Bortolini ready for center stage in 2nd year with Colts
Kewaunee native competing for starting spot with NFL team
The butterflies in Tanor Bortolini’s stomach felt huge as he got ready to bend down into position.
The 6-foot-4, 303-pounder had prepared a while for this moment and was able to execute a perfect exchange.
The account above could be used to describe the center’s first snap in the NFL last year with the Indianapolis Colts.
However, this moment took place in March, when he got down on one knee to present a ring to his fiancé, Sydney, during a vacation in Jamaica.
“They both have their stresses,” Bortolini said about preparing for an NFL season and a wedding.
“Planning a wedding is actually significantly more work than I thought it would be. I thought it would be easy, and we got about an hour in, and I realized this is going to take a lot longer than I initially thought. But it has been a lot of fun and I’m excited about it.”
Following a solid rookie campaign, Bortolini is excited about the position he’s in entering his second NFL season.
The Kewaunee native is competing to be the Colts’ starting center when the regular season begins. His next test to prove himself comes Saturday when Indianapolis hosts the Green Bay Packers in a preseason game.
“I’m fine tuning those things I know I need to work on,” Bortolini said in June after hosting a linemen camp for local youth and high school players in his hometown.
“I’m feeling very confident that I’m playing at a level, where I’m doing everything I need to do at a high level to go out there and compete and win that starting job.”
Last season was obviously a big adjustment for the former University of Wisconsin lineman.
After being selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Bortolini found out that playing center in the pros can feel at times like being on an island – and not the fun kind with a resort that he proposed on.
The scheme the Colts run under head coach Shane Steichen calls for a lot of responsibility on the center position to make pre-snap reads and direct traffic. It was far more complex than what he experienced in his final year with the Badgers.
Obviously, there are elite athletes everywhere on the field that you’re going up against to contend with as well.
That was evident during a training camp practice last year when Bortolini went up against veteran defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in a pass-pro drill.
“I got beat probably worse than I had been in four or five years,” Bortolini recalls. “I was like, ‘Wow, OK. That can happen.’ You can get beat at any given time, but you have to go back to fundamentals. Buck was a good guy to help me learn what I need to do to improve.”
Given the physical nature of football, particularly in the trenches, injuries are going to happen.
The end of Bortolini’s first training camp got cut short due to a leg injury.
The ailment kept him sidelined for the first three games of the 2024 season, including a contest against the Packers at Lambeau Field, where he had first gained a love for the game as a spectator rooting on the green and gold.
As tough as it was to not be suited up then, the setback ultimately allowed Bortolini to soak in the mental aspects of the game and helped him have strong showings when his No. 60 was called to start five times when Ryan Kelly was injured.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Bortolini said about missing time early with an injury.
“I couldn’t ask for a better situation. I got one year to kind of figure everything out. When you get in the NFL there is a big jump – talent-wise and playbook-wise. Figuring out what I had to do on a week-to-week basis to get myself ready. I’m feeling a lot more confident heading into Year 2 than I was Year 1. I think they’re expecting me to step up to take on a bigger role, and I feel more than ready for that.
The door for Bortolini to earn a starting spot this season opened when Kelly signed with the Minnesota Vikings in free agency.
While most of his film study these days is accessing his own play and upcoming opponents, Bortolini will once again plan to squeeze time in to review another team wearing purple.
His brother, Blake, will be a junior for Kewaunee’s football team and entering his second year as the starting center for the varsity squad.
“They are young, and they are still figuring it all out,” Bortolini said about Kewaunee’s offensive line. “For a lot of those guys, it was their first time ever playing varsity football last year, so there is always going to be a learning curve to it.
“They are getting better. The coolest thing that I’m excited for with that group with one year under their belt I feel like this year they will really take another step forward and keep excelling.”
Bortolini may have felt like a small fish in a big pond making the transition to the NFL last year.
Despite a lot of adjustments, he still was able to find some new fishing spots in Indiana. Although none can compare to his favorites along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Kewaunee County.
“I couldn’t ask for a better situation,” Bortolini said about being selected by the Colts last year.
“It’s perfect location wise. It’s only a six-hour drive from Kewaunee to Indianapolis. The best part is it’s not extremely hard for my parents to get to games.”
The importance of family was stressed to Bortolini when he spoke on the phone with Colts owner Jim Irsay after being drafted.
Irsay passed away in May, and the team will wear badges with his initials this season.
“Its’s really important for us,” Bortolini said about helping Indianapolis return to the playoffs. “More than anything, he wanted to see this team win. He was one to do whatever it took to get the Colts to that point. We’re playing this year out in honor of him and in honor of all that he stood for and what he did for the community.”