Wayne Wheelwright - 50 Quick Facts About The Indianapolis Colts

Title Page

50 Quick Facts About The Indianapolis Colts

by

Wayne Wheelwright

Publisher Information

50 Quick Facts About The Indianapolis Colts

published in 2014 by Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The right of Wayne Wheelwright to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

Copyright 2014 Wayne Wheelwright

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The Facts

1. The Indianapolis Colts franchise began in 1953 in Baltimore when a group led by Carroll Rosenbloom got the go ahead to form a Baltimore based NFL franchise. He was awarded what remained of the Dallas texans and they played their first season in Baltimore in 1953 where led by Keith Molesworth they finished their first season with a 3-9 record.
2. The Baltimore Colts didnt achieve a winning season until 1957 and during the 1958 season notched a 9-3 record and for the first time in their history reached the NFL Championship Game where they beat the New York Giants 23-17 which is widely regarded as one of the greatest games in football history and was the first game to use the overtime rule.
3. The Colts finished the 1959 season with a 9-3 record and beat the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game 31-16 recording their second championship in a row with a remarkably similar season to the preceding one. The Colts would wait 4 years before returning to the NFL Championship.
4. Following the back to back championships the Colts went through a transitional phase seeing departing head coach Ewbank to Don Shula in 1963. In only Shulas second season in charge the Colts finished with a 12-2 record but lost to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship. In 1968 the Colts beat the Cleveland Browns 34-0 leading up to Superbowl III which led to many calling the 1968 Colts one of the best football teams of all time, however they were defeated at Superbowl III by the unfavored New York Jets by a score of 16-7.
5. In the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 the Colts along with the Browns and the Steelers, the Colts joined the ten AFL teams in the American Football COnference. New coach Don McCafferty started the Colts new status in spectacular fashion finishing the season with a 11-2-1 record and the Colts went on to win the first post merger Superbowl defeating the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 with a Jim O Brien field goal with five seconds left on the clock.
6. On July 13 th , 1972 Rosenbloom traded the Colts franchise to Robert Irsay receiving the Los Angeles Rams in return. The Colts had a disappointing time under the new ownership, failing to reach the playoffs for the three seasons after 1971. Beginning in 1978 the Colts went through nine consecutive seasons with a losing record. In the strike shortened 1982 season the Colts finished with a 0-8-1 record. This earned the Colts the right to select John Elway in the draft but Elway refused to play for Baltimore and forced a trade to Denver.
7. The Baltimore Colts played their last home fixture in Baltimore against the Houston Oilers on December 18 th , 1983. In early 1984 the Colts lease on the Memorial Stadium had expired and attendances were dropping due to the poor form of the team. Irasy and the city of Baltimore found themselves on increasingly bad terms which led to Irsay discussing the relocation of the team with several cities despite his public claims that he wished to remain in Baltimore.
8. The situation in Baltimore took a bad turn for Robert Irsay when the Maryland General Assembly threatened to bring in a law that would give Baltimore the right to seize ownership of the Colts by eminent domain. This forced Irsay to choose between the two options of Phoenix and Indianapolis that he had narrowed his search of a new home to. Irsay decided on Indianapolis who had just competed the Hoosier Dome that had been built specifically to host an NFL team.
9. Following the deal to move to Indianapolis being reached moving vans from Mayflower transit, an Indianapolis based company were sent to the Colts Maryland complex during the early morning hours of March 29 th , 1984 and were loaded with all the teams belongings and equipment and by midday left for the Colts new home of Indianapolis leaving nothing for the city of Baltimore to seize.
10. The Colts move from Baltimore to Indianapolis led to much legal activity which only came to an end when the city of Baltimore and the Colts settled in March of 1986 and the Colts agreed to endorse a new NFL team for the Baltimore. Many of the old-time Colts refused to accept the new status including Johnny Unitas who insisted he only was a player for the Baltimore Colts until the day he died, but his records serve as part of the history of the Colts and not the Ravens who are the current team in Baltimore.
11. Following the relocation of the Colts to Indianapolis they received over 140,000 season ticket requests in two weeks, however this failed to turn around the teams bad form and the Indianapolis Colts would appear in the post season only once in their first eleven seasons in their new home. In 1987 following the signing of eventual Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson the Colts would finish the season with a 9-6 record taking them to the post season where they would lose to the Cleveland Browns.
12. Following the 1987 season the Colts went through another period full of struggles. The Colts missed the post season for the seven seasons following 1987 and in 1991 finished with a 1-15 record and were just one point away from becoming the first NFL team to finish the season losing all of their games since the 16 game schedule was introduced. In 1994 the Colts acquired running back Marshall Faulk in the draft and also acquired quarterback Jim Harbaugh. This improved the Colts who made post season in 1995 and 1996. In 1995 the Colts were a Hail Mary pass reception away from appearing in the Superbowl.
13. In January of 1987 Robert Irsay died following years of poor health. The man who replaced the owner that had overseen the relocation of the Colts to Indianapolis was Robert Irsays son Jim. Irsay replaced general manager Bill Tobin with Bill Polian and decided to rebuild the team with their number one pick in the 1998 draft.
14. The Colts hired Jim Mora as the new head coach of the team in 1998 and used their number one pick in the draft to sign Tennessee Volunteer quarterback Peyton Manning, son of the New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning. The Colts struggled in Peyton Mannings first season and only won three games with manning throwing a league high 28 interceptions in his first season but he did also pass for 3,739 yards and threw 26 touchdown passes.
15. In 1999 the Colts drafted running back Edgerrin James and carried on with the improvement to the roster. The Colts finished the season with 13-3 record and finished on top of the AFC East winning their first divisional title for 12 years. The Colts lost in the playoffs to the Tennessee Titans who would go on to win the divisional playoffs.
16. The Colts were less successful come the start of the new millennium. The 2001 season saw the Colts finish with a record of 6-10 and saw increasing pressure on the people running the team. Jim Mora was replaced at the end of the season by Tony Dungy who turned things around quickly and saw the Colts finish the 2002 season with a 10-6 record and a return to the playoffs.
17. 2003 and 2004 saw the Indianapolis Colts reach the playoffs again with 12-4 records and the AFC South Championships. The New England patriots defeated the Colts in the AFC Championship game of 2003 and the 2004 divisional playoffs which was the beginning of a rivalry between the two franchises and their quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.