In the fall of 1983, I was asked to write a feature on Vernon Maxwell, a rookie linebacker for the Baltimore Colts. This was the best assignment ever because I was still a sports clerk and he finally got into the NFL locker room and started covering pro teams.
Little did I know that I would be covering another professional team in Baltimore for the next 13 years.
On March 28-29, 1984, professional outrage arose as the Colts left their Owings Mills training facility for Indianapolis on a cold, windy, snowy night. The personal pain was even greater because, like all Baltimoreans, I grew up with Colts legends like Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, John Mackey, Mike Curtis, Artie Donovan, and Bobby Boyd.
A new generation of Colts, including Bert Jones, Liddell Mitchell, John Dutton, Freddie Cook, and Roger Carr, were just as exciting and were beginning to win regularly. And it all vanished overnight when the Mayflower's truck set off under cover of darkness.
It was 40 years ago, but those fond memories are still etched deep in our hearts. The pain was similar, especially when then-Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer looked like he was on the verge of tears.
“I was still living at home with my parents. I was 26 years old and definitely a Colts fan,” said Mark Crilly, 67, of Hagerstown. “I remember feeling empty when I heard the news. I was like, 'No, that can't happen, that's never going to happen.'”
Paul Hocheder, 89, of Taylorsville, had a similar reaction.
“I still get angry every time I see the Mayflower van,” Hocheder said. “Secondly, Mayor Schaefer assured us that there are plans to build this guy. [Robert] I'm still not at all happy that the stadium is gone. When I woke up and saw a moving van leave the apartment complex in a snowstorm, I was just shocked, completely shocked. ”
Will I ever get over it? Well, not as long as there are still old Colts fans.
Former players lived with us all year round. They owned a transportation and freight company, a liquor and sporting goods store, and several restaurants. Unlike many active players, Baltimore became their home base, so it was not unusual for the players to participate in charity events.
All that changed when Robert Irsay became the Colts' owner in 1972. He brought down one of the NFL's most storied franchises with mistakes in hiring front office executives, head coaches, and assistant coaches.
Before the Colts left for Indianapolis, they had suffered six straight losing seasons, including 2-14 in 1981, 0-8-1 in 1982, and 7-9 in 1983. In the 1960s, Baltimore had 51 consecutive games with at least 60,000 runs batted in. However, the Colts averaged just 42,000 fans per game before leaving.
The passion surrounding this team had subsided. On the Sunday night after the 1983 game, I was one of the clerks who had to take statements from people who called to ask questions of then-coach Frank Kush.
Few people called because no one seemed to care. It wasn't just about the win-loss record; Irsay consistently threatened to move the team to cities like Phoenix, Memphis, Los Angeles, Jacksonville and Indianapolis.
Mr. Irsay eventually moved his team shortly after the Maryland General Assembly used prominent land to threaten him. The government has the power to take away your property even if you don't want to sell it.
Some places in Baltimore, Irsay, where he died on January 14, 1997, may still be considered Public Enemy No. 1.
“I have never condoned Mr. Irsay's actions,” Hocheder said. “[Memorial Stadium was] It's the world's largest psychiatric hospital, but we didn't make the team because of this guy. ”
“There was a sense of emptiness and heartache,” Crilly said. “Most NFL fans don't understand that you wake up tomorrow and your team isn't there. It's not that they've had a terrible year. It's going to be 0 and 10, or 0 and 20. They just I just wasn’t there.”
Irsay might have been forgiven if he had left behind memorabilia, records and team colors, but the Colts loaded them into the van on the way.
To me, the horseshoe on the side of the helmet is still the greatest logo in sports.
“The thing that hurt the most was that they took that name,” Crilly said. “They have Johnny Unitas, who has the Indianapolis Colts record, but he never played in Indianapolis. It wouldn't hurt as much if they didn't take that name and just left. It might have been.”
The scars lasted for over 10 years. Hocheder remembers going to the stadium the Sunday after the Colts left and standing with his fans.
“It was a desolate, depressing time,” said Hocheder, who was a Colts season ticket holder at the time.
Baltimore fans were at a loss. They couldn't decide whether they wanted to root for the hated Washington franchise or another nearby team like the Philadelphia Eagles.
During the Colts' 13-year absence, there were several attempts to attract another team from their home base or acquire a new franchise. But in 1993, when the NFL allowed the Jacksonville and Carolina franchises to begin play in 1995, Baltimore also lost there.
That's when former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told Baltimore to “build a museum” with the proposed stadium funding. Baltimore fans rallied behind such statements.
“We kind of rallied and rallied around a cause, so to speak,” Hocheder said.
The old “Colts Corral” group stayed together for years, meeting monthly until the Ravens came from Cleveland to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Under President John Zeeman, the Colts marching band continued to perform until joining the Ravens organization.
City and state officials didn't stop looking for a viable franchise until then-Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell was lured here.
Baltimore is once again a storied franchise in the NFL. The Ravens have won the Super Bowl twice since 1996, in the 2000 and 2012 seasons. In 2000, they led a top linebacking corps and built one of the best defenses in league history. In 2012, quarterback Joe Flacco had the best postseason performance in history. Under coaches Brian Billick and John Harbaugh, the Ravens remained one of the league's winningest franchises over the past two decades.
This game fits into the old history of the Colts, who played in and won the NFL Championship in 1958 against the New York Giants in what some are calling the greatest game of all time. Baltimore may have produced the greatest quarterback of all time in Unitas, or a running back in Moore, or a middle linebacker in Ray Lewis. They currently have two-time NFL Most Valuable Player quarterback Lamar Jackson.
There's no place like this city, even though there hasn't been an NFL team in 13 years. From “Unitas We Stand” to “The Squirrel Dance,” there's no better place for soccer memories than in Baltimore.
