Something to Prove: Tom Santi

In the 2008 NFL Draft the Colts selected two tight ends, the first was Jacob Tamme in the fourth round and the second was Tom Santi in the sixth. One of Tamme or Santi was to eventually replace the departing Ben Utecht, with Santi being compared as a Utecht-clone at the time he was drafted.

Unfortunately, since Santi joined the team he has suffered numerous injuries, missing time for shoulder, hand, and back injuries in his first two seasons. Despite these injuries, Santi has shown remarkable potential, mainly as a receiver, breaking out in 2009 against Baltimore when he caught six passes for 80 yards, and showed the kind of hands and straight-line speed that should give fans something to be excited about.

He also showed glimpses of his abilities in one of the biggest comebacks in Peyton Manning’s storied history of comebacks. In week five of the 2008 season the Colts traveled to Houston and needed to score three touchdowns, the first of which came after Manning completed a seven-yard pass to Santi with four-minutes and fourteen-seconds remaining in the game.

The difficulty for Santi is that he will need to not only stay healthy this year, particularly during the off-season, to keep his roster spot in 2010, he will also have to compete for time with an even busier roster at tight end. For the last two seasons, former undrafted free agent Gijon Robinson has received the bulk of the starts opposite Dallas Clark, when Indianapolis has chosen to start with a two tight end set.

When Polian and company decided to draft Brody Eldridge in the fifth round in this year’s draft the team took on a new dynamic. First, it would seem Eldridge is more direct competition for Robinson than he is for Santi but when Santi was brought onto the team to compete with Robinson to take over for Utecht, he belongs in the discussion. Additionally, although Eldridge was not known in any way as a receiving tight end, as he caught only 13 passes for 98 yards in four years at Oklahoma, Manning has not displayed fear throwing to his weaker receiving targets and could develop Eldridge in the passing game.

Obviously it would save the Colts a roster spot to keep only three tight ends, if Eldrige can fit the bill as a receiver, which leaves it up to Santi to separate himself from his competition and prove the most capable to line up across from Clark as a receiving option with above-average blocking capabilities. Tamme has potential to take-over for Clark, though that is well down the road, but is really limited to special teams abilities, and as a back-up receiver.

It is up to Santi to stay healthy, display his receiving abilities, improve as a blocker, and potentially earn a permanent spot on this team. Otherwise, Santi will likely be the odd man out in the tight end competition for the 2010 roster. Hopefully Santi is aware of this and gives fans something to be excited about during summer training activities and the pre-season.

Colts TE Tom Santi impresses Peyton Manning

Nashville's Tom Santi misses out on a Super chance

Colts tight end won't play against the Saints because of injury

By Jim Wyatt

February 4, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tom Santi grew up a Titans fan. He was in the stadium for the Music City Miracle, celebrating the big playoff victory with family and friends.

Then the Colts drafted him, and everything changed.

Santi, a tight end from Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy and the University of Virginia, is dealing with all kinds of emotions this week.

He’s here with the Colts as they prepare for Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints, taking part in all the festivities and preparations.

But he won’t play on Sunday. His second NFL season was cut short because of a back injury. Still, he has a chance to win a Super Bowl ring.

“That would be pretty cool,’’ Santi said. “But I have to admit it’s kind of a weird feeling for me. It is kind of rough, really. Obviously I am elated that our team has done as well and we got here. This whole experience has been great. But it is tough to know you’re not going to be able to play. It’s just bad timing.’’

Santi, regarded as a solid blocker, continued to make strides as a pass-catcher this season before he was placed on injured reserve. He had eight catches for 107 yards, including a six-catch, 80-yard game against the Ravens.

Now he wants to prove that he can stay healthy. Santi had 10 catches in 2008 before a shoulder injury landed him on injured reserve.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has seen enough of Santi to be impressed, however.

“He’s had some injury issues, but I think he has a lot of potential,’’ Manning said. “He is a big, strong tight end who can run. He’s made a lot of plays for us.

“Tom is a good combination of some Dallas Clark skills with the ability to be a point-of-attack blocking tight end. Hopefully he can get healthy this offseason and could be a contributor for us next year.’’

Santi’s parents Mike and Betty Ann will make the trip to Sun Life Stadium along with his sisters Lauren and Annie. The family still has a home in Green Hills, and Santi said he plans to spend plenty of time in Nashville this offseason.

He just hopes to get back to the Super Bowl — and to be able to play in it.

“I feel like I have definitely learned a lot from last two years,’’ he said. “I have been brought along watching Peyton and the older guys, watched Dallas and the way he works on his craft. It has definitely helped.

“My biggest thing is definitely trying to get rid of the injury bug and find a way to get healthy.’’

Santi symbolic of Colts' themes

While he admits he made some mistakes, Colts tight end Tom Santi made the most of his time on the field in Sunday's win over the Ravens.

By Paul Kuharsky

November 22, 2009

BALTIMORE -- The Colts pride themselves on plugging people into holes with no drop-off. They expect that when mistakes are made, they will find a way to overcome them.

Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, as they improved to 10-0 with a 17-15 win over the Ravens, second-year tight end Tom Santi came to symbolize both themes.

The Colts were without Gijon Robinson, a starter who does a lot of blocking in the shadow of Dallas Clark, helping keep Peyton Manning clean and create room for Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. While he was in Indianapolis recovering from a concussion, Santi got the call.

Santi proved himself a capable blocker and a largely reliable target for Manning, chipping in with six catches for 80 yards.

He also had three costly plays -- a lost fumble near the goal line, an apparent alligator-arms moment in another scoring chance and a false start penalty.

“Everybody makes mistakes. You’ve got to watch, how do they handle it afterwards?” Addai said. “He was able to handle it afterwards. He hasn’t been playing a lot. This game he did a lot of good things. Yeah, he fumbled. But you’ve got to kind of let that go. I know he’ll learn from it, but move on. He did a great job for us today and I know he’ll improve from there.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Reggie Wayne said of the positive contribution. “He does it every day in practice. So now he just turned it over to the game. I think he did a pretty good job, minus the fumble. But that happens. I’m just glad it didn’t cost us.”

The Colts don’t so much plan to feature a guy as they allow Manning to take what’s available.

Robinson isn’t generally a large piece of the passing offense. Santi had a sense in the middle of the week that he’d be in line for a good share of the work that usually goes to Robinson.

Clark made a spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to cap the game’s opening drive. Other than that, Baltimore did things defensively that prompted Manning to look elsewhere, and he turned to Santi for four of his 12 first-half completions.

“We saw some things, and obviously the quarterback is pretty good back there and he does a great job putting us in great position,” Santi said.

Down 9-7 in the second quarter, Manning placed a pass to Santi over the middle and in the middle of a crowd for a 22-yard gain. Santi got nailed, suffering a neck injury that briefly forced him from the game. It was a key play on a touchdown drive that put Indianapolis ahead 14-9.

On a day when he made his first catch of the season, he might have also scored his first touchdown of the year.

Instead, he ended the Colts’ first possession after the half when he was clobbered at the 1-yard line, hit low by Ed Reed and then high by Ray Lewis, who jarred the ball free for Dwan Edwards to recover.

Just about anyone might have coughed it up when scrunched by two eventual Hall of Famers.

Santi didn’t know who the defenders were.

"That’s a bad play on my part," he said. "I definitely left points out there. As far as I am concerned, that’s unacceptable."

The Colts' defense didn’t allow it to translate into points. While Baltimore moved 84 yards on the ensuing possession, Billy Cundiff missed a 30-yard field goal wide right.

Later, with Dawan Landry closing fast, Santi seemed tentative on a ball he could have pursued more aggressively on a second-and-goal from the 7. Just before the 2-minute warning, he was whistled for a false start.

He said both errors were a matter of lost focus. On the pass, he needs to come out of the break faster and be ready for it quicker.

“I definitely left some plays out there,” he said. “As you can see we’ve got a good team with a lot of great veteran leadership and that’s what we’ve talked about the whole year. Play the next play, next man up and when it’s your time, go out there and perform.”

He will enjoy the win, review the film, then shred it, mentally, as he knows his coaches will.

Then, if still needed, he will plug back in to the next-man-up, play-the-next-play philosophies that are a big part of why the Colts are the AFC’s lone undefeated club.

He’ll simply look to be the kind of player Wayne says all of the Colts are supposed to be.

“We’re like machines,” Wayne said. “They program us to keep pushing, don’t fall. Keep chugging away, chugging away. There is no time to point fingers or put your head down. Just keep going, keep going and find a way to get it done.”

A first for Santi

October 6, 2008

By Mike Chappell

Tom Santi was able to enjoy his first career touchdown catch, a 7-yarder from Manning in the fourth quarter.

At first, the rookie tight end didn't believe that was going to be the case. It came with 4:04 to play and narrowed the Colts' deficit to 27-17.

"It means a lot now that we won,'' said Santi, who caught four passes for 27 yards. "I'll be honest with you, at the time I wasn't too excited.''