History of Baltimore Colts (1953-1983)

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] this one is over it is official [Applause] protection stays any [Applause] [Music] from 1948 to 83 Baltimore's Memorial Stadium represented the soul of a city it was there that Colts fans worshiped a team that brought in the best of times and the worst of times when the grand old lady of 33rd Street went down 35 years of pro football history [Applause] where did the heart of a city ever be strong part of the proud legacy of the Baltimore Colts was their contribution to the growth of the National Football League National Football League championship on the line at Baltimore favorites are the hometown cold soap to become the fourth team in league history to win two straight playoff titles vice-president Nixon is among the jam-packed crowd with eyes on Johnny Unitas the great ball quarterback in 1959 the Colts beat the New York Giants 31 16 to win their second straight NFL championship it was an accomplishment of major proportions considering that a few years earlier Baltimore barely had a pro football team it's very rare in life to have the opportunity to be a part of something like we were part of and you know when you get a chance to compete at a level if there's not a higher level to compete at for a city you know it's just enjoyed because these type of things don't come around very often in the 1940s events that shape the world ultimately shape the future of professional football in Baltimore we interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii by air President Roosevelt has just announced world war ii decimated most of the teams in the national football team but when the fighting was over there was a glut of talented and experienced players returning to the homefront it was the ideal time to start a new pro football league I believe that America was ready to accept the new dimensions pro-football was going to offer them the all-american conference have provided America wanted to relax following World War two and was looking for some kind of a refreshing outlet outlet and what better than pro football on Sunday afternoon [Music] the all-american football conference offered quite the entertainment package and when the miami seahawks failed in florida they were purchased relocated to baltimore and renamed the colts but even the first cheerleaders in pro sports couldn't help the Colts win more than one game in 1947 they went and said it if we don't get some player help we don't see how we can continue to compete so the all-american conferences stronger teams got together and established a player pool where Baltimore would be helped and Paul Brown gave them y8 it'll be had Otto Graham and tittle knew that he wasn't gonna play so he just handed him over to Baltimore thank you to Baltimore Maryland for the playoff for the Eastern Division championship of the all-america Football Conference the ease in the grace of Tibbals passing technique Davis gathers in the pigskin to bring the Colts into scoring position only a controversial play allowed the bills to rally and win the game Baltimore was leading when a buffalo fumble was ruled an incomplete pass given possession and another chance the bills went on to score and won the near riot that ensued was an encouraging sign of support for the team that public passion helped the Colts become one of three all-america conference teams to merge with the NFL when training camp opened at Western Maryland College the Colts have the look of a team prepared to make its mark on the NFL [Music] and make a mark they did winning just once the 1950 Colts ranked among the worst teams in NFL history even when things began to go right they seldom ended that way embarrassment led to futility and ownership back down the NFL bought off the team's assets for $50,000 including all of its players the Colts became a ward of the league on Memorial Stadium lay fallow for two years stockholders sued the league for stealing their team then won the right for the league to replace the Colts with another team Baltimore was awarded the Dallas Texans a team that may have been worse than the one it replaced [Music] I played with the worst football team ever assembled maybe the two worst of the 50 Colts and the 52 Dallas Texas I was in I think for winning games in four years so we were building character that's what we played around twice took an exhibition game in San Antonio and a league game and sit in Los Angeles it's good under 47 points against us in two games I bet can your people I mean we were soaked there I mean we really cut it was fun [Music] but it could be rationalized a bad team was better than no team at all the public felt like that if the team had been award or an orphan left on this white steps of Baltimore or the white Stoops as they like to say and they took it in and adopted it and surrounding it with so much affection and interest it seemed like it was a challenge to the community to see if what kind of a success that they could have with the franchise one of the few success stories was a diminutive running back named buddy on an acorn among Oaks Young mixed magic into the general despair of those losing seasons especially when he took on a horse named Dixie the quotes mascot in a match race buddy won the race along with the hearts of Baltimore fans despite Jung's talents the Colts continued to struggle until they hired a new head coach a frugal Quaker from Richmond Indiana that man was weeb Ewbank the perfect coach for the times first I tried to be honest with them I would tell them what I wanted and as long as they were honest to me why I we both got along fine it was family we had great team spirit and that's harder to get now as most of the players in those days didn't have some agent talking to him about who was spoil the whole party we had the genius to be able to give us an offensive system that was very sound but also very simple so we were not overburdened with a whole lot of plays a lot of things to think about we knew what we were doing to holdovers from the Texans art Donovan and Gino Marchetti we're joined by a collection of Mavericks and misfits whose rough and rugged image was embraced by a city starved for a winner [Music] the 1955 draft was a bonanza 12 rookies made the 33 man roster including Alan Ameche who scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball [Music] from Donovan to Marchetti and from bill pellington to Big Daddy Lipscomb the defense vaulted from one of the worst in the NFL to one of the best [Music] most of the pieces were in place except one what the team needed was a man with an infectious will to win the Colts found their rock on a Sandlot in Pennsylvania his name was John Unitas a hometown boy drafted by Pittsburgh the Steelers thought so little of their ninth round pick that they kept him on the bench the entire preseason Unitas took a construction job and on weekends played football for the Bloomfield Rams for $6 again the team played on a junior high school field coated with oil to keep the dust down the skinny kid quarterback led Bloomfield to an undefeated season and when the Colts heard about Unitas they offered him a tryout that $0.80 phone call would alter the course of football history in Unitas weeb Ewbank found the player who would define the game's most challenging position when the 1957 season began Unitas was a backup to quarterback George Shaw but in the fourth game Shah Pro kool-aid and Unitas got his chance his debut gave no hint of the brilliance to come [Music] after his first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown Unitas went on to play 17 seasons in Baltimore a period when the Colts posted the NFL's highest winning percentage the Colts added more key players like Lenny Moore number 24 whose trademark spots came to symbolize the syncopated rhythm of the Baltimore office Unitas through at least one touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games still an NFL record [Music] in 1957 the Colts won seven of 12 games and finished tied for third in the Western Conference that might have been our strongest team what we didn't do in 57 is learn how to win we could play well but we lost three games I think in the last minute of the ballgame which which took us out the championship so going into 58 we had a lot of confidence we will look forward to it and we thought that we could do it the coats began the season with six straight wins including a battle from behind in Green Bay star passes again but Andy Nelson number 80 swipes the ball for the Colts and begins a brilliant 52 yard zigzag gala that lines up in the endzone to give the Colts a rousing 24 to 17 comeback victory over the Green Bay but I think that was a turning point because it proved to them that they could come from behind which they had to do several times later on in the season and that is the mark of a fine football team in late November the Colts clinched the Western Conference title with an even more dramatic performance against the 49ers to the ride and scores his second touchdown to put the prospectors back on top 13 to 7 after the kickoff Unitas tries to pass from deep in his own territory but man Hazeltine kicks off the deflected toss and fights his way into prospector fader the 49ers have the handicappers upset as they leave the halftime you talk about a teen and went to work we were down 27 7 at halftime and we needed to win that game to win the conference championship takes Johnny Unitas estas in the third quarter and Lenny gets to the 49ers we shut them down the entire second half and then we scored those touchdowns four touchdowns in the second half and beyond 3527 [Music] that was the greatest football game that we played as an offensive and defensive [Music] with two games left they through greatness with one of the finest expression this man has had in the football season 1958 here is the owner of the Baltimore Colts Carol rosenbloom I hope that you'll forgive me for saying it Carol but I'm quite sure that every man on this football squad also the old that kind of a to Carol Rosenblum well it's very sweet of you I feel the same way about them Chuck only one thing you know we told the fans it would take us five years to give them a chance it took us six I'm sorry but the big day the day that none of us will ever forget was Sunday December the 28th Yankee Stadium jam-packed for the greatest playoff game in pro football history versus the Baltimore Colts from the national prototype and nearly 20,000 Baltimore Colt fans journey to New York City and Yankee Stadium to root on their beloved Baltimore Colts the largest television audience of its time 15 million viewers tuned in to sold-out Yankee Stadium and watched the Colts seiza halftime lead Unitas fakes to amici then gets set to throw George fries of the other Colt Lyman bill defenses Johnnie fires a story strike to remand Barry who was open in the end zone following a stirring and unforgettable halftime show the momentum swung to the Giants by the 4th quarter New York had scored two touchdowns and taken the lead 1714 [Music] I remember what was on my mind when we took the field for last Drive we were behind in 17 to 14 and we could've very easily you know put the game out of reach 32 points and I thought to myself as we trotted on the field we've blown this durn ballgame and then we went to work a nation watched spellbound as the Colts slashed through the Giants defense almost 50 years later the image that in duels is that of John Unitas standing calmly in the eye of the storm his legend swelling with each first down [Music] here was a football game two teams so good neither one could win and now you go into an overtime period and then the fans realize you know son of a gun that's the way you do it this is quite a game if ever you needed one thing to close the deal that game did it was just football up to them later called the greatest game ever played it was gripping theater and raised the curtain on pro football the sport was in for a long run I could tell you one thing it's a long way from the Bronx that's all I thought that from in front of mr. Goldberg's candy store and after the 50 a championship game I'm standing in front of the candy store and mr. Goldberg comes out of society you big bum of you I don't work again you know I played football so my offseason occupation goes from working in a factory I was a bartender I worked the sparrows point as an iron worker and I set pins once one year and at my cousin's bowling island the Colts quite literally owned the town and their players were among the first to use their names to score points in business [Music] the Colts of the late 50s were rich in star quality yet they had a working-class humility that matched the blue-collar fabric of Baltimore the players lived in the same row house neighborhoods and drank at the same corner bars as the fans that cheered them each Sunday [Music] that's what made it nice I think the closer you can get that to the players and the action the more fun it is for the fans [Music] anymore making it one of the greatest catches I've ever seen on the far end of the field and first thing you know there must have been other hunter scenes around him picking him up now it was a bucolic town you know everybody liked to mingle with the football players now we were the king of the hill many a many a time ordell Gracie and I talked about this we say you know how lucky we were that we played in Baltimore well so we had played some other city we'd all be gone I said maybe deep-fried someplace like that here we're still big fish in a small pond and if anybody ever tells you they don't like to be recognized they're either a damn liar or a fool Perry that's the way I look [Music] [Music] really us up really me up I ran out of there I felt that was in heaven fine I heard that Baltimore Colts on just said well boy this is it luckiest kind of world I used to come on the field and something would say look around the stands to see all these people that pregame warmup when I turn around and look around I said I'm a Baltimore Colt I'd be pulling at my Jersey looking at that blue you don't know what that did them you don't know what that lifted in the 1959 championship game the Colts faced the New York Giants again at Memorial Stadium this time there was no high drama or sudden death the cokes won easily and secured their place as the marquee team of the decade [Music] [Applause] [Music] was that game the decade came to a close so too did an era in pro football for the NFL the 1950s served as a bridge from the sandlots to the Super Bowl a time when the joy of the game reflected the glow of post-war America in the next decade the 1960s the Colts would enjoy continued success with a new look and a new head coach injuries and inconsistency end in Baltimore's championship run in 1960 and the team fired coach weeb Ewbank two years later the Colts were uninspired so management sought a disciplinarian as the next iron we were just so nice that would eventually happen some players start taking advantage of nice guys and that's what happened with Baltimore some of the players started relaxing a little more and he should our owner was Carol rosin blue and what Carol was going to make a change for the head coaching position he asked this captain Gino Marchetti who should I get and Marchetti said there's only one guy he said who's that he said Don Shula said you mean that God he used to play here that defensive back traded to Baltimore on a 15 player deal in 1953 Shula was a steady performer yet hardly a star but his dedication translated well in the coaching ranks after his dentist Detroit's defensive coordinator the Colts made the 33 year old Shula the youngest head coach in NFL history I was going back to coach some players that I had played with if I was still playing with the Colts I had to prove to him in a hurry that I knew what I was talking about and that I could lead them in the right through that was my toughest challenge as a head coach you know it's like one of your high school classmates coming back and all of a sudden he's your boss at a job that you did better than he did Shula compensated for his inexperience with a hard-nosed I'm among his innovations were three a day practices even in the heat of training camp listen to what the quarterback says in a huddle Corki what the hell are we doing why did he beat you then he got the lawyer he can't get below you if you're looking the eyes into the belt buckle right when you get through we've had three ball carriers fall down just because they've got their legs head stay on your feet let's go [Applause] cherlene only newly's football but he set out his rules and regulations and you better follow them and everybody knew that we had a discipline thing if you had a meeting at 10:30 and you're not and you see the 10 o'clock $500 fine so I raced on my kids on the Shula time and when my grandkids met him they thought his name was mr. time Johnny Unitas for one didn't approve of shoeless methods but would not say so publicly because the young coach became a perennial winner John really felt that he didn't have to have a coach telling him what he had to do I think John felt that this is my job it'll be my responsibility whether we win or we lose I think I know how to win John Unitas was a tremendous competitor but he also you know he had his own ideas as to how things should be done you really had to treat John with kid gloves one of them was a great great football coach the other one was a great great quarterback you know you're not always gonna be big buddies but she can win together though Unitas and Shula may have disagreed personally it rarely showed on the field in 1964 she was second year the quarterback burned his second league and with halfback Lenny more returning doll Proform after two injury-plagued season Baltimore won the Western Division some in sportswriters and they're starting to say well maybe Lenny anymore is lost and that's all that anymore had to hear and I said one thing about it I said I'm going to prove to those you know who think that I don't have it anymore so he came back that year he started off and he started on fire and he scored 20 touchdowns that season they were just a reminder the awesome scoring power anymore the certain made things a lot easier on me to NFL records were broken by Raymond berry and Lenny more Lenny scores his 19th and plenty of touchdowns to lead the National Football League and store breaking the old record held by Green Bay's Jimmy Taylor he also extended his record-breaking scoring streak to 17 consecutive league games truly this great cold veteran deserved the honor of Comeback Player of the Year [Applause] Raymond buries five catches against the Redskins brings his lifetime total to 506 making Barry the number one pass receiver of all time in the National Football League in defeating the Redskins the Colts put the topper on an unbelievable seat that saw them win 12 and lose two to become that in the West Shuler one coach of the Year honors that same season leading the Colts to the NFL championship game against Blanton Colliers Browns we had you know the real Unitas and Barry and Lenny we had the explosive offense I felt that yes we were aware or better team and I looked at the Browns and they had that defense you know it bends but it doesn't break in the first half the wind was gusting off Lake Erie at 25 to 30 miles per hour and both teams played conservatively Baltimore gave Cleveland a scare by holding an offense that boasted Paul Warfield and Jim Brown scoreless for 30 minutes and we played a pretty tough first half I think it was the seal to seal the first half and then the second half we come out we missed so many assignments we never had a chance we just were a flat as being I can still remember this day we was 27 to nothing there was like 20 some seconds left on the clock Frank what I call the time out to talk oh yeah another touchdown so I thought Danny you know if they ran at playoff I was going to hit him to find it Jason and that year at the Pro Bowl we did hit him still no single tackle could help the Colts recover from such a letdown Shula's challenge for 1965 charges motivated and he did so was some of the most creative game planning of his career in my career as a Colts announcer I thought I'd seen just about everything but believe me Baltimore's 1965 season was a well a completely unique experience after ten weeks and with a 9 and 1 record the Colts appeared headed toward that Western Conference championship then well then it happened first John Unitas then Gary quaza both injured sidelined out for the season so now the only the only quarterback that I had to turn to was Tom maddie who hadn't played quarterback in pro ball he was a quarterback for Woody Hayes three yards and a cloud of dust offense at Ohio State that's when I made the decision to put our game plan on a wristband and I said oh boy and I'm playing against the Los Angeles Rams this is when they had the fearsome foursome you know these guys bent over I still couldn't see the linebackers Shula transformed his gunslinger offense into a ball control attack and Noddy responded setting up the go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter Baltimore's defense then held the Rams in check in the final minutes forcing a tie with Green Bay for 1st place in the West bottom line of it is I think it's Don Shula's finest hours of coach and our defense just they put it up several notches and so the game plan worked pretty well I think that's what coaching is all about you you have to take the material as you have and get the most out of them you know that's the material that I had and Maddy was the guy that had to do the job for us the Colts used Christmas week to prepare Maddy for the Packers in a conference playoff game and taped the same cheat sheet to his wrist our whole objective going into the ballgame was to somehow someway make a first down and then if we made that first down someway somehow make another first down so that the defense wouldn't have to be on the feel the entire foggy but Baltimore's defense look dominant from the start scoring on Green Bay's first play from scrimmage off a fumble return a knocking Bart star out of the game and Maddie step to the plate man and the rest is history because they did everything knowing the position we was in they did a lot of hauling a lot of screaming we're going to get you know so in whatever you know time we'll come in after you we're coming after you on this plane Nitschke tried to rip it off my wrist and I'm saying hey you don't need that you don't need help you don't need a cheat on the football field I said hey listen I need all the help I can get he knew what his limitations were but he also was the type of competitor that figured there's always a way to get it done and he intended to do it Maddie led the Colts to a second quarter field goal but the Packers tied it in the fourth with three controversial points and one in overtime there's no question if the field goal wasn't good [Music] I give that team a lot of credit because that probably in in my entire coaching career that was the best effort from a team that wasn't supposed to be able to do it it was a great warm fuzzy feeling but I was down real bad I got in a locker room I took that wristband you know I threw it in a garbage in John Steadman picked that wristband up wrote a long story about it sent it to the Hall of Fame and that's how I cheated my way in the Hall of Fame Baltimore failed to reach the playoffs in 1967 despite 11 wins and a third MVP award for Johnny knew Unitas threw 20 touchdown passes including one in a loss to the Rams at season's end which cost the Colts the Western Conference drought we lost and they went to the playoffs and we went home but it was very disturbing knowing that you were still you know the second-best team in the National Football League and he didn't even qualify for the playoffs but Don Shula and assistants Chuck Noll and Bill Lawrence Barger had installed a championship-caliber defense by the starch of the 1968 season with six foot seven Bubba Smith part of a ferocious eight-man whip the timing was perfect as Baltimore had lost its biggest star in the preseason well coach Shula is certainly not the most pleasant way to start a year and I guess I have to start with kind of a negative question about John Unitas his arm how is it and what can you tell us about it well good right now because early in the first quarter in a game against the Cowboys I think John tried to throw along the Jimmy or and he felt something snap in there and you know I just comes off like this so you know usually he bangs his finger on my headgear or something and I said what do you got he said I don't think feels like it's torn or something Unitas suffered a tear in his right elbow the doctors believed would take weeks to heal yet the Colts were in capable hands with backup Earl Morel who was acquired that summer in a trade with the Giants he himself had been a number one draft choice for the 49ers and played with the Steelers the Lions the Giants he was well seasoned that kind of attention was not going to affect their omorrow they didn't even know our formations much less the plays and and Tom Matty had to help him call formations for the first several weeks morale proved to be a quick study winning the NFL MVP award after throwing for a league-high 26 touchdown passes he won 15 games with him out there that was one of the great accomplishments by a team ever and we did it without United morale and the Colts top-ranked offense mauled the Vikings in a muddy first-round playoff game at Memorial Stadium scoring 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to set up a rematch with the Browns for the NFL championship [Applause] [Music] the defense just took the ball away from cap [Applause] not such a gloomy Sunday afternoon Baltimore return to Cleveland with cold scars from the 1964 championship game and a fresh one it's only lost during the regular season that come against the Browns so this was really sort of a retribution time for us this week as we considered it at least it could for me it was because that was my hometown I went back in front of my home people my family was there [Applause] [Music] the Nelson drops back to pass he comes [Applause] [Music] Tom Madi then scored his second touchdown of the day for a 17 to nothing halftime lead weary of a letdown Shula offered the Browns no reprieves in the second half hammering them with a well-balanced offense [Music] [Applause] sixty-six optional [Applause] [Music] [Applause] nice to like sixty special individual the who Jimmy Jim he's not in there Jim he's not in there Willie all right Willie Baltimore plan to throw to Willie Richardson on a fly pattern and the play worked brilliantly off play action Mauro went to the six-foot one receiver and he out jumped his 6-3 defender at the 5 yard line setting up Tom Mandy's third touchdown run [Music] the Colts defense administered only the second shutout in Cleveland history holding NFL rushing leader Leroy Kelly 228 yards and sacking former nemesis Frank Ryan in the fourth quarter well it was kind of a grudge game Cleveland had always been tough on us you know even during the regular season so it was a great opportunity for us to go back there and get a little bit of the revenge there we were really on a roll and we considered ourselves one of the best teams I thought we were one of the best teams in the league in Cleveland but in that great city of Baltimore ain't a fair cold Baltimore then took part in what was one of the most important games in NFL history Super Bowl flea the Colts would lament not only the final score but what could have been [Music] Shula had to make a tough decision here's here's a quarterback that had won 15 out of 16 games for is he going to Unitas who hadn't started a game for the Colts that years they gonna stay with morale that was that was a difficult situation trailing at the half Shula went with morale for the first series of the third quarter but after the Jets added a field goal Unitas finally got his chance when John came in the game I think that added a dimension I think the Jess face has changed they might never admit it I think they looked over there and saw 19 sir Unitas piloted the Colts to their only score late in the fourth but could not complete the rally the loss hastened Shula's departure after the 1969 season retrospect you know if I had to second-guess myself you know I probably should have made the decision right at halftime to go with Unitas in a second a half that's one of the things I look back on now and then say what if Baltimore ushered in to new eras in 1970 relocating in the realigned AFC East Division and hiring assistant Don McCafferty has head coach this afternoon we're just gonna start out with a regular practice and they catch a football mentally for him throw a lot of them through this before and they should be too much power for Easy Rider [Music] he was a quiet guy that when when he raised his voice it was for reason the easygoing McCafferty enjoyed a good rapport with Johnny Unitas and the pair opened up the offense that season taking advantage of the emergence of speed receivers Eddie Hinton and Roy Jefferson the Colts led the AFC in scoring with 321 points [Applause] [Music] Baltimore's defense remained a regimented unit a layover from the Don Shula regime the cold shutdown Super Bowl 3 MVP Joe Namath for a win over the Jets and then shutout shoeless dolphins and rude to a division title [Music] [Applause] [Music] Baltimore then faced Oakland in the first-ever AFC Championship game and the Colts played to their strengths made a few big plays and the good defense George itself [Music] Unitas is set [Music] [Applause] Memorial Stadium and enjoyed it share of victories thanks to the golden touch of Unitas and the ferocity of the Colts veteran defense but rarely had to win and so much it represented a second chance with the AFC title in tow the quotes returned to Miami the venue of the most agonizing defeat to face the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl five [Music] [Applause] on the next Colts possession Unitas took a vicious blow to the ribs and was forced to leave the game but Baltimore did not succumb to panic I remember John going out and what we said to each others we need to win this game for John our defense saved us in that game I was just glad we had Mike Curtis and Ray May and Ted Hendricks and Fred and mill around there second down and many many yards to go Barton rolls out to the right gets the pass away down [Applause] in a Super Bowl that was artistically lacking it seemed fitting that it would be decided in the final five seconds by a field goal kicked by a whoopee [Applause] nine seconds showing on the clock the Cowboys and the Colts all tied up at 13 to 13 [Applause] what are your primary motivations is not a Superbowl ring it's not a contract it's not another nice article in the newspaper what it is is that I can't let these guys down because I care too much and that's why the same teams win and win and win that's what the Baltimore Colts had when we played there in 1970 the Colts won a World Championship on veteran know-how and a few fortunate hops but the inescapable fact was that the franchisee and the franchisor quarterback was aging fast [Music] how much are you 10 years ago you were you're pretty good no I don't have strong an arm is that one say that's understand me matter of knowledge and how to work use it there the mind was still nimble but age had robbed Unitas of his physical greatness yet on a hot September Sunday in 1972 he provided one final glimpse at the legend [Music] Joe Namath and Unitas would combine for nearly nine passing back there we ran a hundred offensive plays in a hundred degree temperature we had 14 play drives 16 play drives we lost so many offensive linemen the Bob Vogel was playing guard he had never lined up at guard in his life everybody on the field was so tired but somehow we went and we scored just about every time so we'd be on the field for eight minute or seven and a half minute drive and Joe will it come out there throw one ball 80 yards touchdown we got to go back out there and play some more it went like that all day until he hit three or four more big ones than we didn't score and they pulled away from in 1972 the Colts would go five and nine but that was hardly the worst of it it was a traumatic year for Baltimore it was brought on by Gio Thomas a man who knew football players and new talent like few other men do and he came in and felt like that a youth movement was necessary made 17 trades the first offseason compiled I don't know I think a record 24 draft choices at that time you thought it was an aging tiring team I can see that you needed some replacement parts but I didn't think that you needed to have it done and mass the way that that the way that that worked but what he underestimated is his the love affair and the attachment that the people of Baltimore had for those heroes there was no fanfare just cuts trades and bench ings and not even John Unitas was immune maybe could have been handled differently I don't know how you handle that when you reach a situation where we have a player whose past his prime who is as good as his position is anybody that ever played the game how do you handle that bother you waking up in the morning and knowing that you weren't popular at that time well you know really didn't bother me that much personally because I knew what I was doing people said you know you weren't diplomatic about it or whatever well yes my minor house you tell somebody that they have to sit or what and it was a decision I had to make and I just made it that's all here's what happened it was a day off and so a few of us were in there to get treatment or whatever it is that we do I was one of them Unitas was one of them and somebody picked up the phone and said John it's for you and he walked back there and he said okay I was standing there watching him because my Locker was next to that door he said okay fine put the phone down and he walks out and so later somebody said who was it he said I'm down what do you mean you're down said I'm benched I'm through I've been put on the bench and the conversation wasn't 10 seconds that's not the way you tell Johnny Unitas he's not starting the next game the greatest quarterback in NFL history rode the bench for the rest of the year Colts fans hope to see you and I just play one last time in a late season game against the Buffalo Bills it's the last home game I think everyone in Baltimore realized that John wouldn't be a Colt the next year everybody in the stands is chanting we want Unitas we want Unitas John Sandusky had said to John Unitas okay we've got the lead I want you to go in and run the clock out John would not have gone in the game I don't think regardless of the fact that everyone who is chanting we want Unitas Marty Dahmer a soon joined the plot to put Unitas back on the field I had gone in for a touchdown and got hit in the hip late in the game so I came to the sidelines and John Sandusky who is the interim head coach came over and said got me aside from John probably twenty yards away and said John won't go in the game and I looked at him and I said what do you mean he said I want to put him in the game but he won't go in I said well good luck I don't you know I don't know what to tell you he said well you got hit in the hip how about if I tell him you're injured I said well that's fine you can tell him I'm injured I want no part of it knowing John and so he said well I'm gonna go down and you stay here so he walked down to John had a conversation with him I don't know what he told him other than he pointed to me and he pointed to his own hip and John looked down at me I shook my head yes and with that John stood up we have crowds response I mean I'm getting chills just telling the story it was unbelievable he was surreal it was emotional crowds reaction was that they were probably gonna be seeing Unitas for one last time and whatever he was able to produce was gonna make them pleased even if he just thrown an interception they wouldn't have been too unhappy stands over up everyone on their feet was going to happen John's last pass maybe it was preordained but in the middle of the crowd of Buffalo Bills defenders was Eddie Hinton he came down was able to break loose and go to the rest of the distance for a touchdown [Music] right away there was an airplane overhead dragging a sign that said Unitas we stand [Music] that was a final salute to John I submit that he waved to the fans and it wasn't a long way but I think he raised his hands and acknowledged that fancy there was a powerful almost poetic kind of power it's real hard to describe I wasn't there for Ted Williams last at-bat but I'm sure it was very similar to that moment and sports history when Williams hit a home the most important aspect of the game that day was that John had a poetic ending to a legendary career in Baltimore in 1973 John Unitas was sold to the San Diego Chargers through trades Joe Thomas had revamped the Colts into a group of talented young players led by a laser arm passer from LSU named Burke Jones very brash confident BIRT remind me so much of john elway I always said if he took the numbers off the back he might not be able to tell the two apart their posture their arm their size the ability to run they even had the same kind of toothy expression when they were playing with Jones at the helm the cultish Colts came together ahead of schedule he came close we didn't win many football games but the guys are real close had a lot of camaraderie going on we all knew each other when we were all single we all met their girlfriends which later became wives we saw the kids being born we really did grow up together in community within our locker room and the community in Baltimore was very much a part of the Baltimore Colts in 1975 Ted marchibroda became the Colts fifth head coach in four years as I scanned the prospects throughout the country college or pro wise the name that came up most often was Ted marchibroda from the Washington Redskins I've been an assistant for 14 years and I think what I bring with me number one is experience and I think number two is the fact that the last nine years have been they've been winning years it wasn't sort of anything that well we're that we're gonna win or that we're gonna win right away it sort of felt like it was gonna be a rebuilding year for us you know we were basically the same team that had gone two and two and twelve or two and fourteen the previous season went into the seventy five season not what a lot of expectations certainly a lot of hope we went for one in four our first five games and we still didn't know how to win we didn't know what it was all about all of a sudden for no reason we turned it around the Buffalo game we were losing going into the second half and then all of a sudden we just start scoring touchdowns from that point on we started gaining a lot of confidence we knew there improve we knew last year I think most of our guys felt that they may be the most improved team in the conference coming into this year Coach Saban has said it a few times and we knew they're always tough on us every time we hear a play um here we got to get out here in a hurry and this year is no exception and they're definitely a football team the Baltimore Colts rebounding from a 12 loss season quickly became the hardest team in football it was kind of snowball gone downhill it just got bigger and bigger and bigger [Music] and we've had a thing going around for the last five weeks since we took fire and we've been cooking people and we just having fun as a group and we call ourselves the shake and bake squad waiting for Johnson takeaway he rolls to his right naked and now looks fires downfield [Applause] the momentum that city yelled around this team and there was a momentum and there was fun that we had been embraced by the city it really was the highlight of my professional career and this is the biggest Miami had won four straight division titles but the Colts had won seven straight games and had captured the imagination of football fans everywhere [Music] takes it away he wants to throw pressure risk coming rolls right sets and fires bought by I tell Mitchell he's [Applause] the takeaway by burn no thang fire pitchout the Mitchell to the right side [Music] [Applause] second to say the feel the late touchdown forced overtime in the Erie Maryland Twilight the upstart Coast came shining through [Applause] [Music] rest on the shoulders of a guy by the name of Tommy Lynn Hart there it is spot-kick it's in the air I'll wait for the official [Applause] a win the next week clinched the AFC East crown it had been four years between Division titles to shake and bake the shaken bake Colts were no match for the blast furnace that was the Pittsburgh Steelers the Steel Curtain brought down the Colts Super Bowl Dreams in 1975 and 76 1977 brought a new playoff opponent the world champion Oakland Raiders the Colts had now won three straight division titles and seemed destined to return to the Super Bowl [Applause] [Music] the game would be decided by two catches one made and one in overtime that never happened and we drop back and everything Raymond Chester's round was perfect my throat was perfect except that it was too early and it was about two feet further Raymond was you know nobody guarding me but God in here and everyone a pass leaving burr Jones hand and I looked at it and it was I don't know how far it was over my head but it was like [Music] I don't know that he would have scored on that plane but he would have put us in position that we would have been able to kick for the win you know there are a lot of things that will haunt you and and that one the pants I think I'll go to my grave saying why didn't know wait I know it hidden in the game 76th minute the Oakland Raiders won the final playoff game ever played at Memorial Stadium [Music] and I think in Burt's bond that play cost in the chance of a super and you know here's again one of the great quarterbacks the history of this league ticket that people have just forgotten it should be in that galaxy and that was his one shot we were almost there and after that year it was a tough year for the Baltimore Colts matter of fact it was essentially the dismantling of the last competitive Baltimore Colts team the wheels all seem to come off at once a Super Bowl contender imploded into a puddle of conflict injury and frustration on March 28th 1984 the Baltimore Colts without warning were moved to Indianapolis the proudest of football families had been put asunder [Music] history has proven that relationships may end but devotion is forever such is the bond between the football fans of Baltimore and the man who played there [Music] we were brothers we lived each other's lives and that's what made the Baltimore cult tradition such a great institution Memorial Stadium was given the send-off the Colts had never received old friends reunited and for a time the magic was back the team may have moved the stadium may be gone but in the hearts of the fans the Baltimore Colts [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 15,732

Rating: 4.8793969 out of 5

Keywords: NFL FIlms, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, Baltimore Colts, Johnny Unitas, Art Donovan, Lenny Moore, Weeb Ewbank, Raymond Berry, Don Shula, Bert Jones, Bubba Smith, Jimmy Orr

Id: gi3qUdQJhy4

Length: 66min 0sec (3960 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 01 2020