One month ago, Reggie Wayne posed the question as to why Michael Pittman Jr. hadn't already been named a team captain for the Colts.
"I ain't never seen somebody making $25 million and they ain't even captain," the Colts wide receivers coach quipped one day after training camp. "So we gotta figure that out."
In March, Pittman signed a three-year, $70 million contract extension that guaranteed the Colts wide receiver would stick around to build upon his already accomplished career in Indianapolis. In his first four years with the Colts, Pittman recorded 336 receptions for 3,662 yards and 15 touchdowns in 62 games and became one of only four players in franchise history to total 100 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season (2023).
Pittman was already playing at a very high level. He was already a leader and mentor in the Colts' wide receivers room and his teammates knew they could count on him to make big plays. But both Pittman and Wayne knew he had the potential to do even more.
"We still working with Pitt to do the stuff that he wants to get accomplished, and one of them is to be a captain," Wayne said. "We know you can play, we know you can ball. Let's elevate our game to a whole different stratosphere, right? Let's get a 'C' on our chest, let's do all that stuff."
And still, when Pittman found out he was voted one of the Colts' team captains for the 2024 season, and for the first time in his NFL career, he didn't say much. The rest of the room grew loud enough as his teammates all hyped him up – fellow wide receiver Ashton Dulin gave him a congratulatory smack on the head – but Pittman himself kept quiet.
"He was humble," Dulin said. "He always is. He didn't say any words, but I know he's excited. He probably won't say it now, but I know he's excited."
"It's definitely something that I don't take lightly," Pittman said. "That's one of the highest honors, like of any NFL honor, just knowing that my guys voted me, I mean, it's just a huge honor. And I think it's an opportunity to serve."
Dulin, who is entering his sixth year with the Colts, has been a firsthand witness to Pittman's growth since Pittman was drafted by the Colts in 2020. As Dulin worked his way up through special teams, the two spent more and more time together on the field, and they now share side-by-side lockers and sit next to each other in the meeting room.
"He kind of came in as a guy that kind of knew what he was going to do as far as being that big playmaker guy, because he showed it from his rookie year on to now," Dulin said. "But just to see him for a leadership standpoint, as far as being more vocal – before, he came in (and) kind of led by example, kind of figured out how to be a pro. And then now, he's kind of grown into this leader that you want in the receiving room."
Rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell saw those qualities in Pittman and sought him out before training camp even began, flying all the way out to California to train and learn from him.
"I'm like whatever he's doing, I need to be doing," Mitchell said.
Pittman readily took Mitchell under his wing because, even though he might not have had the physical "C" on his chest, Pittman has been serving the Colts in almost every way possible since his own rookie season.
There's still a lot to learn about what it truly means to be a team captain, though, and Pittman said he's going to lean on the returning captains, like Zaire Franklin and DeForest Buckner to learn the "right way" to be a captain. But Pittman is no stranger to being put in leadership roles and adapting to them quickly. Just ask Alec Pierce.
Pierce's rookie season with the Colts – 2022 – was the same season the Colts were without wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for the first time since 2012. Pittman, two years into his own NFL career, was the one who stepped into the open leadership position in the wide receiver room.
"He was young when he was thrust in that position," Pierce said. "So he kind of got more comfortable with that and then as time went, he's become like a total leader of the team. He's a guy we can depend on every Sunday, he always plays hard, he's always making plays for us when we need him, so I think it just speaks volumes to how much guys on the team trust him and trust in him to be a leader for our team and someone who can help us win games."
And Pittman and Colts want nothing more than to win football games.
