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The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team is part of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Colts have won five NFL Championships, including two Super Bowl titles, most recently in 2006 in Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears.
The Colts relocated from Baltimore in 1984, and began their stay in Indianapolis winning 90 of 228 games through the 1997 season, including 5 playoff games. Since Jim Irsay assumed control of the franchise in 1998 after the death of his father Robert Irsay, the team has become the first in league history to win 12 games or more in five consecutive seasonsIn 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise. Rosenbloom was awarded the remains of the Dallas Texans. The Texans had a long and winding history; they started as the Boston Yanks in 1944 and merged with the Brooklyn Tigers (previously known as the Dayton Triangles, an original NFL team established in the 1910s) for the 1945 season before moving to New York as the Bulldogs in 1949. The team then became the Yanks in 1950, and many of the players from the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference were added to the team. The Yanks moved to Dallas after the 1951 season, but played their final two "home" games of the 1952 season at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio. However, the NFL considers the Texans and Colts to be separate teams, although many of those teams shared the same colors of blue and white.
The Colts were the first NFL team to have cheerleaders, and the old Colts' fan club and marching band (now under the name Baltimore's Marching Ravens) were adopted by the new franchise.[2]
The 1958 team, led by coach Weeb Ewbank and quarterback Johnny Unitas defeated the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium 23-17 in the NFL championship game. The game, the first-ever utilizing the overtime rule, is generally considered to be among the greatest contests in professional football history.[citation needed]
The Colts repeated as NFL champions in 1959, defeating the Giants again, 31-16. In the early 1960s, the Colts continued as an elite NFL team although they lost the NFL championship game in 1964 to the Cleveland Browns, 27-0.
In 1968, after a 13-1 season, the Colts gained a measure of revenge against the Browns, defeating them 34-0 in the NFL championship game. The 13-1 regular season and the trouncing of the Browns led NFL-based media to call the Colts "the greatest pro football team of all time".[citation needed] The Colts went into Super Bowl III (the first in the series to officially be called the Super Bowl) against the American Football League's New York Jets as 17-point favorites, with NFL icons like Pro Bowlers Bobby Boyd (db), Mike Curtis (lb), John Mackey (te), Tom Matte (rb), Fred Miller (dl), Earl Morrall (qb), Willie Richardson (wr), and Bob Vogel (ol).
The result of the game was surprising to many in the sports media[citation needed] as Joe Namath and Matt Snell led the American Football League champion Jets to a World Championship over the NFL's Colts, 16-7. The Jets were coached by Weeb Ewbank, the coach of the Colts' first two NFL titles.
Prior to the 1970 season, Rosenbloom, Art Modell of the Browns, and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to have their teams join the ten AFL teams in the AFC as part of the AFL-NFL merger. The 1970 Colts immediately went on a rampage, as new head coach Don McCafferty led the Colts to and 11-3 regular season record, winning the AFC East title. In the first round of the NFL Playoffs, they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 21-0; one week later in the AFC Championship, they beat the Oakland Raiders 27-17. Baltimore went on to win the first post-merger Super Bowl (Super Bowl V) defeating the NFC's Dallas Cowboys 16-13, on a Jim O'Brien field goal with 5 seconds left to play. In 1971, the Colts made it back to the playoffs and defeated the Cleveland Browns in the first round, but lost to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship on January 2, 1972 21-0.
On July 13, 1972, Rosenbloom traded the Colts franchise to Robert Irsay for the Los Angeles Rams, but the players remained in their respective cities. The Colts made the playoffs four more times in the 1970s - a wild card in 1971 and three consecutive AFC East titles in 1975, through, and 1977. These consecutive championship teams featured 1976 NFL Most Valuable Player Bert Jones at quarterback and an outstanding defensive line, nicknamed the "Sack Pack". Following the mid-70s success, the team endured nine consecutive losing seasons beginning in 1978. In 1981, the defense was the main problem: The Colts allowed an NFL-record 533 points, set an all-time record for fewest sacks (13) and also set a modern record for fewest punt returns (12).[citation needed] The following year the offense collapsed: On November 28, 1982, the Colts' offense did not cross mid-field in an entire game against the Bills; this would not happen again in an NFL game until 2000. The Colts finished 0-8-1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season. The disastrous 1982 season earned the team the right to select Stanford's John Elway, but Elway refused to play for Baltimore, and using leverage as a draftee of the New York Yankees baseball club, forced a trade to Denver. Behind an improved defense the team would finish 7-9 in 1983, but it would be their last season in Baltimore.
By early 1984, after the Colts' lease on the 64,124 seat Memorial Stadium had expired,[3] Irsay wanted the city of Baltimore to upgrade the stadium or build a new one. But with attendance dwindling and the team playing poorly, city officials were wary of such an investment and negotiations were slow and contentious. Relations between Irsay and the city of Baltimore deteriorated, and despite numerous public announcements that Irsay's ultimate desire was to remain in Baltimore, he nevertheless began discussions with several cities hungry for an NFL franchise, eventually narrowing the list of cities to two, Phoenix and Indianapolis.[4] Under the administrations of mayor Richard Lugar and then William Hudnut, Indianapolis was making an ambitious effort to reinvent itself into a 'Great American City'. The Hoosier Dome (later renamed the RCA Dome) had been built specifically for and was ready to host an NFL expansion team.
Meanwhile in Baltimore, the situation worsened. Eventually, the Maryland legislature intervened and threatened to pass a law giving the city of Baltimore the right to seize ownership of the team by eminent domain. As a result, Irsay began serious negotiations with Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut in order to move the team before the Maryland legislature could pass the bill. The city of Indianapolis was more than willing to receive the team and provided the Colts owner with a $12,500,000 loan, a $4,000,000 training complex, and the use of the brand new 57,980 seat Hoosier Dome.[5] After agreeing to the deal, Mayflower Transit trucks were dispatched to the team's Maryland training complex at 2:00 AM on March 29, where workers loaded all of the team's belongings and the trucks left for Indianapolis by 3:00 AM.
The move triggered a flurry of legal activity that ended when representatives of Baltimore and the Colts organization reached a settlement on March 1986 in which all lawsuits regarding the relocation were dismissed, and the Colts would endorse a new NFL team for Baltimore.[6] Nonetheless, many of the prominent old-time Colts (many of whom had settled in the Baltimore area) were bitter and chose to cut all ties to the relocated Colts team. Most notable and vocal among them was Johnny Unitas, who recognized himself solely as a player for the Baltimore Colts until the day he died, with his estate defending that stand to this day. However, former Baltimore Colts DT Joe Ehrmann (1973-80), has remained close to the team. After football he became an ordained minister who speaks to several NFL teams a year. He is the co-founder of Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House and the founder of a Baltimore inner-city, community-based ministry called "The Door".
In a bit of irony, Baltimore did eventually land another NFL franchise in a manner similar to Indianapolis. Several years later on November 6, 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to move Cleveland's team to Baltimore. The decision also triggered a flurry of legal activity. Modell originally intended to take the Browns name with him to Baltimore. However, many Cleveland fans refused to give up the city's NFL franchise name. Finally, representatives of both cities and the NFL reached a settlement on February 9, 1996. It stipulated that the Browns' name, colors, and history of the franchise were to remain in Cleveland. Modell would be allowed to take his players and organization to Baltimore, but it would be technically regarded as an expansion team. The new Baltimore team was named the Ravens after a fan vote.
The Colts' final home game in Baltimore was played on December 18, 1983 against the then Houston Oilers. The Colts would not return to Baltimore until 1998. Ironically, in 2006, the new Baltimore team had a chance to stop the Indianapolis Colts on their way to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance since moving. However, the Colts defeated the Baltimore Ravens 15-6 in the division playoff round on their way to winning Super Bowl XLI.
The newly minted Indianapolis Colts continued to struggle on the field, with 4-12, 5-11 and 3-13 records during the first three seasons. The latter, during the 1986 season, began 0-13, with the team in contention to be the second modern-day team to go winless for an entire season (the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14) when they dismissed Rod Dowhower and replaced him with former Patriots head coach Ron Meyer. The Colts responded by winning the final three games under his watch.
1987 saw the Colts make the playoffs for the first time in a decade, winning the AFC East with a 9-6 record bolstered by the mid-season arrival of Pro Bowl running back Eric Dickerson. The next few seasons saw Indianapolis wallow in mediocrity before collapsing to a 1-15 in 1991, that team scored the fewest points ever (143) of any NFL team since going to the standard 16-game schedule in 1978.
The Colts did not return to the playoffs until the 1995 season, with Jim Harbaugh at quarterback and Marshall Faulk at running back, clinching a wild card berth with a 9-7 record. They advanced to the AFC Championship Game before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium. Although they won nine games again the following year, and secured another wild card berth, a dismal 3-13 season soon followed in 1997, which earned them the first pick in the upcoming draft and marked a crucial turning point for the franchise.
Jim Irsay began to shape the Colts one year after assuming control from his father by firing Coach Lindy Infante and hiring Bill Polian to run the organization. Polian in turn hired Jim E. Mora to coach the team and drafted University of Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning, the son of New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning, with the first pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. After recording a 3-13 record in 1998, the team drafted Edgerrin James with the 4th pick in the draft. The Colts finished 13-3 in 1999, but were eliminated in the divisional round by the Tennessee Titans. The following year, they were defeated in overtime in a wild-card playoff game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami, when a potential 49-yard game-winning field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt sailed to the right of the goalposts. James tore his ACL in the sixth game of the 2001 season, and while backup Dominic Rhodes proved a capable starter in becoming the first undrafted rookie to rush for over 1000 yards, the loss of James and a defense that gave up the most points in a season of any NFL team since 1981 proved too much to overcome; the Colts would finish 6-10 in and missed the playoffs. Mora was fired after the season, reportedly due to a disagreement with general manager Bill Polian over defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, but more over a dispute with the media on his team was capable of making the playoffs that year, to which he replied:
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