The Baltimore Colts teams of the late '50s through the '60s have always fascinated me. Winning titles in 1958, 1959, and 1970, they were certainly a successful franchise. In the years between their championships they were nearly always contending for championships. As one would expect from the success, these Colts teams were loaded with talented football players. The list of those players starts with the quarterback, Johnny Unitas. As a kid, there was always something mystical, magical about the name. Unitas. As an adult, the magic is still there. I became aware of football as time was taking away Unitas' gifts. I wish that I could have seen him play when he was at his best. While still a real treat, it's never the same to see tape of games from long ago. To see the games and the players before you know what happens is always the best. While the big star, Unitas was far from the only star. Some of my favorite football players from that era were on those Colts teams. Running back/receiver Lenny Moore, receiver Raymond Berry, tackle Jim Parker, defensive end Gino Marchetti, defensive tackle Art Donovan are honored with Unitas in the Hall of Fame. Coaches Weeb Ewbank and Don Shula are honored there as well. Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb may have been the most feared football player in the entire league. If he hadn't been taken far too soon, he would probably be honored in Canton as well. He lives on in the stories. Every NFL player of that era likely has a "Big Daddy" story. Alan Ameche, Jimmy Orr, Mike Curtis, Bill Pellington, Lenny Lyles, Bubba Smith, Bill Curry. Those Colts teams were loaded with terrific football players for over a decade. Great players. Great teams.
My fascination of the Baltimore Colts goes beyond their great football players and teams. They have a great fan base. A fan base that can be summed up by the marching band that continued to march even after their team moved to Indianapolis. A band that now marches for the Baltimore Ravens. This fan base intrigues me because of the ridiculous history of the Baltimore Colts franchise. It's messy but the team can be traced back to pre-NFL days. They can be traced back to the Dayton Triangles, a founding member of the NFL, that was originally formed in 1913. Through Brooklyn, Boston, back to New York and even Dallas, that Dayton team eventually emerged in 1953 as the Baltimore Colts team that enjoyed so many happy football days until they moved to Indianapolis in 1984. There was a Baltimore Colts team that competed in the All America Football Conference. Well, competed is a stretch but they were part of the AAFC. For whatever reason, they were chosen as one of three teams, along with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers, that merged with the NFL after the upstart conference closed up shop. It's always been a mystery to me as to why the Colts were one of those three. They were a sad team. After one pathetic 1-11 season they were no more as an NFL team. It's taken me years to truly understand that the Baltimore Colts team that came over to the NFL in 1950 has absolutely no football connection to the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts team that all of us know and many love. It does have a passion connection. The passion for professional football in Baltimore was born with that pathetic football team. That incredible marching band was born with that pathetic football team. That pathetic football team gave it's name to a new, old team. After two years without football, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell challenged the football fans of Baltimore in December 1952 to sell 15,000 season tickets in six weeks in order to re-enter the NFL. Baltimore reached that goal in four weeks and three days. The team that was once the Dayton Triangles, and eventually the Dallas Texans, became the Baltimore Colts. They adopted the "Colts" name and inherited the Texans' colors of blue and white. It's pretty incredible that in five short years that pathetic team became a champion. I think that part of the great passion of those Colts fans came from losing their team. I think that you become more passionate about something when you know what it's like to have it taken away. Thirty years later those fans would lose their team again. It was the Colts moving to Indianapolis in 1984 that made me hate the idea of a fan base losing their team. It's just not right. Baltimore got a team a decade later but it was at the expense of another passionate fan base. I'm sure that the people of Baltimore are pretty happy with the Ravens right now. I'm also pretty sure that the older football fans in the city would probably prefer to have their Colts back in town.
The Baltimore Colts might have had a long, crazy beginning and a terrible ending but they put some incredible football on the field in the thirty years in between. So many great players. So many great teams. Some of my favorites. The Baltimore Colts will always be alive with me.
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