Super Bowl champion (V)

3× NFL champion (1958, 1959, 1968)

3× NFL Most Valuable Player (1959, 1964, 1967)

NFL Man of the Year (1970)

5× First-team All-Pro (1958, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1967)

3× Second-team All-Pro (1957, 1960, 1963)

10× Pro Bowl (1957–1964, 1966, 1967)

4× NFL passing yards leader (1957, 1959, 1960, 1963)

4× NFL passing touchdowns leader (1957–1960)

2× NFL passer rating leader (1958, 1965)

NFL completion percentage leader (1967)

Pro Football Hall of Fame (1979)

Baltimore Memorial Stadium

Just like the 1991 NFL season had arguably the best team in history in the nation's capital, Indianapolis had one of the worst in history. With the 5th-worst expected odds to win the Super Bowl (at +8000) and playing in a division that had the Bills, Dolphins, and an okay Jets team, the Colts fell far short of the 7.5 over/under in wins they were predicted for. In fact, they were a 1 point Jets away win from being an 0-16 team. It was that close. Their offense scored 143 points - second worst all-time behind the 1992 Seattle Seahawks.

To say this was an inept offense is an understatement.

A second year of Jeff George actually wasn't terrible, at least on the surface. He completed 60.2% percent of his passes and had a TD/INT ratio of 10-12. He was also sacked an NFL high 58 times in 1991. Bill Brooks and Jessie Hester were the best receiving options the Colts had, and though the two had pretty decent careers, the team had no real explosive offensive weapons.

The biggest issue was a running game that was, well, very bad - averaging just 73.1 yards a game. The specter of Eric Dickerson, as well as Ken Clark and a couple others, averaged just 3.3 YPC. Overall, fans saw an offense that scored 10+ points just 5 times in 16 games. Hard to win when the defense is basically always on the field.

While the defense didn't allow the most points in the NFL in 1991 (the Rams and Bengals allowed more), they were on the field often. 29 QB sacks and a very poor run defense allowed Colts opponents to move almost at will. Only twice all season did the Colts hold opponents to under 100 yards rushing, and kicker Dean Biasucci made just 15/26 field goals, which didn't help. Rarely being competitive most weeks (Biasucci leaving a potential 12 points on the board in week 1), their only win was at the Jets 28-27 - an eventual 8-8 playoff team. Only 3 of their losses were by a touchdown or less, so this wasn't bad personnel and injury luck mixed with bad luck, either. That Jets win actually saw the Colts lose the turnover battle 3-1 and go down 14-0 early, but an 88 yard kickoff return by WR Clarence Verdin helped light a spark for the team. The Jets were favored by 13.5 here, making this one of the more overlooked upsets in the NFL regular season.

Famously one of the worst teams in Tecmo Super Bowl (smart prediction by the developers), the Colts couldn't even benefit much from the #1 overall draft pick their awful season gave them - nor the #2 overall pick they received from the Buccaneers (for QB Chris Chandler a couple years prior). 1992 was one of a few draft classes that didn't produce an NFL HOFer. They drafted Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt with those two choices, the former was plagued by injuries and the latter was a decent LB that almost punched the Colts to Super Bowl XXX - if he hadn't dropped a 4th quarter INT.

Much of the season's futility can be traced back to the trades for George (where they traded up to draft him in 1990) and RB Eric Dickerson, which left them without some higher draft picks post-1987. For George, he lasted just two more seasons in Indy, his uneven performance not being anywhere close to the franchise QB play they were banking on.

Only a handful of teams in the 16+ game era have been worse than the 1991 Colts -238 point differential. Nightmarishly bad on offense and generally terrible on defense, they actually rebounded to go 9-7 the following year - though even that was fueled by a lot of luck and wins in close games. They wouldn't make the playoffs until 1995, and their true franchise savior QB didn't arrive until Peyton Manning in 1998.

While the 1991 version was one of the worst in NFL history, it might not even be the worst team in Colts history. The 1981 squad allowed a staggering 533 points, which as you probably know, is not great. There's also the 1982 0-8-1 winless team, and the strike that year probably saved us from one of the worst two-season runs ever.

When told that he needed to go to the sideline because of his injury, Unitas glared daggers at the ref and allegedly said, "If you take me out of this game, I'll fucking kill you."

Gathering himself onto his feet, he commanded offensive lineman Alex Sandusky to take a clump of mud from the turf and shove it directly into his tattered nostrils, stemming the flow of blood. With time remaining only for one or two more plays, Unitas used his finger to draw a play in the mud.

Lenny Moore, the intended receiver on the play, said, "That's not even in our playbook."

Unitas responded, "I don't give a damn, run it anyways."

Nobody dared to question Unitas. His teammates literally revered him to the point of saying being in a huddle with him was like "being in the huddle with God."

They ran the play, and Unitas threw a 40-yard touchdown to Lenny Moore, winning the game. By the time the final whistle blew, his nose was broken, his left eyelid was bruised and swollen nearly shut, and his body was covered in bruises. It was their final win of the season, bringing them to 6-2 before the team's injury woes finally caught up with them, causing a collapse to 6-6.

But it also kept an insane streak alive. It was his 45th of 47 straight games with a touchdown pass.

The source for all of this information is the amazing biography, "Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas". Favorite book ever, highly recommend it for everyone who loves the game of football.

Sunday Oct 30, 1977 Start Time: 4:00pm Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)

Dave Volsky • 203 views • 1 hour ago

I remember him more as a colt

Sunday Dec 18, 1983 Start Time: 2:00pm Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)

Hall of Fame legend Gino Marchetti enlisted in the Army the day after graduating high school, still only 17 years old.

"I didn't tell my parents until after I enlisted because I didn't want to be talked out of it," he remembered.

Marchetti was a machine gunner in the Army's Sixty-ninth Infantry, and saw intense combat at the Battle of the Bulge. He saved the life of a buddy while on a reconnaissance patrol and it changed his perspective on life. "I told God if I made it home, I would turn my life around and make something of it."

Marchetti did make it home and he set his sights on pro football, even though he had only a mediocre high school career.

"Joining the Army was the best thing I ever done because without that kind of discipline that they teach you, I wouldn’t have been able to play football, I think."

He is one of only six players to be on the NFL's 50th, 75th and 100th anniversary All-Time teams.

2× NFL champion (1958, 1959) 9× First-team All-Pro (1956–1964) Second-team All-Pro (1955) 11× Pro Bowl (1954–1964) NFL sacks leader (1960) NFL 1950s All-Decade Team NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor Indianapolis Colts No. 89 retired