On September 7, 1947, wearing the green and silver uniforms, the Colts, under Head Coach Cecil Isbell, won their initial All-America Football Conference game in the A.A.F.C.

A. Tittle, later to gain Hall of Fame status a decade later with the NFL's New York Giants, was the Colts starting quarterback.

After two seasons without professional football, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell challenged the City of Baltimore under Mayor Thomas L. J.

The 1953 iteration of the Baltimore Colts traces its roots back to the New York Yanks of the NFL, who played in Yankee Stadium in 1950 and 1951.

Owner Ted Collins then turned the money-losing franchise back to the league, which sold it to Texan oil millionaire Giles Miller.

[1] In 1953, the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts took the field for the first time at Memorial Stadium (also used temporarily by the old Baltimore Orioles minor league team in the International League since the burning in July 1944 of their Oriole Park home farther southeast at Greenmount Avenue and 29th Street in Waverly).

It was built as a football-only bowl in 1922 in only seven months and later expanded to hold almost 100,000 fans for the frequent high school and local collegiate/university games there during the following three decades), on September 27 to face off against the Chicago Bears.

Quarterback Johnny Unitas marched the Colts downfield in sudden death overtime and Alan Ameche scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run.

Much of the credit for Baltimore's success went to Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, halfback Lenny Moore, and wide receiver Raymond Berry.

[3] In Shula's second season the Colts compiled a 12–2 record, but lost 27–0 to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship.

The error precipitated changes to the rules: the NFL decided two referees would judge future field goals, and that the uprights should be raised by ten feet.

The result of the game surprised many in the sports media[7] as Joe Namath and Matt Snell led the Jets to the Super Bowl victory under head coach Weeb Ewbank, who had previously won two NFL Championships with the Colts.

The Colts immediately went on a rampage in the new league, as new head coach Don McCafferty led the 1970 team to an 11–2–1 regular-season record, winning the AFC East title.

Citing friction with the City of Baltimore and the local press, Rosenbloom traded the Colts franchise to Robert Irsay on July 13, 1972, and received the Los Angeles Rams in return.

These consecutive playoff teams featured 1976 NFL Most Valuable Player Bert Jones at quarterback and an outstanding defensive line, nicknamed the "Sack Pack."

The Colts finished 0–8–1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season, thereby earning the right to select Stanford quarterback John Elway with the first overall pick.

Elway refused to play for Baltimore, and using leverage as a draftee of the New York Yankees baseball club, forced a trade to Denver.

Thirty-nine of the 50 players on that roster attended the reunion at Lucas Oil Stadium, including quarterback Bert Jones and running back Lydell Mitchell.

Also, on February 5, 2012, at Super Bowl XLVI, Hall-of-Fame Baltimore Colts wide receiver Raymond Berry carried the Vince Lombardi Trophy to midfield to present it to the New York Giants, who had just defeated the New England Patriots.