WEBVTT - The Move | Episode 3: Mayflower 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.000 Last time I talked to you, and Steadman, you were 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.040 a bad man, So I don't want to talk to you. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.040 Let me ask the first question. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.000 Okay, what y Let me ask one thing? 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:28.200 What is all this about? 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:33.400 It's Saturday, January twentieth, nineteen eighty four. Robert Arsay, the 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.800 owner of the Baltimore Colts, is just inside the doors 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:41.360 of a building at Baltimore Washington International Airport. He's flanked 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.880 to his left by William Donald Schaeffer, the Mayor of Baltimore. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.320 In front of him is a stand with several microphones 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.960 bearing the logos of Baltimore news stations. It's a press 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.520 conference and is being carried live on TV in Baltimore. 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.400 Local stations preempted the dukes of Hazzard and Webster for this, 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.520 and it was called by Robert, who had just flown 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:07.320 from Las Vegas to Baltimore to address a bombshell report. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.399 Let me put in ahead, good on the on the 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:13.199 h give. 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:15.280 Me a let me break, Let the mayor have a chance, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:16.520 but thank. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:17.800 You in the newspaper. 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.679 In the newspaper today, there was a story that said 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:27.200 Robert Arsay was in Arizona and that the rolls mister. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:30.559 I am. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.440 I told everyone that you told me if you were 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:36.520 going to move the team, ever going to move the team, 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:38.120 you'll tell me first what. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.800 They're let me all we get this over real fast. 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.400 I haven't been in Arizona. I haven't been in a 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.880 zero Arizona. I had been in three four places where 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:53.360 I got working machines going my own companies. 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.600 I haven't been in Phoenix. I give you my word 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:59.600 of honor. I'm a good Catholic. I haven't been in Arizona. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:00.920 Where tow does all come from? 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:01.920 Who started? 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:02.120 Is? 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.000 I don't want to talk to you. I don't want 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:05.480 to talk to you. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.799 The Governor's aid had mentioned that last night to the media, 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:11.520 and that's where. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:12.640 I want to give you my word of honor. 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.120 I have not been in Arizona, UH for the last 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:17.200 digitable days. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.320 Did you have a meeting plan today with I. 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.960 Didn't have any meetings planned. I don't know where else 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.400 comes from. Don Schaeffer's my friend. 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.840 The report, in fact was true. Ersay and the Colts 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.880 had come to a handshake agreement with Arizona businessman Anthony Nikolay, 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.640 who was a close friend of then head coach Frank 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.680 Cush's as well as Arizona government officials to relocate the 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:42.280 Baltimore Colts to Phoenix. Nikolai had been working on a 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.280 deal to get the Colts to move to Phoenix since 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.120 January fifth, which was a little over a week after 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.120 the colts nineteen eighty three season ended. A meeting between Ursay, Nikolai, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.079 and Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt was scheduled for Friday, January nineteenth, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.040 and there was a good chance that by the end 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.320 of that meeting the Baltimore Colts would have become the 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:04.000 Arizona Back At Colts headquarters in Owings Mills, Maryland, Pete Ward, 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.520 who's now the Colts Chief operating officer, stopped by General 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.640 Manager Ernie at Corsi's office that Friday and found him 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:12.560 finishing up a phone call with Robert Ursay. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:17.120 January nineteenth of nineteen eighty four, and I was an 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.280 administrat assistant. I was down the hall from the General Manager, 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.840 Ernie A. Corsi. Jim Orsay was in Tampa for the 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.360 Super Bowl that year. I was delivering a document to 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.760 our general manage at the time into his office and 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.800 he was on the phone with mister Ersay, and he 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.040 hung up It was me and one other person, the 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.600 director of marketing, who was a close friend to Ernie 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:46.280 Speck then and he said, we're moving the Phoenix. We're moving. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.360 And he looked at me and I was cheap labor. 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:52.720 And he said, I'm going to need you to help, 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.800 you know, with the logistics, because I was part of 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.600 my job was buses and things like that. And that 0:03:57.760 --> 0:03:59.520 was the extent of it. And I went back to 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.000 my office and I was like, you know, kind of 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.600 in shock, but also excited because you know, I I've 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.160 been through Phoenix, and I appealed to me, you know, 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.360 and I think the first thing I did was call 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:12.240 my parents. I said, my I was just told we're 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:13.000 moving the Phoenix. 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:13.280 You know. 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.360 I don't know when, but it's you know, I don't 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.120 know when yet, you know. And then twenty minutes later, 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.599 I get called down to Ernie's office. I get Paige 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.800 Pete Warick into my office. I went down there and 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.160 he's on the phone again and he hung up the phone. 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.520 He's with mister. He said, yeah, Bob okay, okay, Bob okay. 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.880 And he hung up the phone and he said, somebody 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.960 from the Governor's office in Arizona leaked a deal and 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.440 he's pulling out. He wants me to call a press 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:47.960 conference airport tonight. And then he looked at me and 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.720 he goes, what the fuck. 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:51.039 Is he doing? 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.200 That meeting between URSA and the Arizona folks that was 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.520 supposed to be on January nineteenth, it never happened. News 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.280 of the deal had hit newspapers in radio airwaves across 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.000 the country. First the meeting was delayed, then it was canceled. 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.800 Nikolay held out hope the deal could be revived, he 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:13.000 later told the Arizona Republic, until Robert Orsay showed up 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:17.160 at BWY, ostensibly to clear the air with that press conference. 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:19.600 Now, why would I want to go to Arizona? 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.279 Did mister nicol come to you? 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.120 Mister nikola is a friend of mine has He's a 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:25.479 friend of Frank Cush's. 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.960 Now you just put this in your bag. He's a 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.200 friend of Frank Cush's, not mine. 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:31.159 Did he offer me? 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.000 I don't he offered me whatever I want money. I 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.320 am not any intention to moving to goddamn team. If 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.000 I did, I would tell you about it. Okay, stay here, 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.080 I said, if I have an intention of the movement team. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:45.080 I would tell you about it. 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:49.120 Ersay with the city of Baltimore, watching was continually pressed 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.159 by the media on reports of the deal, and he 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.800 continued to deny there ever was a deal in place. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.400 Now we have no deal with mister Tony. 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.560 Tony is a friend Anthony Nikolai is a friend of 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:06.080 Frank Cushi's not mine. I only saw him once. That's 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.400 I can't picture what all this is about. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:10.640 Was that in Chicago two weeks ago, sir? 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.160 He was He was my guest in Chicago two weeks ago. 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:16.240 That's supposedly when this deal was formulated. 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.440 There was no deal formulated. 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.520 Okay, weren't you supposed to meet the governor of Arizona. 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:27.279 To No, absolutely not. I don't want to talk to you. 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:29.640 Everybody else I. 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.560 Don't want to talk to you. Some other questions. 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:33.240 Why would he say that? Why would he say, I 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:34.000 don't call him. 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:37.279 The whole scene that unfolded on live TV gripped the 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.880 city of Baltimore, a city that, for all the rumors 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.440 about the Colts leaving over the last six or seven years, 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.680 collectively didn't believe the Colts would actually pick up and leave. 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.239 A reporter then asked your say, if you would pledge 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:53.800 to keep the Colts in Baltimore, how strong would you Baltimore. 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:57.320 I'm very strong about it. I have no problems with 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.520 the mayor. I have a very fine lease, all right. 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.479 I let me tell you. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.080 Sign the contract for the mayor. Now we signed the 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:06.200 contract with the stadium for the night. 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.440 Let me tell you I flew a couple thousand miles 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.400 to be here tonight, and I don't need any aggregation, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.760 all right. And I only came because of him. Because 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.560 of him, and I told you I flew a lot 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.480 of miles today. That's my plane out there, and that 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.680 burned burns a lot of fuel. I come over to 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:26.720 tell you I don't know what the hell is about, 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.840 only because Anthony Nikolai made a statement. 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.040 Now, why don't you make a statement. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:35.840 Well, I think, speaking on behalf of the media, we 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.160 love the Colts, and we want to make sure, behalf 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:39.840 of everyone who lives here that it stays there. 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:41.920 If you love the Colts, why didn't you treat me right? 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.480 I'm going to send you some articles this man here 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.560 number one insteading a couple of others hang me all 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:49.000 the time? 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:50.400 What do you hang me for? 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.400 That's a reporter for a local paper that you're referring to. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:57.200 Now I'm reforting to read the papers. What do you 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:57.680 hang me for? 0:07:58.240 --> 0:07:58.960 You want me here? 0:07:59.240 --> 0:07:59.960 Why do you hang me? 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:01.760 What are you hang me for? 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.360 Took the plane to Baltimore that night and kind of 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:10.520 reiterated his commitment to Baltimore. But no one believed in 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.920 our relationship with our fan base in Baltimore was blown 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:19.480 to hell. It was surreal. Okay, it was stunning. It 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:23.600 was just Baltimore had broken away from the regular program. 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:27.240 It was live broadcast live on Baltimore TV. All the 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.960 satellite trucks were there, and it was just, you know, 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:35.800 a surreal scene. And then what kept running through my 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.160 mind is how are we going to salvage this? You know, 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.480 with our fans and with the city. How are we 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.040 going to sal What are we going to do from here? 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:45.760 You know, Ward didn't know it at the time, No 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:47.800 one with the Colts did. As they picked up the 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.960 pieces of an irrevocably shattered relationship with the city of Baltimore. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.000 But what the cults are going to do from there? 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.440 From that moment at bw I, they were going to 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:10.359 move to Indianapolis. This is episode three of The Move Mayflower. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.480 Over the seven or so minutes Robert Ursay's press conference 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.400 was on live TV in Baltimore, plenty of people who 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.640 didn't believe the Colts would skip town. They changed their minds. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.400 This was the team of Johnny Unitas, the team that 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:29.240 brought Baltimore its first championship, and the team that finally 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.120 allowed the city to compete against its East Coast rivals. 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.240 But now folks thought they actually were going to leave. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.839 A WBALTV news special in January nineteen eighty four after 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:44.559 that press conference featured some comments from less than optimistic Baltimoreans. 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.840 One citizen said he felt like Robert Ursay had made 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.560 up his mind the team was leaving. Another looked into 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.600 the camera and begged, saying, quote, please do not take 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.000 our Baltimore Colts away from us. Among those folks trending 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.880 toward pessimism was William Donald Schaffer, the immensely popular mayor 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.640 of Baltimore, who stood next to Ursay in that press conference. 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.880 He shuffled side to side, He gazed down, then up, 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.559 and he wore an exasperated look on his face. After 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.360 the press conference, Schaefer, who had steadfastly remained optimistic he 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:16.960 would work out a deal with Ersay to keep the 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.080 Colts in Baltimore. Was asked if he was confident the 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.480 city's football team would stay put. His answer was a 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:27.200 strong no. According to the Arizona Republic, that was a 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.959 significant change in his tone. Back at Colts headquarters, things 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:32.960 went back to normal for the football side of the building. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.520 Rick Venturrey, who's now a color analyst on the Colts 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.160 Radio network, was entering his third season as an assistant coach. 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.240 The weekend the Arizona deal imploded. He and other coaches 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.800 were told to not go anywhere and stay by their 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.400 phones since the team might wind up being the Arizona 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.080 Colts within hours, if not days. But after that press conference, 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.520 it was fair to think this was just yet another false. 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.840 Alarm and got really quiet after the Arizona thing, and 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.080 it was almost as if, you know, well, maybe this 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.040 is just another threat like Jacksonville had been a couple 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:02.880 of years before. 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.079 Things were different though for the Colt's business operations. Plenty 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.360 of folks on that side of the building were Maryland natives, 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.480 and there were folks who probably wouldn't join the team 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.400 in a new city and from a business standpoint too, 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.040 the lack of certainty about where the Colts would actually 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:18.760 be playing in nineteen eighty four, but plenty of stress 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.400 on staff members total unpredictability. 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.240 It was a very unsettling time. It didn't really know 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:29.079 it still had not issued season ticket renewals or renewals 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.719 with our sponsors, you know, and our car dealers and 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:33.600 all that sort of things. So it was really a 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.280 tough time for a lot of employees. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.719 After Phoenix fell through, Memphis popped up in the relocation 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.000 rumor mill, but that was dispelled pretty quickly. Weeks went 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:45.680 by with the specter of the team moving still hanging around, 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.760 though nothing close to that two day stretch in January 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.200 had materialized. But again, the lasting effect of the near 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.440 miss in Arizona and the ensuing press conference was a 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.880 lingering feeling in Baltimore that the Colts were going to 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:04.079 move somewhat quickly and otherwise off the map. Midwestern city, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.080 a city which was putting the finishing touches on a 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:11.480 sixty thousand seat dome stadium, raced to the forefront of 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:23.320 the rumor mill. Indianapolis, Indiana, State and local officials in 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.280 Maryland were aware of the Colts talks with Indianapolis, which 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.640 picked up steam in the days and weeks after the 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:32.160 Phoenix deal fell through, and negotiations with Phoenix and the 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.839 city of Baltimore were still ongoing with the Colts. Although 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.480 Indianapolis had a major advantage they already had the dome 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.480 Robert or Say wanted, Bill Baltimore was nowhere near building 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.280 a new stadium. They were still negotiating renovations to Memorial Stadium, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.720 and Phoenix promised a dome but hadn't begun building one yet. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.600 In Arizona, there was nothing there. 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.040 Colts owner and CEO Jim Er say, oh, yeah, come. 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:00.040 And play in a college stadium. You know, we're the 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:04.440 cow's team plays. And you know, as far as the 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:07.840 new stadium, we have nothing on that yet for you, buddy. 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.840 And oh, by the way, you're probably gonna have to 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:17.000 sell at least forty nine fifty you know, uh to 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.400 you know, several different businessmen in Arizona. 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:21.720 I mean, there was no way. 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.400 And while some Baltimore officials were still trying to pitch 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.719 Robert Ursay on staying in town, others realized they were 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.080 out of options to cut a deal with the Colts. 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.360 And perhaps it was time to operate not with the 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:44.280 Olive branch, but with the Bayonet. On March second, nineteen 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.400 eighty four, Mark Wasserman, who was an aid to Mayor Schaefer, 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:51.240 wrote a memo presenting a last ditch but aggressive option 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.080 to keep the Colts in Baltimore. It read quote, I 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.200 can't help but assume that Ers has himself so boxed 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.880 in that there was almost nothing left but for him 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.160 to move the franchise, even if the Indianapolis deal were 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.640 to fall through this morning. The situation here is so 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.400 badly deteriorated that it would be virtually impossible to think 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.600 that he would or could remain here. I find it 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:15.800 hard to believe that we are going to sit back 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.160 and watch him go without so much as a whimper. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:22.000 After the mistreatment that we you have been subjected to. 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.360 For my money, what little there is, we ought to 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.280 take our best shot and complicate the move any way 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.880 we can. I recommend that you consider seriously seeking council 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.440 passage of a condemnation ordinance today, and couple that with 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:44.080 seeking an injunction a condemnation ordinance otherwise known as eminent domain. 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.320 They threatened because the negotiations have become so acrimonious. 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.160 Jerry Sandusky is a Baltimore native who's now the voice 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:50.840 of the Ravens. 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.280 They floated the threat. They didn't make the direct threat, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.400 but they flowed the idea that they were going to 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.720 initiate eminent domain, basically saying the culture so valuable to 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.200 this community, the city now owns the Cults, kind of 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:08.000 like a dictatorship taking over the oil factory or the 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:08.920 lumber factory. 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.440 You've probably heard of local, state, or federal government officials 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.560 claiming eminent domain over private property to build infrastructure, a highway, 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.040 public works, et cetera. But claiming eminent domain over a 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.760 football team. That's a stretch, right, you'd think so. But 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.560 earlier in the decade, the city of Oakland claimed eminent 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.520 domain over the Raiders when al Davis i to move 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.480 to Los Angeles. The Raiders took the City of Oakland 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.880 to court and the eminent domain claim was dismissed with prejudice, 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.320 meaning it could not be refiled. The City of Oakland, though, 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.400 appealed to a higher court and had the ruling reversed 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.280 in nineteen eighty two. The case would go to trial 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.080 in granting the appeal. The court cited a government code 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.480 that read quote, A city may acquire by eminent domain 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.640 any property necessary to carry out any of its powers 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:01.160 or functions effectively. If Baltimore could shoe having the Colts, 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.120 a team so entrenched in their community and so entwined 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.400 with citizens civic pride was necessary to carry out the 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.720 city's powers or functions, maybe it had a shot at 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.440 least to mess things up for the Colts. The case 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.680 of the City of Oakland versus the Oakland Raiders was 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:17.680 still ongoing in nineteen eighty four. 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.440 There was a lot going on about the stadium, about 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:25.840 eminent domain, about trying to do something to force the 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:27.479 team to stay in Baltimore. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.880 Jane Miller was a longtime reporter for Channel eleven in Baltimore. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.640 And I think there was some skepticism generally about whether 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:35.200 you could do that. 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.640 The Raiders, despite ongoing litigation with not just the City 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:41.200 of Oakland but an anti trust suit against the NFL, 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.840 still were able to move to Los Angeles in nineteen 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.440 eighty two. Al Davis had made plans to move to 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.560 Los Angeles long before the nineteen eighty one season ended, 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:53.080 which was a much more normal relocation timeline as far 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.000 as Baltimore was concerned, because the Colts hadn't entered in 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.480 agreement with another city, maybe they had a shot to 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.320 really mess things up. War forced Robert or say to 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.600 sell the team to an owner who would keep them 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:04.399 in Baltimore. 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.720 It's very clear you know what the eminent domain law 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:14.360 was and what it potentially meant to destroy in your business. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.119 But what's even more clear is their intent to fight. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.400 That's a message I think that forced them to make 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:23.119 a decision. 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.920 A headline in the Baltimore Sun on March sixth, nineteen 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.800 eighty four read quote legal scholar thinks eminent domain could 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.280 hold the key. The article is an interview with a 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.720 law professor at NYU who thought, based on Oakland's chances 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.600 of continuing to emerge with favorable judgments in court against 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.400 the Raiders, as well as a few other recent other 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.000 uses of eminent domain, that the city of Baltimore's best 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.760 shot at keeping the Colts was by pulling that lever. 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.600 That was hardly the only article in the Baltimore Sun 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.680 floating or even encouraging the idea of local government using 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.080 eminent domain to keep the Colts That's how dire the 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.000 circumstances were for a state and local government that didn't 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.760 seriously consider the Colts moving until they got to the 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.040 goal line. With Phoenix still as the day's blood off 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.760 the calendar, in March, the prospect of the Colts relocating 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.680 for the nineteen eighty four season seemed to dwindle. The 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.000 immediate threat that presented itself in January maybe was fading. 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:28.359 TV news stations still covered every meeting or rumor about 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.480 the possibility of the Colts leaving town, but internally within 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.320 the organization there was doubt as to whether the team 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.040 would actually relocate in nineteen eighty four. 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.840 I and every other employee didn't really know what was 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.800 going to happen. And by March twenty seven to twenty eighth, 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:47.920 there's no way we're moving. It's too late in the year. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.359 You know, we have the draft coming up in a 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.000 few weeks, and we got Mini camp a week after that, 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.880 and then we got training camp coming up then, and 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:57.600 it was just and we you know, we'd have to 0:18:57.640 --> 0:18:59.320 sell season tickets and all that sort of thing. It 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.840 was just it was so as unbelievable when and when 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:03.840 it happened, you. 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.720 Know, How it happened and why the Colts had to 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.719 leave Baltimore in the cover of darkness started with an 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.439 under the radar action by the Maryland State Senate. On 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.520 March twenty seventh, nineteen eighty four, a bill was brought 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.520 to the floor of the Maryland State Senate by Thomas Bromwell, 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.359 a state senator from Baltimore County. The legislation would grant 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:26.639 the City of Baltimore power to claim eminent domain over 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.560 the Colts. According to a Baltimore Sun News blurb in 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.159 the Morning paper on March twenty eighth, the bill quote 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.600 slipped quietly through the State Senate by a resounding vote 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.760 of thirty eight to four. It was expected to fly 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.400 through the Maryland House and quickly be signed into law. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:44.520 But for the Baltimore Colts, there was nothing quiet about 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:46.919 the bill passing through a chamber of Maryland's Assembly with 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.800 very little opposition. The message was clear the state and 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:54.679 city government were coming for the Colts. So what did 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:55.159 the club do? 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.000 I lived at an apartment called Morningside Heights where a 0:19:58.000 --> 0:19:59.560 lot of the players lived in. 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.040 It over looked the complex, so I was that close. 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.400 John Scott was the Colt's equipment manager in nineteen eighty four. 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.920 So that was a Tuesday, and about ten o'clock at night, 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.439 I get a telephone call, pick it up and I 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:17.760 recognize the voice right away. It's Jim Mersey and it's Johnny. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:18.879 It's Jim Talks. 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:19.119 You know. 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:23.639 I just talked to my dad. We're moving. It's twenty 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.360 seventh at night. 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:27.040 I go, oh my gosh, I said. 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:32.119 When he said tomorrow, I'm like, oh my gosh. Then 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:36.879 I said phoenix fingers crossed, and there's a long pause. 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:44.400 He goes, no, Indie, and then he told. 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.320 Me, hey, you got to keep this quiet. 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.479 You can't tell any of the staff working with the culture, 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:51.800 can't tell your friends. You got to keep it quiet 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:52.639 from your family. 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:54.320 I'm going, oh my gosh, what is going on? 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.080 And it was, you know, didn't know at the time 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:01.160 that the State of Maryland, see they're trying to get 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:02.479 the team to eminent domain. 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:06.400