As the Flea Flicker is new and evolving, I am going to try a regular feature on Mondays. Feeding my passion for NFL history, I will be looking to the past on Mondays.
Last week, I described the Pennsylvania Switcheroo. That was nothing compared to the Colts path. Before I start, I must admit that neither the Colts nor the NFL acknowledge this timeline. They can't handle this timeline. Historically, a line can be drawn from the semi-pro team of Dayton, OH during the days of World War I all the the way to the Peyton Manning-led Indianaplolis Colts of today.
Prior to the birth of the NFL (actually called American Professional Football Association the first 2 years) in 1920, there were many semi-pro and professional teams in the midwest and east. The Dayton Triangles were one of these teams. The Triangles were an original NFL team. They were fairly competitive through the '20s, but fell on hard times at the end of the decade. The team was sold and moved to Brooklyn as the Dodgers. Dan Topping bought the team in 1937. Topping decided a name change to Tigers would improve play in 1944. That same year the NFL awarded a team to Ted Collins, manager of singer Kate Smith. He wanted his team to play in Yankee Stadium as the Yankees, but Giants owner Tim Mara refused to relinquish territorial rights to New York City. Collins settled on Boston and called his team the Yanks. Due to struggles, the NFL allowed the Tigers and Yanks to merge a year later. Splitting games between Brooklyn and Boston, the team was simply called the Yanks.
In 1946, The All America Football Conference (AAFC) was born. Topping jumped to the new league with his players. He got what Collins wanted, a New York Yankee team in Yankee stadium.. Collins took what was left and moved his Yanks back to Boston.
In 1949, Collins anticipated the fall of the AAFC. He jumped at the chance to get in the New York market with his new team the New York Bulldogs. He shared the Polo Grounds with the Giants. Topping merged his Yankees team with the struggling AAFC Brooklyn team for the final year of the conference. The new team carried the convenient handle Brooklyn-New York Yankees.
When the AAFC folded, the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts (a team that started it's time in the AAFC as the Miami Seahawks). The Colts were pathetic, but Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall wanted a regional rival. Plus, he received a bunch of money for allowing a team in his territory. The Colts died after one year in the NFL. The Bulldogs and Giants split many of the AAFC Yankees players. Collins finally made it to Yankee Stadium and renamed his team the New York Yanks. It didn't last long. After one winning season, the Yanks collapsed. Collins sold his franchise to the NFL. The league turned around and awarded a franchise to Dallas businessmen. It was a new franchise with the same old Yanks players, uniforms, equipment and losing. Halfway through the Dallas Texans first season, all losses, the owners handed the team back to the league. The NFL ran the team out of Hershey, PA for the remaining 5 games of 1952. The Texans died at the end of that season. In 1953, a group led by Carroll Rosenbloom was awarded a new franchise with the old New York Yanks-Dallas Texans players and stuff. He called the team the Baltimore Colts.
This incarnation won a championship 6 years later. It was smooth sailing until 1972 when Los Angeles Rams owner Robert Irsay and Rosenbloom switched franchises. In 1984, Irsay packed up the Colts and moved to Indianapolis.
It's interesting to note, in a show of sheer dedication, the Baltimore Colts marching band was twice left at the altar. They were dumped after the AAFC Colts folded after one year in the NFL. They were dumped again when Irsay yanked the team from them. This band still marches today in Baltimore.
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