The Indianapolis Colts are a National Football League team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team was founded in 1953 as a second incarnation of the previous Colts team in the NFL. The original Colts team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and joined the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC merged into the older league, but folded after the season.

Founded: 1953 after NFL gave Baltimore remains of the original Dallas Texans

Formerly known as: Baltimore Colts (1953-1983)

Home field: RCA Dome

Previous home field: Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) (1953-1983)

Future home field: Indiana Stadium (2008- )

Uniform colors: royal blue and white

Helmet design: white background, blue horseshoe

There have been two unrelated NFL teams called the Baltimore Colts.

The team that is now currently the Indianapolis Colts can be said to have had a long trip to get to where they are today. Officially the NFL considers the Colts to have begun play in 1953 in Baltimore. It was created from the nucleus that had previously been the Boston Yanks 1944-48, New York Bulldogs 1949, New York Yanks 1950-51 and the Dallas Texans 1952.

Meanwhile, the first Colts team started in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 as the Miami Seahawks. They 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 a marching band remained in operation and worked for the team's revival. See also Baltimore Colts (1947-50)

In 1953, Carroll Rosenbloom became the principal owner of the new NFL Baltimore Colts. In 1958, coached by Hall of Famer Weeb Ewbank and led by Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts defeated the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium 23-17 in the NFL championship game, an overtime contest sometimes called "The Greatest Game Ever Played." The Colts repeated as NFL champions in 1959, beating 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.

The 1967 Colts entered the final week of the regular season undefeated, but then a 34-10 loss to the Rams at Los Angeles kept them out of the playoffs as the result gave both teams a final record of 11-1-2, with the Rams being awarded first place in the Western Conference's Coastal Division because they won the head-to-head series (the first meeting between the two teams, at Baltimore, ended in a 24-24 tie).

In 1968, after a 13-1 season, they 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". 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 one of the greatest upsets in sports history as Joe Namath and Matt Snell led the American Football League champion Jets to a World Championship over the NFL's Colts, 16-7. Ironically, the Jets were coached by Weeb Ewbank, who had previously led the Colts to two NFL titles.

Rosenbloom, Art Modell (Browns), and Art Rooney (Steelers) facilitated the NFL merger with the American Football League, by joining the ten AFL teams in the AFC. After the NFL merged with the AFL in 1970, the Colts moved to the American Football Conference (AFC) and won the AFC championship against the Oakland Raiders 27-17. Baltimore went on to win the first post-merger Super Bowl (Super Bowl V) against the NFC's Dallas Cowboys 16-13, on a Jim O'Brien field goal. Since there was only one league after 1969, the Colts' 1970 Super Bowl win was the NFL championship, as were all Super Bowls thereafter.

On July 13, 1972, Rosenbloom traded the Colts to Robert Irsay for the Los Angeles Rams, but the players remained in their same respective cities. The Colts made the playoffs four more times in the 1970s - a wild card in 1972 and three consecutive AFC East titles in 1975 through 1977 (led in these latter years by the NFL's best defensive line, known colloquially as the "Sack Pack"), but then endured nine consecutive losing seasons beginning in 1978, a year which saw the club get shut out in its first two games - a fate which has befallen no NFL team since. In 1981, the defense was the main problem: The Colts allowed an NFL-record 533 points, and also set an all-time record for fewest sacks (13) and a modern record for fewest punt returns (12). The following year the offense collapsed: On November 28, 1982, the Colts' offense did not cross mid-field in an entire game, played at Buffalo against the Bills; this would not happen again in an NFL game until 2000. The Colts also finished 0-8-1 in 1982, only nine games having been played that year due to a 57-day players' strike; no NFL team has since neglected to win a game in an entire season.

Faced with the aforementioned competitive difficulties and wanting a new stadium, team owner Robert Irsay moved the team to Indianapolis in Mayflower Transit trucks in the middle of the night on March 29,1984, after the Maryland legislature threatened to give the city of Baltimore the right to seize the team by eminent domain. Since 1987, the Colts have had mixed success at best. They have appeared in the playoffs seven years since then, with their best advance to the AFC championship game in 1995, when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-16, and in 2003, when they won the AFC South Division title, defeated the Denver Broncos in the wild-card playoff (41-10), and advanced to play the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff, winning 38-31. In the AFC Championship game, they were defeated 24-14 by the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, in a game which was widely criticized for its minimal officiating (only seven penalties were called during the entire game, six of them were pre-snap fouls).

In the 2004 season, the Colts hoped to make another trip to the postseason. After losing in Week 1 to the defending champion New England Patriots 27-24 in Foxboro, they managed to get a 4-Game Win Streak going before their Week 6 Bye. During that streak, they beat the Tennessee Titans in Nashville 31-17, won in the Week 3 Home Opener against the Green Bay Packers 45-31, and then tied for the AFC South with a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Alltel Stadium 24-17. Then, they won at home against the Oakland Raiders 35-14. Coming off of their Bye Week, the Colts lost the next 2 Games. First, they lost the rematch against the Jaguars at home 27-24 and then lost to the revenge-hungry Kansas City Chiefs 45-35. After that, the Colts got an 8-Game winning streak going. First, they won their next 2 Home Games, beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 & the Houston Texans 49-14. Then, they won their next 2 Road Games, beating the Chicago Bears 41-10 & the Detroit Lions 41-9. Then, they went home and got a series sweep over the Titans 51-24, which also marked the 4th Game in a row in which the Colts won with 40+ points. It also marked the 5th Game in a row in which they won with 30+ points. Then, they went to Houston and got another series sweep. This time, over the Texans 23-14. With that victory, the Colts locked up the AFC South title.

Then, the Colts played their final 2 regular season home games. The 1st one was against the Baltimore Ravens 20-10. Then, in their Week 16 home stand against the playoff-bound San Diego Chargers, Quarterback Peyton Manning was only a few TD passes away from breaking Dan Marino's record of 48 TD passes in 1 season. Trailing 31-16, Dominic Rhodes returned a kickoff 88 yards for a TD. Then, with 4 minutes and 47 seconds left in regulation, Peyton Manning waved the punting team off, despite the fact that it was 4th & 4 on the Colts 25 yard-line. Peyton's gamble worked with a complete pass to Reggie Wayne. He then completed two passes to Dallas Clark & an 18-yarder to Marvin Harrison. Then, Peyton entered the doorway of NFL Heroes and threw TD Pass #49 to Wide Receiver Brandon Stokley. After that, he completed a 2-Point Conversion that tied the game up at 31-31 and sent it into overtime. Eventually, the Colts won with a Mike Vanderjagt field goal (34-31) and secured the #3 AFC seed in the playoffs.

Despite losing their last regular season game on the road to the Denver Broncos, 33-14, the Colts managed to get some big time payback in the AFC Wild Card Round with their 49-24 victory at home. During that game, Peyton Manning threw 27 completed passes out of 33 tries for an astounding 457 yards, with 4 TDs and only 1 interception. Edgerrin James ran 18 times for 63 yards and 1 touchdown (with his longest run being 11 yards).

Despite their big victory, the Colts lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots for the second year in a row the next week in the Divisional Round, 20-3. This was the worst loss of the Colts' season, as one of the most prolific offenses during the season was consistently stopped by New England's defense. It was the first time all season that the Colts were unable to score a single touchdown. In addition, the Colts defense struggled to stop the Patriots offense from executing 3 time-consuming drives that each lasted over 7 minutes and lead to 17 total points.

With their Divisional loss in the past, the Colts plan on bolstering their defense, while maintaining their offensive dominance.

• Raymond Berry
• Art Donovan
• Gino Marchetti
• Lenny Moore
• Johnny Unitas

• Eric Dickerson

• Raheem Brock DE
• Rocky Calmus LB
• Dallas Clark TE
• Dwight Clark WR
• Jason David CB
• Ryan Diem OT
• Mike Doss SS
• Dwight Freeney DE
• Dylan Gandy G
• Matt Giordano S
• Tarik Glenn OT
• Nick Harper CB
• Marvin Harrison WR
• Ben Hartsock TE
• Kelvin Hayden CB
• Von Hutchins CB
• Joe Iorio G
• Marlin Jackson CB
• Edgerrin James RB
• Cato June LB
• Ryan Lilja G
• Peyton Manning QB
• Robert Mathis DE
• Lynn McGruder DT
• Rob Morris LB
• James Mungro FB
• Dave Rayner K
• Montae Reagor DT
• Dominic Rhodes RB
• Bob Sanders FS
• Jeff Saturday C
• Corey Simon DT
• Hunter Smith P
• Justin Snow LS
• Brandon Stokley WR
• David Thornton LB
• Mike Vanderjagt K
• Reggie Wayne WR
• Jonathan Welsh DE
• Josh Williams DT

• 19 Johnny Unitas
• 22 Buddy Young
• 24 Lenny Moore
• 70 Art Donovan
• 77 Jim Parker
• 82 Raymond Berry
• 89 Gino Marchetti

• Bert Jones
• Lydell Mitchell
• Earl Morrall
• Bubba Smith
• Weeb Ewbank (1907-1998) (Only man to coach teams to an NFL championship, an American Football League Championship, and a World Championship.)
• Carroll Rosenbloom

• Duane Bickett
• Marshall Faulk
• Jim Harbaugh

• Indianapolis Colts official web site