The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It was the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts, the first having played for three years in the All-America Football Conference and one in the National Football League (NFL). This Baltimore Colts played their home games at Memorial Stadium.
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Unitas was the Baltimore Colts' starting quarterback and famed "Number 19", from 1956 to 1972. Unitas was raised in the Pittsburgh area and played earlier for the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky
American football, also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. A game is won by the team with the higher number of points, which are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal.
Larry Fitzgerald (in blue) catches a pass while Cortland Finnegan (in red) plays defense at the 2009 Pro Bowl.
Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", in 1878 when Camp was captain of Yale University's football team
The dangers associated with the sport depicted in a 1908 cartoon by William Charles Morris
Pudge Heffelfinger, widely regarded as the first professional football player
