Established: 1953
Home Field: Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, Indiana
Owner(s): Jim Irsay
General Manager: Bill Polian
Head Coach: Jim Caldwell

The Colts were established in 1953 as the Baltimore Colts. As a Baltimore team, they were extremely successful, winning four NFL Championships and producing such legendary players as Johnny Unitas. Though, the team fell into a slump, which sparked talks of selling the franchise. Ultimately, they were moved to Indianapolis in 1984.

After the move to Indiana, the team continued to put up poor performances. They only had 4 wins in 1984. In 1985, Rod Dowhower was named head coach, which produced two more losing seasons. In 1987, following a 24-day players’ strike, the team was finally able to produce a winning season. They went 9-6 and clinched the AFC East title before losing to the Cleveland Browns in the divisional playoffs. They followed it with another 9-7 winning season, but didn’t make the playoffs. The Colts continued with mixed success. They posted their worst season in 1991 with a 1-15 record (a NFL worst), but went back up again in 1995 with a 9-7 record and a trip to the playoffs.

It wasn’t until 2002 and the hiring of head coach Tony Dungy that the team started to consistently post winning seasons. In fact, Dungy led the team to five consecutive Divisional Championships and seven consecutive trips to the playoffs. Though perhaps the most impressive was their 2006 season when the Colts qualified for Super Bowl XLI and won, defeating the Chicago Bears 29-17. The Colts have managed to continue their success despite losing Dungy to retirement in 2009. They now compete in the NFC South.

Championships

League Championships
NFL: 1958, 1959, 1968
Super Bowl: 1970, 2006

Conference Championships
NFL Western: 1958, 1959, 1964, 1968
AFC: 1970, 2006

Divisional Championships
NFL Coastal: 1968
AFC East: 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1987, 1999
AFC South: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Colts Trivia

• During the 1970 NFL-AFL Merger, the Colts were paid $3 million to change to the AFC conference.
• In 2007, Peyton Manning became the first QB to beat all 31 NFL teams during his career.
• The Indianapolis Colts were the first NFL team to have cheerleaders and a marching band.