On the cusp of marking the 40th anniversary of the Baltimore Colts leaving the city in the dead of night in a clandestine move to Indianapolis, Colts owner Jim Irsay recalled a story on social media.
“40 yrs ago rumors were flying and all hell was breaking loose. My dad ordered me and Frank Kush to fly to Indy UNDER ASSUMED NAMES ‘to look at the stadium,’ on US Air. I’m pretty sure the gate agent thought ‘Mr. Owings’ looked suspiciously like the head coach of the Colts.”
Irsay, of course, is the son of former Colts owner Bob Irsay, the man responsible for the move. Kush was the head coach of the Colts at the time.
It was just one week after that trip that the Irsays and the club loaded up the Mayflower moving trucks in the middle of the night and bolted for Indianapolis during a light snowfall.
A decade later, the Cleveland Browns would arrive in Baltimore to become the Ravens, and football was back in Baltimore.
In the 40 years since, the Colts are 1-1 in Super Bowl appearances while the "expansion" Ravens are 2-0 and have grown to legendary franchise status.
Cleveland would see football return with an expansion team that kept the records and history of the old Browns in 1999, and still have not made a Super Bowl appearance.
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