Unlike some of the newer franchises in the National Football League (NFL) where the lineage of the team is direct and easy to trace, the Indianapolis Colts have a history that is long and meandering.
Professional football and the Colts’ lineage first began in Baltimore with the Miami Seahawks. The Seahawks played their inaugural season of the All-American Football Conference in 1946. The team moved to Baltimore the following year, where it promptly folded. But the idea of football in Baltimore took root.
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the NFL) in 1920. Moving to Dallas the team also folded. Carroll Rosenbloom acquired the team’s assets several years later and moved to Baltimore the year after the demise of the Seahawks. The team played in the old All-American Football Conference (AAFC) until they agreed to merge with the NFL.
“The Greatest Game Ever Played”
The Colts were one of three teams to leave the AAFC for the NFL; the San Francisco 49ers, and the Cleveland Browns being the other two teams to join the NFL. The rest of the AAFC disbanded. The Colts were NFL champions in 1958 and 1959 under head coach Weeb Ewbank. Led by quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts won the 1958 NFL Championship Game by defeating the New York Giants, 23-17. Many consider the game to be one the greatest contests in professional football history. The overtime rule was used for the first time in this game as fullback Alan Ameche ran the ball in on a short run to seal the Colt victory.
The game is also memorable for the amount of future Hall of Famers that played in the game. In addition to Units, Colt stars included Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, Lenny Moore and Jim Parker. Future New York Giant Hall of Famers that participated in “the Greatest Game Ever Played” included Rosey Brown, and Frank Gifford. Other Giant participants were Sam Huff, Don Maynard, Andy Robustelli and Emlen Tunnell. Televised nationally, the game saw Baltimore receiver Raymond Berry record 12 receptions for 178 yards, a championship record that stood for 55 years.
In 1968 the Colts won a NFL Championship again. Now coached by Don Shula, the Colts were heavily favored in Super Bowl, only to be upset by the New York Jets, 16-7. Jets coach Weeb Ewbank, is the only coach win a championship in both the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL).
Don Shula’s departure
Shula would leave the Colts after this embarrassing loss to coach the Miami Dolphins. Within two short years, Shula would coach the Dolphins in back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. The second appearance would result in an undefeated season and a Super Bowl redemption for Shula.
In 1971, the Colts, led second-year head coach Don McCafferty, would win a Super Bowl, defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13.
In 1972, citing friction with the City of Baltimore, owner Carrol Rosenbloom traded the Colts franchise to Robert Irsay for the Los Angeles Rams franchise. Nothing other than ownership changed for either franchise.
The Baltimore Colts played their last playoff game in 1977. The Double overtime loss against the Oakland Raiders is known as the Ghost to the Post play. Tight End Dave Caspar caught a ball in heavy fog. Photographs of the play were unable to locate the ball in flight. The play was instrumental in the Raider victory. The Colts, who had just won their third Divisional title, were led by 1976 MVP Bert Jones.
Colts move to Indianapolis
Irsay fared no better than Rosenbloom in getting the City of Baltimore to upgrade Memorial Stadium, or to build a new stadium. Indianapolis, looking to reinvent itself, had built a new stadium. Initially the facility was called Hoosier Stadium and later renamed RCA Dome. It was built with the intention of hosting an NFL team. Irsay found the offer attractive; the Colts moved to Indianapolis.
The next phase of the Colts could be labelled the “Peyton Manning era.” Manning, selected in the 1998 draft, was selected to play in 14 Pro Bowl, 5 MVP awards, and led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory in 2006 over the Chicago Bears. The Colts would suffer a Super Bowl loss to the New Orleans Saints in 2009. Manning, the only five-time MVP in NFL history, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021.
The Colts currently play in the American Football Conference (AFC) South Division along with the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans.
In Indianapolis, the Colts played at the RCA Dome from 1984 to 2007 and then moved to Lucas Oil Stadium, which has been their home since 2008.
Anthony Richardson, quarterback was selected by the Colts fourth overall in the 2023 NFL draft.
Barry Schustermann
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