The Colts Bolt From Baltimore

It was the night that Colts fans will (bitterly) never forget. On March 28, 1984, 15 moving trucks from Mayflower Transit, an Indiana-based moving company, arrived at the Colts facility at around 10 p.m. Eight hours later, the Colts were gone from Baltimore and bound for their new home in Indianapolis. The Colts had played in Memorial Stadium, a rundown facility. When the irascible Robert Irsay took over the franchise in 1972, he lobbied the city of Baltimore to build him a new venue. His efforts went nowhere. The Maryland Senate passed legislation on March 27th that gave Baltimore the right to seize ownership of the Colts by eminent domain. Fearing that he could lose his team, Irsay accepted Indianapolis' offer — which involved a new domed stadium — the next day. Football would return to Baltimore in the '90s, when the city lured the Cleveland Browns and renamed it the Ravens. But for many fans and observers, the dramatic events of 1984 stand as the most notorious franchise move in NFL history.