NFL Team by Team Guide: Indianapolis Colts
The Colts franchise began in 1953 in Baltimore as a member of the National Football League. When the old American Football League merged with the NFL in 1970, the Colts were one of three NFL teams to join the AFL and form the American Football Conference (AFC).
Due to poor performance and stadium issues, attendance and team revenue was way down in the early 1980s. Colts owner Robert Irsay decided to move the franchise to Indianapolis in 1984. The franchise struggled early on in Indianapolis but by the late 1990s proved to be a perennial playoff contender.
Fans can watch national and regional broadcasts on CBS and FOX Sports. The Colts will occasionally play on Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, and Thursday Night Football. Colts fans can watch almost the complete Indianapolis schedule by streaming games via services such as fuboTV, HULU, and AT&T TV Now.
Home of the Colts
The original Baltimore Colts played at the old Memorial Stadium in the city. Once in Indianapolis, the Colts found their first home in the city – the RCA Dome. The Colts played there from 1984 to 2007 when they moved into their current home, Lucas Oil Stadium. The stadium holds 67,000 fans for Colts home games with the option to expand to 70,000. Lucas Oil Stadium has been the home of the NFL Scouting Combine since 1987.
Championship History
The Colts have a long history of success that dates back to before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Baltimore won NFL championships in 1958, 1959, and 1968. They played in Super Bowl III in 1968 and lost but won Lombardi Trophies in 1970 and in 2006 as the Indianapolis Colts.
In total, the Colts have won seven conference championships, 16 division championships, and they have been to the playoffs 28 times. The most recent trip to the postseason was in 2018.
Best of the Colts
The Colts franchise has been blessed with two of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played the game – Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning. Unitas led the Baltimore Colts to greatness in the late 1950s through the 1960s. He led to franchise to three NFL titles. He was a ten-time Pro Bowl pick and was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player three times (1959, 1964, and 1967). Unitas led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns four times each. He is a member of all of the NFL’s Anniversary All-Time Teams and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Manning was the first pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 1998. He would play the first 13 years of his NFL career with the Colts. Manning led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory in 2006 and was the MVP of that game. He was a 14-time Pro Bowler, a seven-time first-team All-Pro, and won the NFL’s MVP award five times. Manning led the NFL in passing yards three times and passing touchdowns four times. Like Unitas, Manning is a member of the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time team and still holds the NFL record for passing touchdowns in a season (55) and passing yards in a season (5,477).
Unitas’ favorite receiver was Raymond Berry, a Hall of Famer who was part of the two Colts championship teams in 1958 and 1959. He was a six-time Pro Bowl pick who led the NFL in receiving yards and receptions three times each. Berry was named a first-team All-Pro in four different seasons and is a member of the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams.
Author: Dan Anderson