INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts signed two more free agents Wednesday, reuniting linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and adding Nick Westbrook-Ikhine to the team's receiving group.
Terms of the deals were not immediately available.
The Colts have been busy in the secondary free agent market, signing eight free agents since Monday while also re-signing free agent tight end Mo Alie-Cox.
Davis-Gaither has played in 88 games over six seasons and could compete for a starting job in a linebacking group that has been thinned by the trade of Zaire Franklin and the loss of Segun Olubi in free agency.
Davis-Gaither spent his first five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals where he worked with Anarumo before moving to Arizona last season and posting the best stats of his career.
“I have a relationship with him, I trust him, I trust his system, I trust in his ability to call a good defense, so I mean, it made it easy to want to be here, play under his play-calling,” Davis-Gaither said. "Then just the organization, the owners have a great history. I've heard a lot of great things about the organization from former players and current players. It was a no-brainer.”
He started a career-high 13 games and finished with 117 tackles, two for loss, with five passes defensed. He also had one interception, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
Davis-Gaither has 321 tackles, nine for loss, with 16 passes defensed, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a half sack in his career. The Bengals drafted him in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He's expected to compete for a starting job.
Westbrook-Ikhine grew up in Indianapolis and attended Indiana University before making the Tennessee Titans roster as an undrafted free agent in 2020. The Colts think he can help fill the void left by Michael Pittman Jr., who was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers to clear salary cap room after Alec Pierce signed a four-year, $116 million contract extension.
Westbrook-Ikhine signed with the Miami Dolphins last season where he had 11 catches for 89 yards in 15 games. In five seasons with the Titans, he had 126 catches, 1,773 yards and 19 TDs, including several big games against his hometown team. He's also eager to get to work with recently re-signed quarterback Daniel Jones.
“It’s a team I’ve always been a fan of just being at IU and growing up watching Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison,” Westbrook-Ikhine said. "I’ve kind of always been a fan of the team, but then just the season they had last year, I can see what they’re building. It just worked out. It was definitely — going into free agency this year I told my agent, ‘Look, if Indy is an option, I’d love to be there.’”
Indy's other signings this week were defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, tight end Carson Towt, safeties Juanyeh Thomas and Jonathan Owens, the husband of Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who also played previously for Anarumo in Cincinnati.
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FILE - Miami Dolphins wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (18) runs onto the field during player introductions before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Nov. 30, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray, File)
FILE - Arizona Cardinals linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither looks on before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Nov. 23, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow, File)
Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed she was among women and girls who say they were sexually abused by César Chavez, the widely admired Latino icon who brought to light the struggles of farmhands while leading the United Farm Workers union.
The stunning allegations against Chavez, who died more than three decades ago, drew immediate calls to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders in the U.S.
In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.
Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”
“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let César or anyone else get in the way,” she said.
Huerta, who is a labor rights legend in her own right, joined Chavez in 1962 to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America.
For many, they were akin to Martin Luther King. Jr. and Rosa Parks because of their work advocating for racial equality and civil rights.
The New York Times first reported Wednesday that it found Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement. Huerta, too, revealed to the newspaper that she was a victim of the abuse in her 30s.
Huerta later said both sexual encounters with Chavez led to pregnancies, which she kept secret, and that she arranged for the children to be raised by other families. “No one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago,” she said in her statement.
Huerta said she did not know that Chavez hurt other women and condemned his actions but emphasized that the farmworker movement is bigger than one person.
“César’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people,” Huerta said in her statement. “We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.”
Streets, schools and parks across the Southwest bear Chavez’s name. California became the first state to commemorate his birthday, and in 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as national César Chavez Day.
President Joe Biden had a bronze bust of Chavez installed in the Oval Office when he moved into the White House.
Reactions Wednesday were swift from many in both parties.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state will not observe the César Chavez Day holiday and that he will urge the state Legislature to remove it altogether.
Days before the allegations were revealed publicly, several César Chavez celebrations in San Francisco, Texas and in his home state of Arizona were canceled at the request of the César Chavez Foundation. Organizers of canceled events did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was still processing the news. The Democratic governor wouldn’t commit to making any changes to the state holiday, saying the farmworker movement was much more than Chavez. “It’s about labor. It’s about social justice, economic justice, racial justice.”
A spokesperson for Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said she has declined to recognize March 31 as César Chavez Day as she has in the two prior years. César Chavez Day isn’t a state holiday in Arizona.
Next week, the Phoenix City Council is set to vote on whether to rename the March 31 holiday, as well as buildings and city streets that bear Chavez’s name. The mayor and two city council members want the holiday to be renamed Farmworkers Day.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller ordered a review of how Chavez is recognized across the city. And U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, said abuse of any kind, especially against children, is a betrayal of the values that Latino leaders have championed for generations.
“His name should be removed from landmarks, institutions and honors,” Luján said of Chavez.
Born in Yuma, Arizona, Chavez grew up in a Mexican American family that traveled around California picking lettuce, grapes, cotton and other seasonal crops. He died in California in 1993 at age 66.
Chavez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott and eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.
Latino leaders and community groups are now weighing the impact of Chavez's actions on the labor rights movement while emphasizing that the farmworker movement was led by thousands who came together to fight for justice.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization, released a statement condemning any form of sexual violence, stating that “no individual, regardless of statue or legacy is above accountability.” Similarly, leaders from the nonprofit Voto Latino said in a statement that no matter his legacy or historical framing Chavez’s actions are inexcusable. But, they said, the news does not erase the work done by others.
“The women who organized, marched, and sacrificed alongside farmworkers carried this movement on their backs,” Voto Latino said.
U.S. Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, issued a statement saying she was heartbroken and deeply disturbed by the stories of women who say they were abused.
The United Farm Workers union quickly distanced itself from annual celebrations of its founder, calling the allegations troubling.
In a statement Tuesday, the union said allegations of “abuse of young women or minors” were concerning enough to urge people around the country to participate in immigration justice events or acts of service instead of the typical events in March to commemorate Chavez’s legacy.
Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento, Calif.; Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles; Felicia Fonseca and Jacques Billeaud in Arizona contributed to this report.
FILE - Dolores Huerta, the Mexican-American social activist who formed a farm workers union with Cesar Chavez, stands for the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish while visiting the New Mexico Statehouse in Santa Fe. N.M., on Feb. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras, File)
FILE - United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta, center, leads a rally in San Francisco's Mission District on Nov. 19, 1988, along with Howard Wallace, president of the San Francisco chapter of the UFW, left, and Maria Elena Chavez, 16, the daughter of Cesar Chavez, right, as part of a national boycott of what the UFW claims is the dangerous use of pesticides on table grapes. (AP Photo/Court Mast, File)
FILE - United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez talks to striking Salinas Valley farmworkers during a large rally in Salinas, Calif., on March 7, 1979. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez leads a picket against Dole in front of the offices of Castle & Cooke, its parent company, at 50 California St. in San Francisco on Feb. 3, 1982. The United Farm Workers are sponsoring a consumer boycott on Dole products where 300 union members from Ventura, Calif., have been on strike since November. (Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez leads a picket against Dole in front of the offices of Castle & Cooke, its parent company, at 50 California St. in San Francisco on Feb. 3, 1982. The United Farm Workers are sponsoring a consumer boycott on Dole products where 300 union members from Ventura, Calif., have been on strike since November. (Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A statue of farmworker union leader César Chávez stands in a plaza named after him in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)
FILE - Dolores Huerta, the labor leader, civil rights activist and co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, is seen at the California Democratic Party's 2025 State Convention at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
A plaque dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the passing of Cesar Chavez, honoring Chavez and Sister Dolores Huerta, is part of the Haymarket Memorial, seen Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Books about Cesar Chavez are seen on a library shelf at San Lorenzo High School Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in San Lorenzo, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
A plaque dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the passing of Cesar Chavez, honoring Chavez and Sister Dolores Huerta, is part of the Haymarket Memorial, seen Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Governor Gavin Newsom speaks about the sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez during a press conference at San Lorenzo High School, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in San Lorenzo, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
FILE - Cesar Chavez, a farm worker, labor organizer and leader of the California grape strike, is seen in a California works office in 1965. (AP Photo, George Brich, File)
