Indianapolis Colts
| Year founded: 1953 |
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|
| City |
 Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Other nicknames |
The Horseshoes |
| Team colors |
Speed Blue and White |
| Head Coach |
Tony Dungy |
| Owner |
Jim Irsay |
| General manager |
Bill Polian |
| Mascot |
Blue |
| League/Conference affiliations |
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National Football League (1953–present)
|
| Team history |
- Baltimore Colts (1953-1983)
- Indianapolis Colts (1984–present)
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| Championships |
| League Championships (5)
|
Conference Championships (6)
- NFL Western: 1958, 1959, 1964, 1968
- AFC: 1970, 2006
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Division Championships (11)
- NFL Coastal: 1968
- AFC East: 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1987, 1999
- AFC South: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
|
| Home fields |
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The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in
Indianapolis, Indiana and are the reigning National Football League (NFL) champions since winning Super
Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007.
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 Bob
Irsay, the team has become only the second in league history to win 12 games or more in four consecutive seasons.
Franchise history
The AAFC Baltimore Colts
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There have been two NFL teams named the "Baltimore Colts". The first Colts team started in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 as the Miami Seahawks, and moved to
Baltimore in 1947. In 1950, they joined the National Football League and
finished the season with a record of 1-11. They folded after the 1950 season; however, supporting groups such as a
fan club and the NFL's second marching band remained in
operation and worked for the team's revival.[1] In 1953,
the NFL formed another Colts team out of the ashes of the failed Dallas Texans -
this is the franchise that exists today in Indianapolis.
The NFL Baltimore Colts
-
In 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 started as the Boston Yanks in 1944 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.
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 he 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.
Relocation to Indianapolis
By early 1984, after the Colts' lease on the 64,124 seat [3] Memorial Stadium had expired, Colts Owner
Robert 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
Owner Robert 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, Colts Owner Robert 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
$12,500,000.00 loan, a $4,000,000.00 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.
Baltimore moves on
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. 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, 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.
Early struggles in Indy
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.
The beginning of the Peyton Manning era
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 1,000 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. [2]
The firing led to the hiring of head coach Tony Dungy, the former head coach of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had led his former team to four playoff appearances in
the previous six years. Dungy led the Colts to the playoffs in his first season with the Colts, but a blowout (41-0) playoff loss
to the New York Jets ended the season.
In the 2003 NFL season, Manning was named co-Most Valuable Player with
Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair. The
Colts won the AFC South division title over the Titans via the head to head tiebreaker (both teams finished with 12-4 records).
The Colts defeated the Denver Broncos in the wild-card playoff (41-10), and advanced to
play the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional playoffs, winning 38-31. In the AFC
Championship game they were defeated 24-14 by the eventual Super Bowl champion New England
Patriots, with Manning throwing four interceptions in a game widely criticized for its minimal officiating (only seven
penalties were called during the entire game, six of them were pre-snap fouls). Criticism of the game's officiating largely led
to a reinterpretation of the "bump rule" beginning in the 2004 season.[citation needed] Commonly referred to as the "Colts Rule" or the "Pollard Rule" (for a
non-call on the Patriots' Roman Phifer against Colts' TE Marcus Pollard on the Colts' final offensive drive),[citation needed] the change led to a large increase of defensive pass interference calls the
following season.
2005 season
- Further information: 2005 Indianapolis Colts season
The Colts became the 4th team in league history to win their first 13 games, but the season ended with an opening playoff game
loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Manning and Marvin Harrison broke Steve Young and Jerry Rice's NFL record for most
touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver tandem, notching their 86th in a Monday Night home game against St. Louis Rams in week 6. Two weeks later Peyton Manning logged his first victory at New England against
the Patriots, ending a six game New England win streak. After defeating
Jacksonville in week 14 they became only the fourth team in NFL history to reach a record of 13-0 and clinched home field
advantage throughout the playoffs. The dream of a perfect record for the Colts ended the next week however as the
San Diego Chargers defeated the Colts 26-17.
In week 16, the Colts played without coach Tony Dungy following the suicide of his son
James earlier in the week. With the team resting most of their key players, the Colts lost their second straight to the eventual
NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. Dungy returned to the sidelines for the last regular
season game as the Colts beat the Arizona Cardinals 17-13 while resting most of the
team's usual starters. The team's final record of 14-2 marked the best 16-game season in the franchise's history.
On January 15, 2006, the Colts were eliminated in the
divisional round by the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-18.
Trailing 21-10 late in the game, the Colts regained possession and put 8 points on the board to make it 21-18. After a Pittsburgh
fumble on the goal line the Colts drove down the field, only to have Mike Vanderjagt
miss a 46 yard field goal attempt wide right.
2006 season
After becoming the first team in NFL history to begin two consecutive seasons by winning nine games, the Colts proceeded to
lose three of the next four, largely due to the league's worst run defense. However, they still captured their fourth consecutive
AFC South title by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals on
Monday Night Football in Week 15 of the season with, ironically, a strong showing
from their defense. The Colts finished the season with a 12-4 record, giving them the number three seed in the playoffs. The
record also marked their fifth
consecutive season with ten victories or more. In week 13 against the Titans,
the quarterback-wide receiver combination of Manning to Harrison became the all time leader in touchdowns in NFL History.[7]
In the Colts' first-round playoff game, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 23-8,
despite three Manning interceptions. The Colts defense dominated the Chiefs, holding them to 44 yards on the ground (RB Larry
Johnson had 32) and Chiefs' quarterback Trent Green to 2 yards passing in the first half.
The Chiefs did not earn a first down until 3:33 remained in the third quarter.
The Colts defeated the Baltimore Ravens 15-6 in the division playoff round, thanks
to kicker Adam Vinatieri's five field goals and another impressive defensive showing. They played the New England Patriots at home in the AFC title game for the rights to the Super Bowl; it was the
Colts' third conference championship game in the Indianapolis era. The game marked the first time that the AFC title game was
played in a domed stadium. After trailing at one point 21-3, the Colts stormed back, defeating the arch-rival Patriots for the
third consecutive time. With a final score of 38-34, the 18-point comeback was the largest ever in an NFL conference championship
game, and tied the record for the fourth largest NFL postseason comeback. [8]
Season-by-season records
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Super Bowl XLI
-
The Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 on February 4, 2007 in Dolphin Stadium,
after overcoming a rocky start that saw the Bears' Devin Hester return the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and the
Colts' Peyton Manning throw an early interception. Rain fell throughout the game, for the first time in Super Bowl history,
significantly contributing to the six turnovers committed by both teams in the first half. Peyton Manning was awarded the the MVP
after completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, caught by Reggie Wayne.
Colts' running backs Dominic Rhodes and Joseph
Addai combined for 190 rushing yards and a touchdown, while kicker Adam Vinatieri
converted 3 of his 4 field goal attempts. Defensively, safety Bob Sanders and cornerback Kelvin Hayden each intercepted Bears'
quarterback Rex Grossman late in the game, with Hayden returning his for 56 yards and a
touchdown, essentially sealing the Colts' victory.
Indianapolis became the first "dome team" to win a
Super Bowl in an outdoor stadium, the first to win in the rain, and the first to win after having the statistically worst rushing
defense in the league during the regular season. Tony Dungy became only the third man to have
won the Super Bowl as both a head coach {XLI} and a player {XIII} (along with
Tom Flores {IV-player, XV and XVIII-coach} and Mike
Ditka {VI-player, XX-coach}), as well as the
first African-American Head Coach to win a Super Bowl.
New stadium
-
After 20+ years of playing at the RCA Dome, the Colts will begin play in one of the NFL's finest stadiums starting in the fall
of 2008. In December 2004, the City of Indianapolis and Colts owner Jim Irsay agreed to a new stadium deal that will benefit both
the city and the team at an estimated cost of $675 million. In a deal estimated at $122 million, Lucas Oil Products won the
naming rights to the stadium for 20 years.
It will be a seven-level stadium with a retractable roof seating 63,000 for football. It can be reconfigured to seat 70,000 or
more for NCAA basketball and football and concerts. It will cover 1.8 million square feet. The stadium features a retractable
roof allowing the Colts to play home games outdoors for the first time since arriving in Indianapolis. Using Fieldturf the
playing surface will be roughly 25ft below ground level. The new stadium will be bigger and better than the RCA Dome in many
ways. Housing 58 permanent concession stands, 90 portable concession stands, 13 escalators, 11 passenger elevators, 800
Restrooms, high definition scoreboards and replay monitors and 142 luxury suites. Other than being the home of the Colts, the
stadium will host games in both the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments and will serve as the back up host for all NCAA
Final Four Tournaments. The stadium will make Indianapolis eligible to bid to host a Super Bowl and has a potential economic
impact estimated at $286,000,000.
Logo and uniforms
The Colts' logo and uniforms have basically remained the same since the team's debut in 1953. The helmet is white with a speed
blue horseshoe logo. The blue jerseys have white shoulder stripes while the white jerseys have blue stripes. The team also wears
white pants with blue stripes along the sides.
From 1982 through 1986, the Colts wore gray pants with their blue jerseys. The gray pants featured a horseshoe on the top of
the sides with the player's number inside the horseshoe. The Colts continued to wear white pants with their white jerseys
throughout this period, and in 1987, the gray pants were retired.
The Colts wore blue pants with their white jerseys for the first three games of the 1995 season, but then returned to white pants with both the blue and white jerseys. The team made some
minor uniform adjustments before the start of the 2004 season, including reverting from
blue to the traditional gray face masks, darkening their blue colors from a light blue to speed blue, as well as adding two white
stripes to the socks. In 2006, the stripes were removed from the socks.
Colts logo (1978-present).
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Colts helmet (2004-present)
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Colts script since moving to Indianapolis
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Marshall Faulk wearing the short-lived blue pants.
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Players of note
Current roster
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Indianapolis Colts roster
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| Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
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Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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Reserve lists
Practice Squad
Rookies in italics
Roster
updated 2007-10-11
Depth
Chart • Transactions
→ More rosters
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Baltimore Colts
Retired numbers
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Indianapolis Colts
(None as of the 2006 season.)
However, the Colts Ring of Honor includes:
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Other notable former players
Baltimore Colts
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Indianapolis Colts
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All-time first-round draft picks
