Peeling back the many intricate, quirky, magnetic layers of Colts' QB Gardner Minshew
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gardner Flint Minshew II is a jorts wearing, guitar playing, couch crashing, pickleball annihilator of older ladies. He is a kind, peaceful NFL quarterback, who is a lover of travel and a mainstay in the kitchen where he can really cook, whipping up gourmet dishes fit for five-star restaurants.
Minshew is the Mississippi son of a contractor and a schoolteacher. He is a 27-year-old backup for the Indianapolis Colts who, if his grandfather had gotten his way in naming rights, would be taking the field Saturday as Beowulf Minshew against the Texans in the team's fight for a playoff spot.
Beowulf Minshew. Gardner Minshew. Both names work just fine. Minshew is one of those old souls, a very old soul who talks with a drawn-out lilt that is much less his native Mississippian accent and much more the inflection of a hippie dissecting the music and vibe at Woodstock 60 years ago.
Minshew throws out "dudes" and "bros" and his best friends call him "wavy." Yet, sometimes, he transforms into a camouflage-wearing hunter of ducks in the wee hours of the morning and sometimes dons a khaki jumpsuit with aviator sunglasses and soars through the air in F-16 fighter jets.
He is a mustached sex symbol who ignited the viral Minshew Mania when he was quarterback at Washington State and took it to a new level in Jacksonville. More than once, he has had a police officer stop a woman from physically accosting him.
And he was once offered a $1 million endorsement from the pornographic video service CamSoda because of his jock strap-only exercising habit which led to teammate Leonard Fournette giving him the nickname Jock Strap King.
But alas, in Indianapolis, Minshew has been nothing short of vanilla. Mostly under the radar. And 100% the opposite of Minshew Mania. At least publicly and to the media.
There have been a few glimpses of the mania, Minshew headbanging in the locker room after the Colts overtime win against the Titans, him giving animated, emotional post-game speeches to teammates with fervor and him on the sidelines Sunday reacting to the Raiders' Maxx Crosby for calling him a "little ass boy."
But for the most part, Minshew has been a mysterious backup quarterback in Indy. The backup quarterback who, on Saturday, will take to the field leading not Anthony Richardson's team, but his team.
"Think about what he's really done. He played with a pedestrian receiver corp. They are playing better, but not considered top of the rock. He played without (Jonathan Taylor) seven games, had a patched up offensive line and he plays with a defense that is 27th in the league in points given up," said Rick Venturi, a former NFL coach and Colts analyst. "It's not like he sits back in the rocking chair and manages the game. He is a playmaker, a game effecter.
"We didn't win with Minshew we won because of Minshew."
He is an NFL player with genius level football IQ and athletic prowess much greater than anyone gives him credit for. He is a guy who is effusively adored by his Colts teammates, a guy the locker room has rallied around because, damn, that Minshew is for real.
"Gardner is just very himself. He's very genuine. He's not pretending or faking or trying to be anything he's not," said Nick Begg, a close friend of Minshew's who played football with him at Washington State. "And there are so many layers. Just when you think you're close on the layers of Gardner, you're going to find a whole lot more."
'He really and truly has selective amnesia'
Growing up in Brandon, Mississippi, Minshew was the oldest of three children, and the only son of Gardner Flint, who goes by Flint, and Kim Minshew. His mother never wanted Minshew to be called "Junior" or "Bubba," so he chose to go by Minshew II rather than Minshew Jr.
His grandfather originally wanted Minshew to be named Beowulf, after the Old English hero, according to a 2018 article in The Spokesman-Review, but his parents ultimately nixed that suggestion.
From early on, one thing was clear to Flint, who played football at Millsaps College, and Kim, who played basketball at Mississippi State. Minshew liked to compete and there could only be one outcome -- winning.
"He is fiercely competitive, driven and devoted to his love of all things football," Kim Minshew said in an e-mail to IndyStar. "He is honestly one of the hardest working people I know."
As a kid, Minshew played Little League baseball which turned into travel baseball. He started football in the peewee leagues, which turned into well, you know. He played basketball in junior high and, in high school, when there was no football practice or workouts to attend, he would go with his best friend Houston Smith to a church, convince someone to open the gym and play pickup basketball until 1 a.m.
It seemed all Minshew wanted to do was compete, said Smith. There were times he would concoct some made-up game to play in the yard, just to have something competitive to do. Nine times out of 10, Minshew came out on top.
"He's talented. He's a lot more talented than maybe what people think or give him credit for. What sets him apart is his belief, his confidence in himself," Smith said. "When you see a guy that walks around in jorts, a mullet and mustache, you've got to realize that's a guy who's pretty comfortable in his own skin. That translates in the way he plays and approaches the game."
Minshew puts off this vibe that is tough to put into words, said Venturi.
"When you're around him you feel like this guy is never going to panic. That doesn't mean he is going to make every play, but he is not going to panic," he said. "He has a quality that some of the best players in history have. He really and truly has selective amnesia."
Minshew has the ability to put a bad play, a fumble or throwing a pick, on the back burner and go to the next one.
That's because there is one thing Minshew will never do, said Smith. He will never waste an opportunity.
"He has always had the attitude, you give him a slither of an opportunity, he is going to maximize it and make the most of it," said Smith. "He has an expectation when he does get the opportunity, he is going to milk it for everything he can."
Colts fans are banking on that Saturday night. And if Minshew pulls off a win, will the mania finally begin in Indy?
'A wavy, headbanging idiot off the field'
The love affair between fans and Minshew began at Washington State where he came for his final year of NCAA eligibility after graduating early from East Carolina and won a three-way battle to start at quarterback.
"Guys kind of just gravitated to his leadership," said Peyton Pelluer, who played at Washington State with Minshew and is close friends with him today. "He's just a very charismatic leader to the point where he elevates people around him in the most positive of ways."
In his 2018 season opener, Washington State trounced Wyoming 41–19 with Minshew throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns in his debut. The next week, he had three touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in Washington State's 31–0 shutout of San Jose State.
The team started winning games and suddenly mustaches were everywhere on campus, in the bleachers. Local schools in Mississippi would have Gardner Minshew days where kids would dress up in Washington State jerseys donning fake mustaches.
But the mania didn't hit a fever pitch until 2019 when Minshew was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, 178th overall, by the Jaguars and had his first breakout game.
It was a Thursday night football game against the Titans, the Thursday before Minshew and his old Washington State teammates were supposed to go to Pullman for the weekend for a game. He had thrown two touchdown passes beating Tennessee 20-7.
"And Minshew Mania took on a life of its own," said Begg. "He became famous on Twitter overnight. Minshew Mania became a national thing."
In Pullman tailgating that weekend, Minshew's friends had to form a human circle around him "to protect him from all the crazy kooky fans," Begg said. The team had to send a golf cart to pick up Minshew with a police officer, who had to stop a woman from jumping onto the cart to be close to Minshew.
"It was absolutely crazy," said Begg.
Crazy because to him and Pelluer, Gardner was the guy who crashed on their couch, would wake up in the middle of the night and walk home.
"I would say, 'Dude, you don't have to do that. I've seen where you actually live,'" said Pelluer. "He spent maybe $20 on furniture, including a bed."
The Minshew the public has seen in the past is the real deal, said Pelluer. He is laid back, quirky and has a cabin at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds, where he hangs with family and friends. He knows history, musicals and geography. He loves country and rock.
But above all else, "Gardner's just naturally a very sharp dude," said Pelluer. "He doesn't always give off that vibe because he's a wavy, headbanging idiot off the field, but his football IQ is elite. He is innately curious about anything when it comes to football. He takes it to heart and is always trying to learn and adapt."
'He's just all business when it comes to football with this team'
Learning and adapting, of course, is never easy when coming in as the backup quarterback in the NFL. And it's even harder when replacing Anthony Richardson, who has been heralded the most athletic quarterback ever drafted.
"There's a saying, "the longer a backup has to play, the more you learn why he was a backup,'" said Nate Atkins, Colts beat writer for the IndyStar. "On one hand, it is commendable that Gardner has held the job that long and found ways to win. But even with that, there have been moments certainly where you can see why he is a backup."
But now, just one game matters and Minshew is in a position where he has to be a "difference maker," said Atkins.
"There have been moments where he has been exposed by defenses keying in on him specifically," Atkins said. "There have been moments where he's risen above that. With Gardner, we've kind of seen ups and downs."
What Indy hasn't seen is the Minshew with the quirky, crazy, mania-inducing personality.
"He's just all business when it comes to football with this team," Atkins said. "That's part of being the backup. The backup is supposed to be seen but not heard. It was Anthony's team at the start of the year. But (coach) Shane (Steichen's) also pretty buttoned up in the public view and Gardner has absorbed that."
Smith knows all of it is still inside of Minshew. All of those layers. They just haven't been exposed -- yet.
"He is the same guy now he was at 9 or 10 years old or in eighth grade or high school. He is the same Gardner," said Smith. "He has stayed so true to himself. That is one of the things I admire most about him. That's what I love about him."
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: The intricate, quirky, magnetic layers of Colts' QB Gardner Minshew
