Former Colts Pro Bowl safety Antoine Bethea now joins football immortality.
by Drake Wally
Former Indianapolis Colts and three-time Pro Bowl safety Antoine Bethea is being inducted into the illustrious Black College Football Hall of Fame.
Along with fellow former Colts defensive end Robert Mathis, Bethea has joined football immortality in one of the greatest groups of athletes on the planet. With college/NFL greats like tight end Ben Coates, wide receiver Donald Driver, and coach/defensive back Leslie Frazier (to name only a few) in the Black College Hall of Fame, Bethea can say he’s among some of the greatest players and minds ever to grace a college or professional football field.
While at the University of Howard (2002-05), Bethea was an incredible talent at safety for the Bison, grabbing 309 tackles, seven interceptions, and eight forced fumbles in 37 games (31 starts). After his college career concluded, he was selected by the Colts with the 207th overall pick (sixth round) in the 2006 NFL Draft. Typically, a sixth-round selection isn’t an attention grabber. While that’s completely understandable given how many turn out as average-at-best or less, Bethea was far more than just average. Instead, he was one of the best in the secondary ever to wear a Colts uniform.
Immediately Bethea saw the field with the tank buster Bob Sanders, seeing 14 starts in as many appearances in 2006 as a rookie sixth-rounder. This culminated in the Colts securing its first title for the city of Indianapolis, winning Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears 29-17. This Super Bowl was historic, marking the first championship game in NFL history to feature a black head coach (Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy), as well as a black head coach to win the big game (Dungy). Bethea had 90 tackles, an interception, and five passes defended in his initial NFL season.
Bethea continued to be one of the best defenders for Indianapolis but was behind mega stars like Mathis and NFL Hall of Famer, Dwight Freeney. Still, in eight seasons with Indianapolis, Bethea played 123 games (all starts) and secured 805 tackles (averaged over 100 per season), 47 passes defended, 14 interceptions, and two Pro Bowl nominations. In short, Bethea was fantastic and as tough as the NFL made them.
After going to the San Francisco 49ers in free agency for the 2014 season he earned his third Pro Bowl nomination at 30 years old, with an impressive stat line of four interceptions, a defensive touchdown, 10 passes defended (career-best), and 86 tackles. Bethea continued his run with the 49ers until 2017 when he played for the Arizona Cardinals (2017-2018) and concluded a phenomenal 14-year career with the New York Giants (2019).
Bethea is an underappreciated safety from the overall NFL scope with so many personalities, high-level talent, and new names that churn through the league. However, for Colts, 49ers, and Howard Bison fans, he was nothing short of special as a person and talent on the field. Bethea will forever live in football immortality for not just his skills on the gridiron, but also the people he inspired and the vital part he played in the advancement of the game of football that continues to grow to this day. Perhaps soon he will find himself in the stadium of the franchise where his NFL career began as a member of the Colts Ring of Honor. This one’s for you 41.
Originally posted on Horseshoe Huddle