N/s Did Indianapolis steal the Colts from Baltimore

Saintman2884 · 06-09-2007, 11:05 PM

I think that after winning the Super Bowl championship this past year,the thought of the colts winning the big game was in my mind but also what happened for the city of Indianapolis to get in the first place. that hideous event in opinion made the Colts image seem very distant for a long time to me personally. I didnt like the way it was handled, in fact I hated the way it was revisited when the Browns eventually lost their team to the city of Baltimore 12 years later in a move by Art Modell. Was it perhaps a bad business move on the part of Robert Irsay to move the team in the cover of night to Indy? WAs it wrong to be somewhat devious in how he did it?

For what ever it was, it was wrong and Baltimore paid for it big time, it took 15 years for the NFL to come back and many of the old Colts have cut ties from the old team for the very reason of being betrayed the way they were.

I hate to see a NFL team move from their original fanbase, I hated the Jazz leaving, I felt for the people of Houston when they lost the Oilers, a team that had done so much in that town and they no longer exist becuase of a greedy owner. That team is in Tennessee and the one they have now is well no where near what the Oilers were to that town.

It isnt right perhaps to gripe about spilt milk, but if must be rememebered that the Colts once were a great team, if not legendary team in Baltimore and whose legacy was destroyed by underhandedness and if I could say so, having its great team stolen from them in a mean way.

IMO, the 1984 Colts bolt to Indy started a bad prededent in the NFL. It started when the money became more important then the fans and thats where the problems of relocation are always a threat to every team's fans, including our own beloved Saints teams. It is something that perhaps unwittingly made the bottom line seem more important then the will of the fan base who love their team.

It happened in Baltimore, Cleveland, and then Houston. Teams that stll should have their original teams and whose wounds are still fresh to this day becuase of it.

Euphoria · 06-10-2007, 12:32 AM

Actually teams moving is nothing new... in fact the teams you mention is just a small fraction of teams that have moved, you have to remember its a buisness. The fans don't own the teams unless you are the Celtics or Packers. You can't fault an owner who wants to move a team for more money... its not there fault, its our capitalist society. Before anyone calls me a commy... I am not.

Try these NFL team moves:
1937 - Boston Redskins to Washington DC
1940 - Pittsburg Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (CORP moved but names stayed the same). In fact he two teams actually merged in 1940 season due to lack of players during the war.
1946 - Clevland Rams to Los Angeles
1960 - Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis
1961 - Los Angeles Chargers to San Diego
1963 - Dallas Texans to Kansas City Chiefs
1982 - Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles
1984 - Baltimore Colts to Indy
1988 - St Louis Cardinals to AZ.
1995 - Los Angeles Raiders back to Oakland
1995 - Los Angeles Rams to St Louis
1996 - Cleveland Browns to Baltimore
1997 - Houston Oilers to TN.

Now these moves don't account for teams moing in the local areas like Dallas to Irvine and soon to be Arlington TX in 2009. Which as for as i can count there has been at least 16 or more of those moves including New Orleans saints to the buisness district.

There are positives in all these moves though... there are more teams now because of the moves.

The other positive is that the Colts moved and they took over the number one spot in the Power Rankings, LOL.

hagan714 · 06-10-2007, 07:41 AM

Some did it with style other did it under the cover of darkness. that is the way it was and still is. Anti-trust law exemptions allow it. You want to stop it take the exemption away

ScottF · 06-10-2007, 12:22 PM

Football is a business...

Companies relocate all of the time, and almost always for economic reasons. It is no coincidence that most credit card companies are in either Delaware or Florida.

Everybody dogs Irsay, but he was playing in a crap stadium in a bad part of town. Baltimore learned from that, and cleaned up enough to attract Modell.

Euphoria · 06-11-2007, 10:35 AM

my other point is that sometimes a move is a good thing. NFL felt the heat and added teams to those cities in some cases and for the moment we had one less Texas team, and that isn't a bad thing... lol.

BlueDevil1978 · 06-11-2007, 10:58 PM

[QUOTE=Euphoria;131549]Actually teams moving is nothing new... in fact the teams you mention is just a small fraction of teams that have moved, you have to remember its a buisness. The fans don't own the teams unless you are the Celtics or Packers. You can't fault an owner who wants to move a team for more money... its not there fault, its our capitalist society. Before anyone calls me a commy... I am not.

Try these NFL team moves:
1937 - Boston Redskins to Washington DC
1940 - Pittsburg Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (CORP moved but names stayed the same). In fact he two teams actually merged in 1940 season due to lack of players during the war.
1946 - Clevland Rams to Los Angeles
1960 - Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis
1961 - Los Angeles Chargers to San Diego
1963 - Dallas Texans to Kansas City Chiefs
1982 - Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles
1984 - Baltimore Colts to Indy
1988 - St Louis Cardinals to AZ.
1995 - Los Angeles Raiders back to Oakland
1995 - Los Angeles Rams to St Louis
1996 - Cleveland Browns to Baltimore
1997 - Houston Oilers to TN.

QUOTE]

And these moves do not even scratch the surface of a lot of moves, buy-outs, franchise strippings, etc. back "in the day". There are easily over 3 or 4 dozen now-defunct teams that were fined, forced to disband, disbanded due to hard times (i.e.; the Great Depression) or out-and-out dispersed to other teams by the wave of the commissioner's hand or other owners. It was REALLY of a league of the "Haves" and the "Have Nots". In the NFL's modern era with the TV contracts and revenues sharing, it's a lot more equitable across the board, but some franchises/owners hold the local economy hostage to a degree. hence, you get the bitterness of the locals against savvy owners who light out for the greener pastures.

But still, . . . I grew up with the Baltimore Colts! I wore the Blue and White number 19 on my 7th grade football team!! Where have you gone, Johnny U?!?

06-09-2007, 11:05 PM	#1
Saintman2884 Rookie Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 29	N/s Did Indianapolis steal the Colts from Baltimore I think that after winning the Super Bowl championship this past year,the thought of the colts winning the big game was in my mind but also what happened for the city of Indianapolis to get in the first place. that hideous event in opinion made the Colts image seem very distant for a long time to me personally. I didnt like the way it was handled, in fact I hated the way it was revisited when the Browns eventually lost their team to the city of Baltimore 12 years later in a move by Art Modell. Was it perhaps a bad business move on the part of Robert Irsay to move the team in the cover of night to Indy? WAs it wrong to be somewhat devious in how he did it? For what ever it was, it was wrong and Baltimore paid for it big time, it took 15 years for the NFL to come back and many of the old Colts have cut ties from the old team for the very reason of being betrayed the way they were. I hate to see a NFL team move from their original fanbase, I hated the Jazz leaving, I felt for the people of Houston when they lost the Oilers, a team that had done so much in that town and they no longer exist becuase of a greedy owner. That team is in Tennessee and the one they have now is well no where near what the Oilers were to that town. It isnt right perhaps to gripe about spilt milk, but if must be rememebered that the Colts once were a great team, if not legendary team in Baltimore and whose legacy was destroyed by underhandedness and if I could say so, having its great team stolen from them in a mean way. IMO, the 1984 Colts bolt to Indy started a bad prededent in the NFL. It started when the money became more important then the fans and thats where the problems of relocation are always a threat to every team's fans, including our own beloved Saints teams. It is something that perhaps unwittingly made the bottom line seem more important then the will of the fan base who love their team. It happened in Baltimore, Cleveland, and then Houston. Teams that stll should have their original teams and whose wounds are still fresh to this day becuase of it.
Saintman2884 Rookie Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 29

06-11-2007, 10:58 PM	#6
BlueDevil1978 Linebacker Forever Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Picayune, MS Posts: 130	[QUOTE=Euphoria;131549]Actually teams moving is nothing new... in fact the teams you mention is just a small fraction of teams that have moved, you have to remember its a buisness. The fans don't own the teams unless you are the Celtics or Packers. You can't fault an owner who wants to move a team for more money... its not there fault, its our capitalist society. Before anyone calls me a commy... I am not. Try these NFL team moves: 1937 - Boston Redskins to Washington DC 1940 - Pittsburg Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (CORP moved but names stayed the same). In fact he two teams actually merged in 1940 season due to lack of players during the war. 1946 - Clevland Rams to Los Angeles 1960 - Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis 1961 - Los Angeles Chargers to San Diego 1963 - Dallas Texans to Kansas City Chiefs 1982 - Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles 1984 - Baltimore Colts to Indy 1988 - St Louis Cardinals to AZ. 1995 - Los Angeles Raiders back to Oakland 1995 - Los Angeles Rams to St Louis 1996 - Cleveland Browns to Baltimore 1997 - Houston Oilers to TN. QUOTE] And these moves do not even scratch the surface of a lot of moves, buy-outs, franchise strippings, etc. back "in the day". There are easily over 3 or 4 dozen now-defunct teams that were fined, forced to disband, disbanded due to hard times (i.e.; the Great Depression) or out-and-out dispersed to other teams by the wave of the commissioner's hand or other owners. It was REALLY of a league of the "Haves" and the "Have Nots". In the NFL's modern era with the TV contracts and revenues sharing, it's a lot more equitable across the board, but some franchises/owners hold the local economy hostage to a degree. hence, you get the bitterness of the locals against savvy owners who light out for the greener pastures. But still, . . . I grew up with the Baltimore Colts! I wore the Blue and White number 19 on my 7th grade football team!! Where have you gone, Johnny U?!?
	/"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - Billy Ed Hatfield (Walton & Johnson) /

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06-10-2007, 12:32 AM	#2
Euphoria 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 7,601 Blog Entries: 5	Actually teams moving is nothing new... in fact the teams you mention is just a small fraction of teams that have moved, you have to remember its a buisness. The fans don't own the teams unless you are the Celtics or Packers. You can't fault an owner who wants to move a team for more money... its not there fault, its our capitalist society. Before anyone calls me a commy... I am not. Try these NFL team moves: 1937 - Boston Redskins to Washington DC 1940 - Pittsburg Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (CORP moved but names stayed the same). In fact he two teams actually merged in 1940 season due to lack of players during the war. 1946 - Clevland Rams to Los Angeles 1960 - Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis 1961 - Los Angeles Chargers to San Diego 1963 - Dallas Texans to Kansas City Chiefs 1982 - Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles 1984 - Baltimore Colts to Indy 1988 - St Louis Cardinals to AZ. 1995 - Los Angeles Raiders back to Oakland 1995 - Los Angeles Rams to St Louis 1996 - Cleveland Browns to Baltimore 1997 - Houston Oilers to TN. Now these moves don't account for teams moing in the local areas like Dallas to Irvine and soon to be Arlington TX in 2009. Which as for as i can count there has been at least 16 or more of those moves including New Orleans saints to the buisness district. There are positives in all these moves though... there are more teams now because of the moves. The other positive is that the Colts moved and they took over the number one spot in the Power Rankings, LOL.

06-10-2007, 07:41 AM	#3
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	Some did it with style other did it under the cover of darkness. that is the way it was and still is. Anti-trust law exemptions allow it. You want to stop it take the exemption away

06-10-2007, 12:22 PM	#4
ScottF 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Atlanta Posts: 6,324	Football is a business... Companies relocate all of the time, and almost always for economic reasons. It is no coincidence that most credit card companies are in either Delaware or Florida. Everybody dogs Irsay, but he was playing in a crap stadium in a bad part of town. Baltimore learned from that, and cleaned up enough to attract Modell.

06-11-2007, 10:35 AM	#5
Euphoria 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 7,601 Blog Entries: 5	my other point is that sometimes a move is a good thing. NFL felt the heat and added teams to those cities in some cases and for the moment we had one less Texas team, and that isn't a bad thing... lol.