History of the Baltimore Colts

Baltimore Colts
Established 1953 Ended 1983 Played in Baltimore, Maryland
Logo Wordmark
League/conference affiliations
National Football League (1953–1983) Western Conference (1953–1969) Coastal Division (1967–1969) American Football Conference (1970–1983) AFC East (1970–1983)
Uniform
Team colors	Royal Blue, White
Personnel
Owner(s)	Carroll Rosenbloom (1953–1972) Robert Irsay (1972–1983)
Head coach	Keith Molesworth (1953) Weeb Ewbank (1954–1962) Don Shula (1963–1969) Don McCafferty (1970–1972) John Sandusky (1972) Howard Schnellenberger (1973–1974) Joe Thomas (1974) Ted Marchibroda (1975–1979) Mike McCormack (1980–1981) Frank Kush (1982–1983)
Team history
Baltimore Colts (1953–1983) Indianapolis Colts (1984–present)
Championships
League championships (4) NFL Championships (pre-1970 AFL–NFL merger) (3) 1958, 1959, 1968 Super Bowl championships (1) 1970
Conference championships (5) NFL Western: 1958, 1959, 1964, 1968 AFC: 1970
Division championships (5) NFL Coastal: 1968 AFC East: 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977 † – Does not include the AFL or NFL Championships won during the same seasons as the AFL–NFL Super Bowl Championships prior to the 1970 AFL–NFL merger
Playoff appearances (10)
NFL: 1958, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977
Home fields
Memorial Stadium (1953–1983)

National Football League (1953–1983)

Royal Blue, White

League championships (4)

Conference championships (5)

Division championships (5)

The professional American football franchise currently known as the Indianapolis Colts was originally based in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1953 to 1983. This article chronicles the franchise's history during its time as the Baltimore Colts. Named in honor of Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing (including the Preakness Stakes, one of the events in the U.S. Triple Crown championship series), this was the second incarnation of the "Baltimore Colts" after the first one played from 1947 to 1950. The 1953-83 Baltimore Colts team played its home games at Memorial Stadium during its entire tenure in Baltimore before the franchise relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana, in March 1984.

The Baltimore Colts were one of the first NFL teams to have cheerleaders, a marching band and a team "fight song" (along with the nearby Washington Redskins, forty miles southwest in the nation's capital). The Baltimore Colts were named after Baltimore's 142-year-old annual "Preakness Stakes", a premier thoroughbred horse racing event, second jewel of the famous "Triple Crown" championship series of the sport. The third, most famous Baltimore Colts pro football franchise was officially created in 1953, but can trace its history much earlier than that, to before the NFL itself actually began in 1920: its earliest predecessor was the old Dayton Triangles, a founding member of the reorganized and renamed National Football League of 1922, (from the old American Professional Football Conference, later renamed A.P.F. Association a few months later in 1920) that was originally created in 1913. Because of the link to the ancient Dayton Triangles, the Baltimore Colts can arguably claim to have played and won, on October 3, 1920, what could be considered the very first A.P.F.A./N.F.L. professional football game, with a 14-0 defeat of the rival Columbus Panhandles at Triangle Park in Dayton, Ohio. The team went through the following changes:

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