Spring Forward, Fall Back

Lovat said that Caron's Harvard football background left him at a disadvantage compared to other rookie linemen. The lack of spring practice combined with the ten game seasons (most college teams play 11) left Caron "very inexperienced."

But the Colts obviously saw something they liked when they chose Caron in the fifth round (117th player overall) of last spring's draft. He was the first offensive lineman chosen by the Colts.

"He played in the East-West game [a college all-star game] last year and had a good second half," Lovat said. "We figured if he could make such an improvement between halves [Caron had a bad first half], we could work with him."

"I'm learning a lot even when I'm not in the game," Caron said while being kidded by his teammates about his background and vocabulary.

The 6-ft., 5-in., 270-1b. lineman is listed as the second string right and left guard, but is unsure when his opportunity to play will come. "It's hard to say," Caron said, "both guards are playing well."

It is unclear whether the presence of the two starters--both of whom are larger than your average Mack truck--on either side of Caron's locker as he was speaking affected his word choice.

"It's a big change," Caron added about sitting on the bench. "Here you have to approach it the same way as if you're going to play."

"He's tough young man," Lovat said, "bright, he's got good test scores..."

LSATs? GREs? MCATs?

"No," Lovat clarified, "On our strength tests."

A lot really has changed in the life of Roger Caron.