Michael Badgley has been here before – literally.
He's arrived to a new locker in the Colts locker room and reunited with old teammates. He's re-adjusted to the demanding schedule of an NFL player and he's confidently answered questions about taking over kicking duties for a new team more than a quarter of the way into a season.
He did it in 2021, and he's doing it again in 2025.
The Colts signed Badgley on Tuesday, replacing second-year kicker Spencer Shrader after Shrader sustained a season-ending injury in the Colts' Week 5 game. Badgley joins the Colts with six years of NFL experience under his belt; he did not play in 2024 due to a hamstring injury sustained in training camp with the Detroit Lions.
But Badgley is fully healthy now, and ready to get back on the football field. It just so happens that his home field is one he's already pretty familiar with.
Badgley's NFL career began in 2018, when he was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent. While he was released from the team before the regular season began, Badgley still trained alongside – and learned from – Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee Adam Vinatieri and formed relationships with long snapper Luke Rhodes and punter Rigoberto Sanchez in the few months he spent with the Colts.
From there, Badgley was picked up by the Los Angeles Chargers, who had none other than Shane Steichen on their coaching staff. Badgley and Steichen overlapped for three seasons – Steichen was first the Chargers quarterback coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator – before they both went to different teams in 2021.
Steichen went to the Eagles. Badgley went back to the Colts.
Following kicker Rodrigo Blankenship's injury in Week 5 of the 2021 season, the Colts signed Badgley to take over kicking duties starting in Week 6. He ended up kicking for the remaining 12 games of the season, converting 18-of-21 field goals and 39-of-39 PATs. From 2022 until now, Badgley has spent time with multiple teams, the most recent being the Lions.
So, with his history with the team, Badgley's arrival in the Colts locker room – coincidentally, ahead of the Colts' Week 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals – isn't quite the typical one for a player joining a team midseason. He already knows Steichen, as well as the two players he'll be working closely with in Rhodes and Sanchez, allowing for a very solid foundation on which to build on.
"Those guys are the ultimate pros," Badgley said. "It makes it easy coming into a spot like this, and (I'll) just go out there and do my best."
"It definitely makes the process a lot smoother, especially because we've known him – and Luke and I have been here together the whole time," Sanchez, who is responsible for holding the ball for Badgley's kicks, said Wednesday. "We can tee off of each other, and we're all veteran (players)."
The three specialists know how the others operate on the field, but they also know each other as people – which is just as important in developing the right chemistry to be able to perform.
"His competitiveness and Spencer's competitiveness are very similar," Rhodes said. "At the end of the day, they both want to help the team win. And so being able to come off a season that Badgley had end short last year will be great for him, and he'll fit right in."
Despite his injury sidelining him in 2024, Badgley joins the Colts with nothing but confidence. He's put in the work, staying in shape by kicking at a local field near his house, and knows what it takes to be successful.
"With any injury guys got to recover from and get back to, a lot of it is just building your confidence," Badgley said. "Just strengthening and staying with it and getting back to who you know you are. And in terms of getting back, I always knew I was going to get back, so just keeping a positive mindset.
"It's almost like it's too easy to give up and kind of just get lazy with everything. So staying sharp and really continuing to work out and having a great mindset on everything is a big part of it."
In 64 career games, Badgley has connected on 98-of-119 field goal attempts and 168-of-175 PATs; his career-long is 59 yards.
"Obviously he's had some success in this league," Steichen said. "A very accurate kicker, had a hell of a workout, so excited about it."
And it's not just getting to reunite with familiar faces that Badgley is excited about; it's getting to join a winning team.
"I told Coach Shane, I'm gonna give you everything I got," Badgley said. "It's already a great team, great organization. We're through the first quarter of the season, so we're just gonna keep on rolling. And these guys here make it all easy in this locker room."
