Mike Hart: Playing Professional Football Isn't as Tough as I Expected

Good news: Colts sixth-round pick Mike Hart is pleasantly surprised by his NFL experience so far. Bad news: he's still got a lot of work to do to make the team amid a pretty crowded backfield.

"It's a little different," Hart said ... "The only surprise is it's not as tough as I thought it was going to be, as far as practice and those type of things ... It's more laid back."

... "Indianapolis is a different organization. You watch 'Hard Knocks' on HBO and you expect to be hazed and a lot of those things, but the Colts are a lot different. It's not as bad as I thought -- we don't get taped, we don't get hazed with the Colts."

Too bad the Colts didn't draft Erasmus James in 2005. Things might've turned out differently.

Hart, who set the record for most rushing yards by a freshman at Michigan, and left four years later as the school's all-time leading rusher, will be fighting for a roster spot in Indianapolis. Newly (re-)signed Dominic Rhodes and Kenton Keith will battle for the backup/change-of-pace job behind Joseph Addai. If Hart shows well in the coming weeks and months, he could also be in the mix.

The easiest way for low-round picks to make the club in on special teams, and given the Colts have one of the worst units in the league, it might not take much for Hart to sneak onto the final 53.