Baltimore Colts

 Between 1953 and 1984, the Colts were a professional American football club that competed in Baltimore. The squad currently goes by the name Indianapolis Colts and moved there in 1984. The team's name honors Baltimore's equine breeding and racing heritage. It was the Baltimore Colts' second incarnation after their original team spent three years competing in the All-America Football Conference and one year in the National Football League. Memorial Stadium served as the home field for the Baltimore Colts from 1953 through 1983.

In 1983, the Colts franchise received a proposal to relocate to Indianapolis, Indiana. The municipal administration of Baltimore tried to convince the state legislature to take away the Colts franchise and provide ownership to a different company that would guarantee to keep the Colts in Baltimore after failing to persuade them to do so. With the Oakland Raiders, Oakland, California, has recently had some legal success. On March 29, 1984, in the middle of the night, the franchise moved to Indianapolis under the threat of eminent domain from the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore would not give up and filed a lawsuit to declare the franchise invalid and take ownership. Despite losing in court, Baltimore finally gained a new NFL club in 1996 with the formation of the Baltimore Ravens in response to the Cleveland Browns' relocation issue.

The action outraged a lot of former Colts players. One of the most noteworthy was Johnny Unitas, who made the decision to sever all relations with his previous squad after the tragedy. On the other side, Colts owner Jim Irsay hosted a reunion for the Baltimore Colts, the 1975 AFC East champions, in 2009 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Bert Jones, Lydell Mitchell, and Mike Curtis were among the 39 of the team's 53 members who showed up for the event.