Highlights
The Baltimore Colts were an NFL franchise from 1953-1983, winning three NFL titles and a Super Bowl. Quarterback John Unitas, the face of the franchise, took the field for injured starter George Shaw in 1956. He led the Colts to a .500 record the rest of that season and would go on to become a Hall of Famer and one of the city's most beloved athletes of all-time. In 1958, the Colts defeated the Giants at Yankee Stadium in what became known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played." The game boosted the NFL's popularity, due largely to the fact that it was broadcast to a national television audience. Running back Alan Ameche scored from 1 yard out to give the Colts a 23-17 win in the first overtime...
The Baltimore Colts were an NFL franchise from 1953-1983, winning three NFL titles and a Super Bowl. Quarterback John Unitas, the face of the franchise, took the field for injured starter George Shaw in 1956. He led the Colts to a .500 record the rest of that season and would go on to become a Hall of Famer and one of the city's most beloved athletes of all-time. In 1958, the Colts defeated the Giants at Yankee Stadium in what became known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played." The game boosted the NFL's popularity, due largely to the fact that it was broadcast to a national television audience. Running back Alan Ameche scored from 1 yard out to give the Colts a 23-17 win in the first overtime game ever and their first championship. The Colts found themselves in a familiar spot in 1959, facing the Giants again in the NFL championship game, which was played at Memorial Stadium this time. New York took a 9-7 lead, but Unitas led the Colts to 24 fourth-quarter points and a 31-16 victory for their second straight title. Weeb Ewbank coached the Colts from 1954-1962. The franchise's first owner was Carroll Rosenbloom. After the Colts finished 7-7 in 1962, Ewbank was fired and Don Shula was brought in. Shula helped the Colts to a 12-2 record in 1964, and Unitas was named the league's Most Valuable Player. But the Colts lost to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship game. The Colts played in Super Bowl III in 1968 behind quarterback Earl Morall, who won the MVP filling in for an injured Unitas. However, they were defeated by quarterback Joe Namath, former Colts coach Ewbank and the Jets in what some consider the biggest upset in NFL history. The Colts were shifted to the AFC in 1970 as part of the NFL-AFL merger. They advanced to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years and won this time, defeating the Dallas Cowboys for the championship. In 1972, the Colts had their first losing record since 1955, and Unitas was traded after the season. The Colts won three straight AFC East titles from 1975-1977 under Ted Marchibroda. The franchise selected future Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway with the first pick in the 1983 draft, but he refused to join the team. The Colts played their final game in Baltimore on Dec. 18, 1983. Owner Robert Irsay, who took over the team in 1972, began to think about moving the Colts to another city in the offseason because of poor attendance and an aging Memorial Stadium. The Maryland legislature tried to use eminent domain laws to keep the team in Baltimore, so Irsay used now infamous Mayflower vans to take the team to Indianapolis in the middle of the night. Colts fans woke up the next morning without a football team. The Indianapolis team kept the Colts' records, uniforms and logo, which angers Baltimore fans to this day. Baltimore was without a professional football team until 1996 when the Ravens arrived. The original Baltimore Colts played in Baltimore from 1947-1950 as part of the All-America Football Conference. The following players have had their numbers retired: Unitas, Buddy Young, Lenny Moore, Art Donovan, Jim Parker, Raymond Berry and Gino Marchetti.
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Jets Stun Patriots 28-21 To Reach AFC Title Game
AP Sports WriterShonn Greene placed the ball on the ground and used it as a pillow, resting his head on it after scoring the Jets' final touchdown of a stunning upset. A quiet climax to a very loud week of non-stop jabbering, poking, berating, and then some, mostly by...Tags: Peyton Manning, Adam Vinatieri, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Multi-Sport Events
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Super Dilemma: Blizzard At Super Bowl Site
AP Pro Football WriterWith all that snow blocking roads, closing airports and even forcing a game to be postponed in Philadelphia, it's easy to wonder how the NFL and the Big Apple would handle a blizzard in February 2014. You know, when the Super Bowl is in town. Weather...Tags: Peyton Manning, New York Weather, Football, University of Minnesota, Chicago Bears
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Manning Rallies Colts Over Jets 30-17 To Reach Super Bowl
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — This is perfect for the Indianapolis Colts: They have Peyton Manning and they're back in the Super Bowl.
The four-time MVP threw three touchdown passes and the Colts rallied from an 11-point, first-half deficit to beat the New...Tags: Peyton Manning, Football, Chicago Bears, Edgerrin James, Jim Leonhard
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Jets Beat Chargers 17-14 to Reach AFC Championship
Maybe Rex Ryan already knows the score of the AFC championship game, too.
The rookie coach who, at one point, didn't know his Jets were still in playoff contention, then declared them Super Bowl favorites, will need some more bold predictions.
His...Tags: Peyton Manning, Football, Jim Leonhard, Rex Ryan, New York Jets
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Saints Win Super Bowl, 31-17 Over Colts
Who Dat won the Super Bowl?
The New Orleans Saints, that's who.
Ain't kidding.
Put away those paper bags forever: Drew Brees and the Saints are NFL champions, rallying to beat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 Sunday night in one of pro...Tags: Peyton Manning, Sean Payton, Football, Brett Favre, National Football Conference
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Jets Fly To Indy; Fans Give Proper Send-Off
Thousands of fans came out to the New York Jets' training camp in Florham Park Saturday for a special send-off before Sunday's AFC Championship game.
Gang Green will fly off to Indianapolis Saturday to take on the Colts in a fight to play in their second...Tags: Times Square, Football, Rex Ryan, New York Jets, Sports
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Sanchez Flawless, Jets Beat Bengals 24-14
One playoff game into his career, Mark Sanchez is giving a pretty good off-Broadway performance.
So are the rest of the New York Jets, who are no longer an overlooked team after dismantling the AFC North champions twice within a week.
Any more doubters?...Tags: Shaun King, Football, Cincinnati Bengals, Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco
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Jets End Colts' Unbeaten Season 29-15
The Indianapolis Colts kept saying 16-0 didn't matter. Apparently it didn't.
Coach Jim Caldwell pulled Peyton Manning and a handful of other starters for the previously unbeaten Colts in the third quarter, and the Jets took advantage by rallying for a...Tags: Peyton Manning, Football, Marques Douglas, New York Jets, Super Bowl
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Top 175 athletes list left a few out
Congrats to Mike Klingaman and staff at The Sun for the job they did in compiling the top 175 greatest athletes in Maryland history. I noticed several glaring omissions, however. Y.A. Tittleplayed two years for the All-American Football Conference...Tags: New York Giants, Football, Baseball, Roy Campanella, Sports
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Jesse L. Thomas, Colts player
Jesse L. Thomas, a Baltimore Colts defensive back in the 1950s who then spent four decades at Morgan State University, serving for several years as its head football coach, died of dementia complications May 16 at his Columbia home. He was 83.
Born in...Tags: College Sports, Health, Football, Weeb Ewbank, Baseball
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Matte deserved a spot on the 175 athletes list
Helen Delich Bentley is right on point in criticizing the omission of Tom Matte from The Sun's historical list of outstanding Maryland athletes ("Tom Matte deserves spot on greatest list," May 15). Anyone who's old enough to remember the Baltimore Colts'...Tags: Port of Baltimore, Football, Sports
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No. 2: Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas unflappable, unsurpassed, unforgettable
Last week, on what would have been his father's 79th birthday, Chad Unitas visited his grave at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. There, on the edge of a pond filled with ducks and ringed by weeping willows, he knelt by the marble marker and spoke with the...
Tags: New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Butterfly Ballots, Heart Attack, Football
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