(Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
I was 10 years old when the Mayflower vans rolled out under the cover of darkness. They were headed to Indianapolis with the remnants of a proud franchise packed tightly inside.
The Baltimore Colts skittled out of town when no one was looking, or at least that’s what they thought. They were in a rush to find their new home in Indianapolis, even taking different routes to confuse the police.
My memories of the event are somewhat hazy but I distinctly remember watching the footage late at night, I wasn’t excited, just curious—why would they be leaving like that, what are they afraid of?
I was too young to understand the controversy and the emotions of betrayal in Baltimore and I didn’t care.
In those early days there were some die hard fans that were genuinely excited about having an NFL franchise, but to most people the Colts were nothing more than a curiosity and it remained that way until the mid 90’s.
Three or so years later, I got to attend a game against the San Diego Chargers in person.
It was pretty neat but nothing spectacular; there was no sense of pride or anything special surrounding the game or the team.
Even though my state had a pro football team I went along rooting for different ones, and so did a lot of people, especially Bears fans who seemed to come out of the woodwork everywhere you turned.
As the years rolled on the Colts went from curious side show to perennial losers. There was a sad atmosphere surrounding the team, “the Colts suck!” could be heard everywhere and often.
Things started to change in the mid 90’s. The Colts assembled some decent teams and people took notice, and so did I. They had a catchy nickname, “the Cardiac Kids”, and an exciting quarterback with equally catchy name, “Captain Comeback.”
These teams gave the diehards something that they had been thirsting for, credibility.
The pinnacle came in the 1995 playoffs when they made an improbable march to the AFC championship game. Jim Harbaugh’s Hail Mary fell out the hands of Aaron Bailey and so did the hopes of the newly Colts crazed.
I distinctly remember that moment where wild exhilaration slipped into to despair. It seemed to be a sign that they were ready to become an elite team but it didn’t last long and they returned to loosing, at least that’s the way I remember it.
The losing culture festered again and perhaps grew stronger. Local radio entertainers even mocked the team by singing weekly songs entitled “Lord help our Colts.”
The radio personalities didn’t realize that the ultimate hope lay right around the corner as the Colts got so bad that Peyton Manning fell into their laps with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 draft.
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