers Coach Bobby King (2014-16) with the Chargers.
- Sirianni also worked with Crennel in Kansas City from 2009-2012.
- Reich played with Texans Offensive Line Coach Mike Devlin in Buffalo from 1993-94.
- Reich was a coach with the Cardinals when Kelemete played there in 2012.
- Indianapolis General Manager Chris Ballard worked for Kansas City when Houston C/G-Zach Fulton played there from 2013-14.
- Colts Vice President of Player Personnel Rex Hogan worked for Chicago when Texans NT-Brandon Dunn played there in 2014.
- Weaver and DeGuglielmo also spent the 2012 season with the Jets.
- DeGuglielmo also worked with Houston Running Backs Coach Danny Barrett in Miami in 2017.
- Colts Wide Receivers Coach Kevin Patullo worked for Tennessee when Texans DE-Angelo Blackson played there in 2015.
- Indianapolis CB-Jalen Collins (2015-17) was with Atlanta when Houston CB-Deante Burton (2017) and Keyes (2016) were there.
- Keyes (2015-16) also spent time with Colts Linebackers Coach Dave Borgonzi (2014-17) in Tampa Bay.
- Indianapolis G-Mark Glowinski played with Houston DB-Mike Tyson in Seattle in 2017.
Hometown Connections:
- Indianapolis CB-Nate Hairston and Houston CB-Johnson Bademosi both hail from Washington, D.C.
- Colts WR-T.Y. Hilton, LB-Anthony Walker and Texans RB-Lamar Miller are all from Miami, Fla.
- Indianapolis QB-Andrew Luck and Houston OLB-Duke Ejiofor are from Houston, Texas.
