Indianapolis Colts History

In 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise. Rosenbloom was awarded the remains of the Dallas Texans. The Texans themselves started as the Boston Yanks in 1944 before moving to New York as the Bulldogs in 1949. They then became the Yanks in 1950. Many of the players from the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference were added to the team. The Yanks moved to Dallas after the 1951 season. However, the NFL considers the Texans and Colts to be separate teams.

The Colts were the first NFL team to have cheerleaders, and the old Colts' fan club and marching band (now under the name Baltimore's Marching Ravens) became part of the new franchise.

In 1958, coached by Hall of Famer Weeb Ewbank and led by Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts defeated the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium 23-17 in the NFL championship game, an overtime contest sometimes called "The Greatest Game Ever Played". The Colts repeated as NFL champions in 1959, beating the Giants again, 31-16. In the early 1960s, the Colts continued as an elite NFL team although they lost the NFL championship game in 1964 to the Cleveland Browns, 27-0.

In 1968, after a 13-1 season, they gained a measure of revenge against the Browns, defeating them 34-0 in the NFL championship game. The 13-1 regular season and the trouncing of the Browns led NFL-based media to call the Colts "the greatest pro football team of all time".[citation needed] The Colts went into Super Bowl III (the first in the series to officially be called the Super Bowl) against the American Football League's New York Jets as 17-point favorites, with NFL icons like Pro Bowlers Bobby Boyd (db), Mike Curtis (lb), John Mackey (te), Tom Matte (rb), Fred Miller (dl), Earl Morrall (qb), Willie Richardson (wr), and Bob Vogel (ol).

The result of the game was surprising to many in the sports media as Joe Namath and Matt Snell led the American Football League champion Jets to a World Championship over the NFL's Colts, 16-7. The Jets were coached by Weeb Ewbank, who had previously led the Colts to two NFL titles.

By early 1984, after the Colts' lease on Memorial Stadium had expired, Irsay threatened to move the team unless Baltimore city officials helped pay for a new stadium and other concessions. Despite numerous public announcements that he would not move the Colts out of Baltimore, and the Maryland legislature threatening to give the city of Baltimore the right to seize the team by eminent domain, Irsay secretly negotiated with Indianapolis to move the team. The Indiana capital agreed to give the team a $12.5 million loan, a $4 million training complex, and the use of the Hoosier Dome. After signing the agreement, Mayflower Transit trucks from Indianapolis rolled into the team's training complex at 2:00 AM on March 29. Workers then packed the team's offices and equipment and the trucks left for Indianapolis at 3:00 AM. The team didn't know they were moving until around 3:30 AM.

History

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