INDIANAPOLIS --- You didn't hear the specific words "Super Bowl" spoken by any Colts players Wednesday, their first day speaking to reporters since the start of the offseason program, but it was very much understood.
"I don't think anybody in this locker room has a problem with that being a truly realistic, ultimate goal," said quarterback Andrew Luck. "At the same time, that's a long way away, and you need to make these days count, because they're limited."
Luck's new teammates have only been in the locker room for at most three days now, but that goal of hoisting The Lombardi Trophy is very apparent.
"Yeah, you can feel it," answered wide receiver Andre Johnson, when asked if the Colts' goals were obvious when he walked in the building. "At the same time, you just have to take it one day at a time. That's how I approach it."
"There's a lot of energy here to win ballgames, to especially beat the Patriots," said outside linebacker Trent Cole. "Hopefully, if we focus on game-by-game and win each of the games that are going to come, we can get to the big one."
New running back Frank Gore has come closest to winning a Super Bowl in the Colts locker room without touching the trophy. His 49ers came within five yards taking the lead on the Ravens with less than two minutes to go in Super Bowl XLVII at the end of the 2012 season. Gore said when he signed his contract Johnson and him discussed where they could win it all, and they both said the Colts.
"I think as long as we keep being together as one and keep following our quarterback, we'll be fine," said Gore Wednesday, before praising Luck for what he's seen already of him in voluntary workouts. "He's running the show. When we're out there throwing the ball, he's telling us what to do. That's what I'm surprised and happy to see as a quarterback."
"Today was my first day. It just seems like the coaches, the players, everybody is just ready to win," said new offensive lineman Todd Herremans. "It seems like a really good program."
The ultimate goal is still more than 9 months away, with hundreds of smaller goals first to be accomplished, but in Indianapolis, that ultimate goal has been renewed, even if the words "Super Bowl" weren't actually said.
