1 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: It's April second, nineteen eighty four. Twenty thousand people are 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: in the stands at the Hoosier Dome, which was four 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: times the expected attendants, to celebrate the arrival of the 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: Colts to Indianapolis, just four days after the Mayflower vans 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: rolled into town from Baltimore. Indianapolis Mayor Bill HUDNUTT triumphantly 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: walks out of a tunnel onto the green astro turf 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: at the Hoosier Dome. Next to him as Robert ur say, 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: it's a striking sight. Hudnut waves to the crowd, grinning 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: ear to ear. Then with his left hand he grabs 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: Robert Ursay's right hand and he lifts it up in 11 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: the air. The two men walk into the Hoosier Dome, 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: hands held high. As Hudnut makes his way to a 13 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: stage on the field, he finds the hand of Deputy 14 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: Mayor David Frick, the man most responsible for nailing down 15 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: the city's deal to land the Colts, and he hoists 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: Frick's hand in the air too. Hudnut does not stop smiling. 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: He knows the gravity the moment. He is the mayor 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: who brought the NFL to Indianapolis. Finally, the dignitaries of 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: the day reach a stage on the field. Frick strides 20 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: to a brown podium with two things on it, white 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: letters spelling out Indiana Convention Center. Who's your dome? Beneath 22 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: it the NFL shield. Frick is the MC of the day. 23 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 2: Good morning, what a great day for NABLAS. 24 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: Over about thirty minutes, Indiana's business and government dignitaries take 25 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,479 Speaker 1: turns at the podium, drawing raucous cheers from the crowd 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: for their role in bringing the NFL to Indianapolis. Eventually, 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: Colts head coach Frank Kush, the hard ass hired from 28 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: Arizona State who wouldn't be coaching in Phoenix that fall, 29 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: takes the mic. 30 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 3: The next group. 31 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 4: I likes that. 32 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 2: I introduces what I would call. 33 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 3: Mayflower midnight Woovers. We have a couple of young kids here. 34 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 3: They just got their honorary degree from IU. I think 35 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 3: they're about sixteen or seventeen year old. They're geniuses. Pete 36 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 3: Ward that handles our administrative assistant we have on the 37 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 3: football team and the coaches in a personnelity apartment. 38 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 5: We want to thank you. 39 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 3: We are going to give it the best effort to 40 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 3: produce a winning football team here and make you proud 41 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 3: of the Indianapolis Colts. 42 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 6: Thank you. 43 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: Eventually, Mayor Bill Hudnutt and Colts owner Robert Orsay, the 44 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: guests of honor take the podium. Mayor Hudnut gets a 45 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: standing ovation and the grin he's had splashed across his 46 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: face it hasn't faded. 47 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 2: This is a great day for the city of Indianapolis. 48 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 2: And I can't tell you how proud I am to 49 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 2: welcome Barbers and the Indianapolis called to this magnificent facility 50 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 2: with these blue. 51 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 6: And white seats. 52 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: Hudnut gives out keys to the city to several people, 53 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: include Jim Orsay, Michael Chernoff, and Frank Cush from the Colts, 54 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: and then he introduces the owner of Indianapolis's pro football team. 55 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 2: Now the moment we've all been waiting for the opportunity 56 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 2: to introduce to you the owner of the Indianapolis Colts. 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 2: I'm going to read a proclamation and then he's going 58 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 2: to have the floor and I'm gonna give him a 59 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 2: key to the city as well as a proclamation, because 60 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 2: this is one of the greatest days in the history 61 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 2: of this city. Ladies and gentlemen. 62 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: After Huddnut proclaims April second, nineteen eighty four, is Indianapolis. 63 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: Colts stay in Indianapolis. He welcomes Robert or Say to 64 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: the stage. They raise their hands in the air one 65 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: more time, and then Robert or Say begins speaking to 66 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: twenty thousand of his newest fans. 67 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 7: Thank you very much, needless of saying, I'm very glad 68 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 7: to be here. We did go through several mons. Wasn't 69 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 7: easy that we did talk to other people. I just 70 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 7: I'll give you a little review what happened, and it 71 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 7: won't take too much time of years. But we did 72 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 7: talk to several other cities. We did choose in Annapolis. 73 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,679 Speaker 7: Your negotiator, mister Frickett, and your mayor didn't give anything away. 74 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 7: We had better offers. I did choose in Indianapolis. I'm 75 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 7: a Midwestern to start with. Second of all, I think 76 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 7: the treatment and negotiations were more than fairer with this 77 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 7: city than any others I negotiated with. So I think 78 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 7: you could put this on a burner. This negotiation with 79 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 7: in Annapolis was not really all for dollars. But we're 80 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 7: very happy to be here. We're pleased at your Dome Stadium. 81 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,239 Speaker 7: We're pleased at the arrangements. We maighed with your city, 82 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 7: and we just hope that our team will back you 83 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 7: up and take you to the spot you belongs as 84 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 7: a pro team in Innneapolis and NFL. 85 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 8: Thank you. 86 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: But the pomp and circumstance of the moment and the 87 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: joyous looks on the faces of those at the Hoosier 88 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: Dome that day were only a brief respite for a 89 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: franchise that in many ways was completely starting over just 90 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: five months before the nineteen eighty four season was set 91 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: to begin. Pete Ward, now the Colts chief operating officer, 92 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: was an administrative assistant when the team moved in nineteen 93 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: eighty four. 94 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,239 Speaker 9: We didn't really know where to be. We didn't have phones, 95 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 9: we didn't have anybody the answer phones. We didn't have stationary, 96 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 9: we didn't know what our address was. We didn't have 97 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 9: a copyer in. It was just started a while, starting 98 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 9: a franchise from scratch, except that you had your players 99 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 9: and your coaches under contract. 100 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: So how did the Colts go about the gargantuan task 101 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: of getting their first season in Indianapolis off the ground 102 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: and back in Baltimore? What was the fallout in a 103 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: region rocked by the midnight departure of their football team. 104 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 10: Like the talking has some life during wartime and you 105 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 10: know that gunfire and the distance of time getting. 106 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: Used to it now Jimmersay, the owner and CEO of 107 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:07,919 Speaker 1: the Indianapolis Colts. 108 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 10: Is just like so absurd that no one would possibly 109 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 10: you just could not believe what was going on in 110 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 10: that first year. 111 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 4: I mean, it just it. 112 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 10: Was just unbelievable. 113 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: This is episode four of The Move Aftermath. The goal 114 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: for as Cush called them, the Mayflower Midnight Movers on 115 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: March twenty eighth, nineteen eighty four, was not organization. The 116 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: goal was speed. It didn't matter how boxes were packed 117 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: or how the trucks were loaded up. It just mattered 118 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: that the boxes were packed and the trucks were loaded 119 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: up before the State of Maryland could authorize the City 120 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: of Baltimore to try to seize the Colts through eminent domain. 121 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: And that left an absolute mess to sort through after 122 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: the trucks arrived at Fall Creek Elementary School on the 123 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: east side of Indianapolis. Remember what Pete Ward said in 124 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: episode three about how the Owings Mills facility was packed up. 125 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 9: It wasn't like, Okay, i's suit this office in this office, 126 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 9: so I couldn't be everywhere to label box it. It 127 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 9: was just mass chaos, and so that's how things ended 128 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 9: up being packed and shipped. And when we got to Indianapolis, 129 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 9: there was just a big pile of boxes and desks. 130 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 9: You know, we new Bank's hat and the footballs and everything. 131 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: Ward, who was then a twenty something you described himself 132 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: as quote cheap labor, found a mattress. He stashed it 133 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: at Fall Creek Elementary School and he went to work 134 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: both exhausted and energized at the same time. 135 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 9: You know what it was, So he had so much 136 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 9: adrenaline because you were so excited, because the city was excited. 137 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 3: You know. 138 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 9: It just was such a different feeling than Baltimore. So 139 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 9: you're excited, but you're also just overwhelmed and mentally exhausted 140 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 9: because there's so many first yet hardly had any sleep, 141 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 9: and there's so much to do. 142 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: It took about a week of nearly round the clock 143 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: work for the Colts to get set up at their 144 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: new facility, which again was an abandoned elementary school, and 145 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: so an NFL team which provided some of the highest 146 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: paying jobs to some of the largest men in our country, 147 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: was about to set up shop in really an elementary school. 148 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 4: No one could. 149 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 10: Possibly believe it. 150 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 2: You know. 151 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 10: It's like we're using this grade school sports field which 152 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 10: was barely big enough for a football field, and we 153 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 10: got to get this field ready in four weeks, you know, 154 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 10: for mini camp. 155 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: While Indianapolis's movers and shakers, led by Mayor Bill Hudnutt, 156 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: had stuck their collective necks out to build the sparkly 157 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: new Hoosier Dome, the city had not also built a 158 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: practice facility for an NFL team. That would come later 159 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: once a team arrived back in Maryland. Though the Colts 160 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: complex in Owings Mills was state of the art, in Indianapol, 161 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: the Colts would have to set up where children used 162 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: to learn about states and art. 163 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 6: When we landed, they kind of buttered us up. They 164 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 6: took us to the brand new Hoosier Dome. 165 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: John Scott was the Colt's equipment manager in nineteen eighty four. 166 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 6: And wow was that cool. I mean, especially for an 167 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 6: equipment guy. 168 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 11: All our home. 169 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 6: Games are in no rain, no infield, in dirt or whatever. 170 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 6: So we saw that and it was great and even 171 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 6: the seats were blue and white, you know, like it 172 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 6: was made for us. So now we're going to take 173 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 6: you to the complex. I'm thinking, great, I hope it's 174 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 6: as nice as the one in Baltimore. And we pull 175 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 6: up to Fall Creek Elementary School. Yes, I why are 176 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 6: we here? 177 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: A new complex for the Colts on the west side 178 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: of Indianapolis, which is where the team still practices to 179 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: this day, was under construction and expected to be completed 180 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty five. Fall Creek Elementary School was a 181 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: temporary solution. The most important thing to both parties, the 182 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: city of Indianapolis and the Colts, was that, well the 183 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: culture in Indianapolis. 184 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 6: You know, you go inside these rooms that's going to 185 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 6: be for the offensive linemen, and you walk in there 186 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 6: and there's little tiny seats because it was the first 187 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 6: grade room. You know, I said, well those are gott 188 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 6: to go. You know. There was a lot of had 189 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,559 Speaker 6: living I gues whatever the word is, just to try 190 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 6: to figure out how are we going to make this 191 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 6: work for an NFL you know, team to be in 192 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 6: an elementary school. 193 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: Fall Creek Elementary was indeed retrofitted to house an NFL team. 194 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: Showers were put in not for four foot tall kids, 195 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: but for six foot tall adults. Coaches and front office 196 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: staffers were assigned to classrooms and where kids were once 197 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: taught multiplication was now where pro football players would be 198 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: taught how to defend Dan Marino. Jim Rsay, then the 199 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: team's general manager, set up his office in the school library. 200 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: The cafeteria was divided into becoming the locker room, training room, 201 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: and equipment room. Half of the gymnasium came the weight room. 202 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 10: We put a dividing wall on their old basketball court 203 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 10: and half was going to be the weight room. And 204 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 10: I remember I was there late one night. Like I said, 205 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 10: there was this wall dividing the basketball court, and then 206 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 10: there was the weight room, which wasn't much of a 207 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 10: weight room, but you know, we had no security, We 208 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 10: had NOMI, and so all of a sudden, you know, 209 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 10: it's nighttime and I'm working. And as we were working, 210 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 10: you know, sixteen hour days, I hear this. I walk 211 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 10: into the opposite half of the basketball car and I 212 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 10: hear this, like on the floor. You know, I'm like, 213 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 10: what is there is someone in here to rip his off? 214 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 10: I mean I don't know. Of course, no cell phones, 215 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 10: but you know, what the hell am I going to do? 216 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 10: And so you know, I'm meekly peeking around the corner 217 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 10: of the wall and Bob Turpin he's in there, the 218 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 10: handful of two handfuls of them, and m's. 219 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 4: Going like. 220 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: Outside. An AstroTurf field was installed, but only seventy yards 221 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: could fit on the property and there were no end zones. 222 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 12: They put a makeshift astro turf field down and as 223 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 12: we got into the season. I'll never forget this. 224 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: Matt Bozo was a wide receiver on the Colts in 225 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four. 226 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 12: It was raining like it can rain, and you know, 227 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 12: in the fall, early fall, and that field we went 228 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 12: out and the AstroTurf field was floating. It was like 229 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 12: floating on the top of a bathtub. 230 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: There was genuinely no spinning this anyway else. This was 231 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: not a situation where business staffers worked out of an 232 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: office and the team practiced at a local high school 233 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,599 Speaker 1: or college while waiting for their new facility to open up. No, 234 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: this was legitimately an entire NFL team operating out of 235 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: an abandoned elementary school. 236 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 11: It's an elementary school. It's you walk in and it's like, yeah, 237 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 11: I went to this school like when I was thirteen. 238 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 11: That's what it was, was a school. 239 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: Mike Chappel is entering his fortieth year covering the Indianapolis Colts. 240 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 11: Inside you're thinking, so this is the NFL. Well, no, 241 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 11: not really. It's a precursor to the NFL until you 242 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 11: get your headquarters together. So but back then we didn't 243 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 11: worry about that because, again as a fan invasion, as 244 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 11: the media, you were just glad to be out to 245 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 11: that facility for the reason you were. 246 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: As Colts staffers figured out what classrooms everything belonged in, 247 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: they needed to hire some support staff. The team's business 248 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: operations like ticketing, marketing, sponsorships, public relations, et cetera. Were 249 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: largely left behind in Baltimore. The Colts football operations were intact, 250 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: but everything else was in disarray. 251 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 10: You're starting to fill the staff and the coaches. We'd 252 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 10: go over to the Irish pub down the street and 253 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 10: several of the hired secretaries from there at lunch. 254 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: Hower coaching bartenders was one solution to the team's staffing problem, 255 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: but the Colts would quickly find out that they had 256 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: a problem that required more than just a quick fix. 257 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 13: March twenty nine of eighty four, the Colts arrive in 258 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 13: Indy and I still remember thinking, wow, that's kind of late, 259 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 13: you know, in the ticketing process to move, and I thought, wow, 260 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 13: that's going to be pretty tough for someone over there 261 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 13: in Indy. 262 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: That's Larry Hall, who in the spring of nineteen eighty 263 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: four was a young twenty somethingter ticketing guy for the 264 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. Initially, the Colts figured the staff at the 265 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: Hoosier Dome could handle tickets for the nineteen eighty four season, 266 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: but about a month after settling into Indianapolis, the Colts 267 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: realized demand for their tickets was so high they need 268 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: to hire someone as soon as possible to begin managing 269 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: Indianapolis's intense interest in Colts tickets. 270 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 13: Their safe Hamory shout to the Brown family. Mike Brown 271 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 13: calls me and hey, Larry, how. 272 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 14: You doing good? 273 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 13: So you know the Colts moved from Baltimore, India. Yes, sir, 274 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 13: I do know that, And well they've called an asked 275 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 13: permission to talk to you about being their lid ticket 276 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 13: guy at the end of this long day, and it 277 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 13: went really well. I was very open and honest about 278 00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 13: my experience and how I would do it if I 279 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 13: were doing the ticket process. And at the end of 280 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 13: the day by Brsees says, you're our guy. 281 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 15: We want you. 282 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 8: When can you start? 283 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 13: And I said, well, I need to go home to talk 284 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 13: about coaches. 285 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 16: Call let's whatt tomorrow. 286 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 13: We want to know, we want to know, right, And 287 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 13: he was very anxious, and I later found out why 288 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 13: because they had put out in the newspaper on it. 289 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 13: I remember a midnight run everyone told me of the 290 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 13: newspaper had this famous application you could order, you know, 291 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 13: up to ten tickets in a thirteen day window. Thirty 292 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 13: thousand applications for one hundred and forty thousand seats poured 293 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 13: in in a thirteen day window. This is no credit cards, 294 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 13: this is cashier's checks and money orders, no personal checks. 295 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 13: So they shut down the post office box and returned 296 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 13: anything came in after that. But the building held sixty 297 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 13: twenty seven six zero one two seven. 298 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 12: That's it. 299 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 13: So he's got a little bit of a challenge here 300 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 13: with this this this ticketing demand which is off the charts, 301 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 13: and it's wonderful and it's great, and the enthusiasm for 302 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 13: the team, you know, was just at a height that 303 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 13: I'd never witnessed before. 304 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: Larry Hall began working for the Colts in May, and 305 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: he had less than three months to not just figure 306 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: out who would get tickets, but how they would get them. 307 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: First things first, though, he had to find his office, 308 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: which would be in a classroom at Fall Creek Elementary. 309 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 13: I'm driving to the complex to go to work for 310 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 13: the first day. I park and I go in and 311 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 13: a young lady named Kristin Palmore was receptionist from the 312 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 13: south side of Ending. She was pretty sassy, and you know, 313 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 13: had took a high volume of calls everyone know about 314 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 13: tickets and people from Baltimore still threatening their say family 315 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 13: was terrible, right terrible, and she could give back pretty 316 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 13: well to whatever she got on the phone. And I 317 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 13: remember walking up and saying, well, I'm Larry Hall. I'm 318 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 13: here to run the ticket office. He said okay, and 319 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 13: there's a long pause, and I said, dum, is there 320 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 13: somebody in particular supposed to see She goes, no, I don't, 321 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 13: but there's open classrooms if you want to find one 322 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 13: down the hallway. So I just sort of walked down 323 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 13: the hallway and no computer, no staff. I'm pretty sure 324 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 13: if I didn't bring a pad and a Penda rite 325 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 13: with there may not have been one. When you say 326 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 13: from scratch, I'm talking from scratch, all right. I remember 327 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 13: going into the classroom that I picked. I forget what 328 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 13: room number it was, but you know, the ceiling tile 329 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 13: was kind of had a few leaks and some of 330 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 13: the tiles were popped up. And my wife came over, 331 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 13: and we came from pretty humble beginnings, but she walked 332 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 13: into that room and went We left Cincinnati for this. 333 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: With demand for tickets more than doubling the Hoosier Domes capacity, 334 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: Hall would have to find a solution. Folks in Indianapolis 335 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: were desperate to land tickets to watch their new team play, 336 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: but not everyone would be able to get in the door. 337 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: The plan then became to hold a lottery to determine 338 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: who could get season tickets. 339 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 13: There was no Indiana lottery at that time. By the way, 340 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 13: mister say bobber Say Jim's father knew the governor of 341 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 13: Illinois they had a lottery. He convinced him to borrow 342 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 13: their lottery machine, put it on his private jet, strap 343 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 13: it down, bring it over right to Indy, and roll 344 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 13: that thing out. 345 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: Among those thirty thousand applications, if lottery number six was drawn, 346 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,919 Speaker 1: every sixth person on the list would be able to 347 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: purchase season tickets. For Jeff Haggard and his family, who 348 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: were among the early winners of the ticket lottery, it 349 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: felt like they won the actual lottery. Haggard has been 350 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: a cult season ticket member ever since the team's debut 351 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: in Indianapolis in nineteen eighty four. 352 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,959 Speaker 17: It was just going to get really want you know 353 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 17: ticket back then, because it was all over the news. 354 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 17: I mean, we actually made it an evening of it. 355 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 17: We ceramonsly drove the envelopes them in the mailbox and 356 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 17: put it in and you all gave it a wish 357 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 17: for reluctant so we could get it. And so when 358 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 17: we ben we got it was excitement. 359 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: As the week's bled off the calendar that summer, the 360 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 1: team's staff worked long hours with little sleep, trying to 361 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: get a mountain of tasks completed before the team kicked 362 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: off at the Hoosier Dome for their first preseason game 363 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: that August. 364 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 9: They could work twenty four hours a day for six 365 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 9: months and still not be where you wanted to be. Really, 366 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 9: I had a recurring nightmare that was I would wake 367 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 9: up like that I overslept for opener, you know, and 368 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 9: it's like a recurring nightmare, and I'd get to the 369 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 9: game and it was like half time. 370 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: One of the biggest challenges, as it would turn out, 371 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: would be just getting tickets in the hands of fans 372 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: who bought them. Because the Colts didn't know where they'd 373 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: be playing in nineteen eighty four until late March, and 374 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: because they completed their lottery just a few weeks later, 375 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,479 Speaker 1: there was no guarantee tickets would be printed and in 376 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: the hands of the people that bought them. Before the 377 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: Colts preseason opener on August eleventh, nineteen eighty four against 378 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: the New York Giants, Hall begged the company that printed 379 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: the Colts tickets to speed up the process. They couldn't. 380 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 13: We were really, really behind any normal process for any team, 381 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 13: and did our best to accelerate everything, including asking a 382 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 13: company out of Arkansas that printed the tickets then to 383 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 13: expedite things, and they said, for a number of reasons, 384 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 13: they really couldn't. We offered to pay more money. We said, hey, 385 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 13: can you put a third shift on, can do Saturdays? 386 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 13: We're kind of already doing that, you know, So it's 387 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 13: getting closer and close to the first game, and we're 388 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 13: really thinking ourselves, what's what's the plan B? Is there 389 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 13: a plan B if we can't physically get someone a ticket? 390 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 13: So we started literally thinking, is there a way? Do 391 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 13: you just have to at some point open the gates 392 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 13: and trust people. 393 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,239 Speaker 1: The Colts ultimately had to hand deliver some tickets just 394 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,879 Speaker 1: before that first game at the Hoosier Dome to ensure 395 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: all sixty two hundred and thirty six fans could get 396 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: in the door to the seats they had purchased. 397 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 13: I remember different people's personalities and how we all got along, 398 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 13: and you know, with that common cause and knowing that 399 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 13: this is such a abbreviation, i'll call it a short runway. 400 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 13: You got to stick to landing. I would imagine I 401 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 13: haven't done that, but I've seen video right of landing 402 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 13: on an aircraft carrier where you've just got it. You 403 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 13: got to get right, because if you don't, the game's 404 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 13: gonna happen anyway, right, and you'll deal with whatever issues happened. 405 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 1: There's maybe never been more buzz for a preseason game 406 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: than when the Colts kicked off against the Giants that August. 407 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 17: Without looking it up, we. 408 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 11: Twenty. 409 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 17: I mean, it's funny, I can it just it was 410 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,880 Speaker 17: you think about the movie Rudy when Ned Batty said 411 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 17: this is the greatest thing of it ever seen, you know, 412 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 17: and then that's when you know as a FOOTBA player, 413 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 17: that's what we felt. It just we stopped at the 414 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 17: top of the concourse and when we first won't walk 415 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 17: in and you just stopped, just just just looking around. 416 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 17: And and even though it was a preseason game, I mean, 417 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 17: the crowd was just raucous. It was loud, it was fun, 418 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 17: and you know, it's it's one of those games and 419 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:22,399 Speaker 17: I'll never forget. 420 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:24,880 Speaker 1: But the attention on the game wasn't all good. 421 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 10: It was crazy, you know, and we had so many 422 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 10: death threats and everything else. And so the FBI or 423 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 10: whatever agency gave me a bulletproof best and a and 424 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 10: a gun for my ankle, so you know, this is 425 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 10: optional for the first Giant preseason game. 426 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 4: My wife saw me putting out as. 427 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 10: He was like, what the hell are you doing. I going, well, 428 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 10: something some bitch comes after us. 429 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 4: I'm being prepared. 430 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 7: You know. 431 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: Most people in Baltimore, of course, were not going to 432 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 1: commit a felony over losing their team, but It's important 433 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: to remember that Indianapolis's gain of a team came at 434 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: a cost. Bill Hudnutt even admitted that, saying in a 435 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: TV interview in nineteen eighty four that he felt sorry 436 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: for the people of Baltimore, but he also emphasized he 437 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: had to do right by Indianapolis as the city's mayor. 438 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: Debbie Knox, the longtime Wish TV reporter, certainly spared a 439 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: thought for Baltimore amid Indianapolis's celebration. 440 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 13: I just remember having a little bit of a sort 441 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,439 Speaker 13: of felt sorry for the people of Baltimore because at 442 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 13: the time they didn't have the Ravens, you know, so 443 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 13: here they were bereft, you know what. 444 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: Now, back in Baltimore, in the days and weeks following 445 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: the Colts move, there were a few prevailing emotions among 446 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: the population. While Indianapolis was able to puff out its 447 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: chest as an NFL city, all of a sudden, Baltimore 448 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: was deflated to no longer be able to say that. 449 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 18: It was hard to see people who were really attached 450 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 18: to that organization and to the idea of an NFL team. 451 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: Jane Miller reported for WBALTV from Owings Mills the night 452 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: the Colts moved. 453 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 18: I think that's one of the things I really learned 454 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 18: throughout my career in criticularly in Baltimore, because it went 455 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,239 Speaker 18: through this. There's kind of a psyche about having an 456 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 18: NFL team that is really pretty powerful, and that people were. 457 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 5: Really missed them, miss missed the idea of it. 458 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 18: A team may not have been all that good at 459 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 18: the end of the day, but certainly the fact that 460 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 18: the Colts got everybody you know, refers to it as 461 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 18: being stolen, stolen away in the middle of the night. 462 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 18: So the fact that that happened, I think, you know, 463 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,679 Speaker 18: really a lot of people were very, very sad. 464 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: John Zeman, the leader of the Colt band, who was 465 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: auditioning drummers for the nineteen eighty four season the night 466 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: the Colts moved, remembered an empty feeling waking up on 467 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: March twenty ninth. 468 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 4: The next day, commerce was moving on Baltimore. Nobody died, 469 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 4: the son came, but we lost a big part of 470 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 4: Rupert and the way it was done, it was heartbreaking. 471 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: For the city of Baltimore losing the Colts. Even if 472 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: most people were resigned to that outcome by the time 473 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: the team left, it was still a baffling feeling. 474 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 19: There are certain things in life. We just went through 475 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 19: one of them here in Baltimore with the collapse of 476 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 19: the Francis Scott key Bridge. There are certain things in 477 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 19: life where you look at as permanent and all of 478 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 19: a sudden they're not. 479 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,680 Speaker 1: Jerry Sandusky is a Baltimore native and is the voice 480 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:28,360 Speaker 1: of the Ravens. 481 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 19: The Baltimore Colts were a permanent part of this town. 482 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 19: They were. You can make a case that the Baltimore 483 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 19: Colts and the Baltimore Orioles are the axis that this 484 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 19: town kind of gravitated around in winter and in spring 485 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 19: and in football season, in baseball season, and to have 486 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 19: one of them removed was so devastating and disorienting. 487 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,160 Speaker 1: Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaeffer gave a dour press conference 488 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: outside his home the day after the Colts left, but 489 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: a few days later he tried to put a smile 490 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: on the face of his residence. 491 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 18: It was a Monday morning in downtown Baltimore. Some of 492 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 18: the curbs had been painted pink for his Pink Positive Day. 493 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 18: He realized that there was. 494 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 5: The whole mood was very dim. 495 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,719 Speaker 18: And you know, trying to like cheer up the place. 496 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: But among the sadness that permeated the city of Baltimore, 497 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: there was also hope and determination. For years, state and 498 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: local officials didn't think the Colts would actually leave, but 499 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,640 Speaker 1: they were worried about the chances their much more successful 500 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: baseball team would skip town. The loss of the Colts, 501 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 1: painful as it was, spurred action to begin working to 502 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: keep the Orioles, who won the World Series five months 503 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: before Mayflower Van showed up in Owings Mills. 504 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 19: The second the shocks settled in eighty four that hey, 505 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 19: wait a second, If Baltimore Colts aren't actually a permanent 506 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 19: part of this community, the Baltimore Orioles could move too. 507 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: All of a sudden, the roles between Baltimore and Indianapolis 508 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: were kind of reversed. For years, Indianapolis had worked hard 509 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: to keep the Pacers, knowing if their NBA team left, 510 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 1: their chances of getting an NFL team were slim to none. 511 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: Now for Baltimore, there was an urgency to keep their 512 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: major League baseball team, knowing if the Orioles were to leave, 513 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: the chances they'd get another NFL team were pretty slim. 514 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,959 Speaker 1: On January twentieth nineteen eighty five, The Baltimore Sun reported 515 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: that Mayor William Donald Schaefer was lobbying the Maryland state 516 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: legislature for funds to build a new stadium for the Orioles, 517 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: and after years of strain between the mayor's office and 518 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: state government over stadium funding, state delegates were starting to 519 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: shift their stance. One delegate told the Sun quote, something 520 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 1: should be done to make sure the Orioles don't leave 521 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 1: and encourage the NFL to put a team here. Eventually, 522 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,400 Speaker 1: the shock of the Colts leaving did spur action. There 523 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: would be a new stadium for the Orioles. And it 524 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: wasn't just a new stadium. Oriol Park at Camden Yards, 525 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: which opened in nineteen ninety two, began a wave of 526 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 1: retro inspired Major League Baseball parks, and that home of 527 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,719 Speaker 1: the Orioles is still regarded as one of baseball's best stadiums, 528 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: and it's still a source of pride for people in Baltimore, 529 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: and Camden Yards ensured the Orioles would stay in Baltimore. 530 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 19: Now you've got the footprint that, Okay, this team's not moving, 531 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 19: which makes it really idyllic when a few years later 532 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 19: you bring in the Ravens, and they set up shop 533 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 19: right next door, and you have this magnificent downtown ballpark complex, 534 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 19: and it rejuvenates the city, and all of a sudden, 535 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 19: Baltimore gets a step back into some of his glory days. 536 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,680 Speaker 1: Baltimore was passed over when the NFL expanded in nineteen 537 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: ninety five, much to the anger and frustration of a 538 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: city that had worked hard to not only support the Orioles, 539 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: but to show it was still a destination for the NFL. 540 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: A major part of those efforts was the cult band 541 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: led by Zeeman, which stayed together after the team moved. 542 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: It's the subject of a fantastic ESPN thirty for thirty 543 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,440 Speaker 1: called The Band That Wouldn't Die. But by nineteen ninety five, 544 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: Cleveland Brown's owner Art Modell was experiencing the same stadium 545 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: related pains Carol Rosenbloom and Robert Ursay went through in Baltimore. 546 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,959 Speaker 1: Cleveland was not willing or able to build the Browns 547 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: a new stadium, and their home of Cleveland Stadium was deteriorating. 548 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: Baltimore offered the promise of a new stadium if Modell 549 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: moved his ball club. On November sixth, nineteen ninety five, 550 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,439 Speaker 1: Modell announced that the Cleveland Browns would play their final 551 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 1: game in Ohio that year and they would relocate to 552 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: Baltimore for the nineteen ninety six season. It would be 553 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: the second time Baltimore gained a team called the Browns 554 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: and renamed them after a bird. The news brought elation 555 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: and relief to NFL fans in Baltimore, but it also 556 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: came with some mixed emotions because everyone in Baltimore remembered 557 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: what they went through just over a decade prior. 558 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 19: Nineteen ninety six rolls around and the Cleveland Browns moved 559 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 19: to Baltimore, and we're on the other end of the move, 560 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 19: and so we understood what they were going through in Cleveland, 561 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 19: and as excited as we were in Baltimore to see 562 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 19: the NFL return, it was a little tricky having lived 563 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 19: on both sides of having somebody's heart ripped out. Once 564 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 19: you know you're on the receiving end, once you're on 565 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 19: the losing end. 566 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: The Baltimore Ravens, twenty eight years later, are one of 567 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: the NFL's model franchises. They've won two Super Bowls and 568 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: they're a consistent contender in the AFC They have their 569 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: own franchise legends, from Ray Lewis to Terrell Suggs to 570 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: Joe Flacco and now Lamar Jackson. But for those old 571 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: enough to remember the Baltimore Colts, there's still this lingering 572 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: sense of loss. 573 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 8: I was angry about it for so long, bro, I 574 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 8: lan ended at your airport and I went in passed 575 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 8: the Kolachi stand and into Center City for years and 576 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 8: would see that cult shop. 577 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 3: In the mall. 578 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 8: It would piss me off. 579 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 1: Nestor Apparitio is a radio host in Baltimore. 580 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 8: I told you how angry it made me just to 581 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 8: see the horseshoe, like, no bullshit, dude, like real angry. 582 00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 8: It felt very stolen to me. It felt like a 583 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 8: little peace. So my soul's been taken. Time. 584 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 4: They say heels all pain, but losing the Colts, I 585 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 4: don't think it will in Baltimore, especially with the older generation. 586 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 4: You've got to realize. Now, let's face it, in Baltimore 587 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,040 Speaker 4: and Indy, they're going to say there was a Baltimore Coults, 588 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 4: the Indie cults were in Baltimore. 589 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: The success of the Ravens might be a happy ending 590 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: to this story. In Baltimore. But maybe the best way 591 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: to put it is that it's complicated. For some the 592 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: animosity toward the Colts and Robert or say has not faded. 593 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: For others, it has. 594 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 8: All these years later, it's really I'm fifty five now, 595 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 8: it's like a second marriage. It's like a marriage you 596 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 8: had in your twenties, or girlfriend you had at high school, 597 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 8: or the girl you went the problem with. All these 598 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 8: years later, you're happy. She's in Indianapolis living a good life, 599 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,719 Speaker 8: and you know, had a Super Bowl and whatever. 600 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 19: I don't have any enmity towards Indianapolis. Mayor Nutt was 601 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 19: smart enough to see the landscape of the NFL and 602 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 19: took advantage of it. He played the game to the 603 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 19: advantage of that. He did his job. You know, the 604 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 19: politicians in Baltimore misplayed it, the politicians in Cleveland misplayed it, 605 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 19: and other cities benefited and lost from the way they 606 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 19: played the game. 607 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 4: I've seen that horseshoe and I see the good times, 608 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 4: the championships, the love I had for this professional football team, 609 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 4: the pride I had in miss team. But my heart 610 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 4: belongs to the birdie head helmet. That's my team. That's 611 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 4: my team. 612 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: No city is ever happy or okay with losing their team, 613 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: of course, but there is something different about Baltimore losing 614 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: the Colts. As Jerry Sandusky explained. 615 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 19: To me, those other moves did not have those historical 616 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 19: threads that we were talking about with beating the biggest cities, 617 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 19: producing the biggest stars, giving birth to coaching legends. They 618 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 19: didn't have that. 619 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: And because of the depth of the Colts' roots in Baltimore, 620 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,680 Speaker 1: the pain, it just won't go away for some people there. 621 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 19: For people over probably fifty years old in Baltimore, there's 622 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 19: still a touch of pain for a lot of them, 623 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 19: and a lot of them still will not say the 624 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 19: Indianapolis Colts. They'll just say the Colts. Look, it didn't 625 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 19: work out great for Indianapolis. And here's the one that 626 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,719 Speaker 19: I remind people of now, the Colts have been in 627 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 19: Indianapolis longer than they were in Baltimore. I don't know 628 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 19: that things work out the way they should, things work 629 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 19: out the way they do, and they just worked out 630 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 19: the way they do. And over time, the Baltimore Colts 631 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 19: will become like the Brooklyn Dodgers, where people who aren't 632 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 19: older don't even know that really the Colts played in Baltimore. 633 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: So that's the PostScript to our story in Baltimore. But 634 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: the other part of this story is how Indianapolis over 635 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 1: the last forty years has made good on its opportunity 636 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: to be an NFL city. Just this spring, demand for 637 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: Colts season tickets was so high that a waiting list 638 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: was created to secure twenty twenty five season tickets. Trust me, 639 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: Colts fans are as loud, loyal, passionate, and knowledgeable as 640 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 1: any fan base in the NFL. That development into one 641 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: of the best fan bases in the league, though, didn't 642 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: happen overnight. 643 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 12: What was evident once the season started was that it 644 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 12: was a basketball state with a tremendous heritage. Because whenever 645 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 12: the offense got in the field, they were cheering. So 646 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 12: we kind of kind of hold our hands down, like no, no, 647 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 12: no cheer when they're on defense. 648 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 13: Well, I'll never forget it. 649 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 6: People were cheering everything. 650 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 13: Everything, They would cheer, everything didn't matter. 651 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 11: It was clear. 652 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 13: All I knew was had an NFL team. 653 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 9: And I do remember that season seeing a lot of 654 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 9: people reading the newspaper. They just hadn't learned. They weren't 655 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 9: avid NFL fans. In eighty four, the crowd was really 656 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 9: into NFL football, you know, they spent their lives watching 657 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 9: the Packers or Bears on TV. You know, and and 658 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 9: here's finally, NFL football is in Indianapolis. But there was not 659 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 9: a speck of blue in the crowd. Speck of blue, 660 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 9: you know, unless somebody's wearing something by accident. 661 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 14: There was a learning curve to becoming a crowd. 662 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: I think there were reasons to be optimistic as the 663 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,279 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four season began, and not just because the 664 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: Colts were making their Indianapolis debut. In nineteen eighty three, 665 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: the Colts were six and four at one point, and 666 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: while they stumbled to a seven to nine finish, the 667 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: hope was a young roster led by Frank Cush and 668 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: bolstered by two top twenty draft picks, could give Indianapolis 669 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:27,800 Speaker 1: a playoff contender right away. 670 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,320 Speaker 4: You gotta play New England, My Emmy and the Chats, 671 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 4: the Niners, Browns and Chargers, plus both them La Threads. 672 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:42,359 Speaker 6: Lad. 673 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,360 Speaker 1: The Colts lost three of their first four games, including 674 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,800 Speaker 1: when they blew a nine point lead in their second 675 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: game at the Hoosier Dome, which wound up being a 676 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: one point loss to the Saint Louis Cardinals. 677 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 9: It started out pretty good. We lost our opener, and 678 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,800 Speaker 9: then we won our second game. It was at Houston. 679 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 9: We won it pretty handily. We really played well. And 680 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 9: then we came home and played Saint Louis and we 681 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 9: were kicking their ass, and then the crowd was so excited, 682 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,440 Speaker 9: We're really doing well. And then they came from behind 683 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 9: and kicked a field goal with I think a few 684 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 9: seconds remaining at one, you know, and then things guy 685 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:19,480 Speaker 9: went downhill from there. 686 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 16: Colts these schedule is. 687 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: The Colts won just two of their eight games at 688 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,320 Speaker 1: the Hoosier Dome that season, and they lost their final 689 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: five games, finishing their first year in Indianapolis with a 690 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,920 Speaker 1: four and twelve record. Head coach Frank Cush resigned with 691 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 1: one week left in the season to go coach in 692 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,000 Speaker 1: the USFL. The team he left the Colts for the 693 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,280 Speaker 1: Arizona Outlaws, who played in Phoenix. 694 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,359 Speaker 9: I think when we didn't move the Phoenix that kind 695 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,319 Speaker 9: of sealed it for him, and he left to go 696 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,720 Speaker 9: to the USFL in December before the end of the season. 697 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 16: The Wosia Dome is lovely, what is sight, But when 698 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 16: the team plays football. 699 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:14,439 Speaker 4: Things never worked out right long, Lord. 700 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,799 Speaker 12: We struggled a little bit, and we never really caught 701 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 12: her momentum. It was just kind of awkward. So you 702 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 12: can blame it on transition, But I just think we 703 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,600 Speaker 12: were a really, really young team and we kind of 704 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 12: thrived on the confidence factor. So we were just young. 705 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 12: I think in essence, we were playing with reckless at 706 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:32,920 Speaker 12: bat in eighty three, and maybe with all the changes 707 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:34,640 Speaker 12: in eighty four, it was just a little bit much 708 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:35,080 Speaker 12: for us. 709 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 15: I felt like it was such a disappointment, and it 710 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 15: was a disappointment from the standpoint that here we had 711 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 15: a fan base that was just ready to roll, and 712 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,840 Speaker 15: we didn't provide them with the kind of team that 713 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,279 Speaker 15: they could really jump on top of. 714 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,239 Speaker 1: The Colts won just twelve games over their first three 715 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 1: seasons in Indianapolis, inspiring Duke Tomato to write and perform 716 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 1: the folks see Lord, help our Colts tune on the 717 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: Bob and Tom Show. But even with those early struggles, 718 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:03,880 Speaker 1: the vibes around the city were still good regarding their 719 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:04,759 Speaker 1: new football. 720 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 5: Team, even though they didn't have great success early, Right, 721 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 5: You've just felt they were building something. 722 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: Jimmy Madis is an Indianapolis native and a former radio 723 00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: host in our city. 724 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,760 Speaker 5: Not a great deal of on field success, but still 725 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 5: building something in the community that was ours and the 726 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:26,320 Speaker 5: beach cherished. 727 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,720 Speaker 1: The interest and appreciation for the Colts was born partly 728 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,279 Speaker 1: from it being the NFL, which, in the twenty five 729 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 1: years since the Colts triumph over the New York Giants 730 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: and the greatest game ever played, had passed baseball to 731 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:42,760 Speaker 1: become America's dominant most popular sport. But for Indianapolis residents, 732 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:46,040 Speaker 1: the Colts represented something bigger than just a football team. 733 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,600 Speaker 14: Obviously, the Pacers were already here, but the NFL has 734 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,640 Speaker 14: a certain level of us of prestige that just added 735 00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 14: to the prestige of Indianapolis. 736 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,319 Speaker 5: It was like we've gotten to the promised Land. 737 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 11: NFL is us something different. It elevates the city. It 738 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 11: just does when you're one of whatever would have been 739 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:07,280 Speaker 11: back there, twenty eight teams or whatever. 740 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,360 Speaker 3: When the Colts arrived, it was as if Indianapolis had arrived. 741 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:19,200 Speaker 16: Oh and the praise to a MEN'SI balloy of honors 742 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:24,040 Speaker 16: and fame and told foraching I had to attain the 743 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:29,920 Speaker 16: goal the Indianapolis Colts to concor and winoo all. 744 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 1: The work put into downtown Indianapolis by mayors Richard Luger 745 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 1: and Bill Hudnutt, by movers and shakers like David Frick 746 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,120 Speaker 1: and Jim Morris, and by the support of the community 747 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:42,520 Speaker 1: had built to this crescendo. Indianapolis was no longer this 748 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 1: sleepy little town known for basketball and race cars in 749 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 1: the middle of Flyover Country. Indianapolis was now in NFL 750 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,920 Speaker 1: city with an established presence on American TV sets every 751 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 1: Sunday between September and December. 752 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,400 Speaker 14: And it certainly builds our reputation. 753 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:00,840 Speaker 1: Tom Griswold is the law long time host to The 754 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,879 Speaker 1: Bob and Tom Show, which has been broadcast from Indianapolis 755 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,759 Speaker 1: since nineteen eighty three. The song We're playing, by the 756 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: Way is called in praise of the Indianapolis Colts, and 757 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 1: it was sung by Luciano Gaspacho on The Bob and 758 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: Tom Show in the nineteen eighties. 759 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 14: Here's a really pretentious one percent or example I interview 760 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:19,920 Speaker 14: because that's. 761 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 17: What I do. 762 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:21,720 Speaker 12: I was skiing. 763 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,360 Speaker 14: I've been skiing for years and I don't know if 764 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 14: you ski or not. 765 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,520 Speaker 4: When you do, you have occasion. 766 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:28,880 Speaker 14: To get on a chair lift with a bunch of 767 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 14: strangers or whatever. 768 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:30,479 Speaker 17: It might be. 769 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 14: Back in the day, you'd get on the chair lift 770 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:35,359 Speaker 14: and someone to go where you're from, and you'd say Indianapolis. 771 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 14: Go oh yeah, that's that's. 772 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:37,799 Speaker 4: Where the five hundred is. 773 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,920 Speaker 14: Pretty soon ask you about the late eighties. It was suddenly, 774 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 14: oh yeah, you guys got the calls. 775 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 16: Bob say to his team and began to roam. Heya. 776 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,400 Speaker 16: Pud Nut said, hey, here's a Randall Dome ball. Tim 777 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 16: Mar was a man the most di fall but not recent. 778 00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,960 Speaker 16: Cheer the culture right here, they phoned the new home. 779 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: In the forty years since the Colts moved to Indianapolis, 780 00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:08,320 Speaker 1: the metropolitan area's population has boomed from about eight hundred 781 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 1: and sixty thousand to nearly two million in twenty twenty four, 782 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,600 Speaker 1: and at a time when some other Midwestern and Rust 783 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:19,080 Speaker 1: Belt cities have experienced population declines, Indianapolis and the surrounding 784 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:21,840 Speaker 1: area have grown. A lot went into that, of course, 785 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:24,120 Speaker 1: but at least a small part of it, I think 786 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,920 Speaker 1: it's fair to say is because Indianapolis has had a 787 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:30,960 Speaker 1: national and international presence thanks to its NFL team. 788 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 11: Indy wasn't just a ghost down at all. I'm not 789 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,560 Speaker 11: saying that, but it was centered around the track in 790 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,400 Speaker 11: basketball and the NFL. It just coming here, it just 791 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 11: elevated the city's reputation, presence and all of that. And 792 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:48,080 Speaker 11: we've seen how it's grown exponentially since then and. 793 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 1: Over the Colts forty years in Indianapolis, the team has 794 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,719 Speaker 1: become as deeply ingrained in this community as it was 795 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,479 Speaker 1: in Baltimore. Jim Ersay and his family didn't just bring 796 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: Indianapolis a Super Bowl trope. They've invested in the community 797 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,759 Speaker 1: through several initiatives, the latest being Kicking the Stigma, which 798 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: over the last few years has made real positive change 799 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 1: to our state's mental health services. Peyton Manning helped bring 800 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:16,600 Speaker 1: Indianapolis not just a championship, but a children's hospital, a 801 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:20,399 Speaker 1: new stadium, and scores of locals born after nineteen ninety 802 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:24,280 Speaker 1: eight named after him and today. Something that always strikes 803 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: me about the Colts is how supportive the entire team 804 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,040 Speaker 1: is of the community. I think about how Kenny Moore 805 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,360 Speaker 1: the second ran out of the tunnel in twenty nineteen 806 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 1: with Mighty Mason Garvey, a nine year old with terminal 807 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,880 Speaker 1: cancer who the Colts cornerback befriended. I think about t 808 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: Y Hilton, the South Florida native star wide receiver who 809 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,120 Speaker 1: stayed in the area after his playing career ended, showing 810 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:48,160 Speaker 1: up to almost every Indiana Fever game. I think about 811 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,920 Speaker 1: going out in the community to playgrounds or farmers' markets 812 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:55,560 Speaker 1: or restaurants and spotting current players mingling with locals, and 813 00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,840 Speaker 1: more than anything, I think about how hard it is 814 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:04,240 Speaker 1: to imagine Indiana the city we know today without the Colts. 815 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 14: For the most part, a lot of the gentlemen who 816 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,719 Speaker 14: have played for the Colts have been gentlemen and real 817 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,919 Speaker 14: quality people, which I think has been extremely helpful and 818 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 14: it makes makes the city and all the people here 819 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:18,320 Speaker 14: kind of proud. We've got some really good people that 820 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:20,400 Speaker 14: are part of our group here in town. 821 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 16: And the praise to a mensable, honest and fame mental 822 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 16: had to attain the call to concord and win the soul. 823 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 20: Thank you for listening to The Move. All four episodes 824 00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:47,320 Speaker 20: are available to download on the Colts Audio Network. Episode 825 00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:49,960 Speaker 20: four of The Move was written and narrated by JJ 826 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:54,799 Speaker 20: Snakobitz and produced by Casey Valier. Amber Harrow, Dave Knickerbocker, 827 00:42:54,880 --> 00:43:15,680 Speaker 20: and Matt Taylor contributed with research and editing.