Robert Irsay And Carroll Rosenbloom Trade NFL Franchises

On July 26, 1972, in a truly unprecedented move, Robert Irsay, the owner of the Baltimore Colts and Carroll Rosenbloom, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, trade ownership of their NFL teams.

Rosenbloom wanted to retain ownership of a team while living in a more profitable city, one that would satisfy his wife's ambition to live on the west coast and his ambition to escape the D.C. press. Meanwhile, former Colts assistant Joe Thomas was itching to become the general manager of a franchise, but there weren't any offers. Then, when Rams owner Dan Reeves passed away, Thomas convinced his good friend Irsay to buy the Rams for $19 million – in exchange; Irsay would immediately become the owner of the Colts, then Rosenbloom the Rams'. Irsay, who was looking to become an NFL owner anyway, also received an additional three million dollars in the transaction, while Thomas was rewarded with the general manager position of the Baltimore Colts.

Today, a swap like this would be impossible to pull off. Not only are even the lowliest of sports teams worth hundreds of millions of dollars, many of the teams are now owned by corporations and a group of people, rather than just one wealthy individual.

In the end, football fans in both Baltimore and Los Angeles wound up getting screwed. The Colts failed to win a single playoff game under Irsay and eventually moved to Indianapolis. L.A. fans were initially on the much better end of the spectrum, as the Rams made the postseason in every year that Rosenbloom was their owner. But in 1979, Carroll mysteriously drowned to death while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and control of the team was handed over to his wife, Georgia Frontiere. Georgia then moved the team to Anaheim, married her seventh husband, and in the mid-90's, she moved the Rams out of California altogether and to St. Louis, Missouri.

However, the franchises involved in the deal and the cities where the teams played would end up winning Super Bowl anyways.

Los Angeles would be the first city of the bunch to win a Super Bowl; in 1984 the Raiders beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII (28), 38-9.

The St. Louis Rams and the Baltimore Ravens would both win Super Bowls in the early 2000’s as the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV (34), 23-16. Finally the Ravens beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV (35), 34-7.

The Colts who moved to Indianapolis in 1984 would win the Super Bowl in the late 2000’s against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI (41) 29-17.

Chargers Land Unitas

On Jan. 22, 1973,  the Baltimore Colts dealt legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas to the San Diego Chargers.

Despite his record numbers, the Colts felt that Unitas was too advanced in years to help them anymore. He was traded for the draft rights to quarterback Bert Jones.

Unitas started just four games for the Chargers before he was benched in favor of Dan Fouts. Fouts would go on to have a legendary career for the Chargers.

Nicknamed "The Golden Arm", Unitas, was a Lithuanian American professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts.

He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football League's most valuable player in 1959, 1964 and 1967. For 52 years he held the record of throwing a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games (between 1956–1960), until New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees broke his long standing record on Oct. 7, 2012.

Unitas was drafted in the ninth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL but was released before the season began as the odd man out among four quarterbacks trying to fill three spots. 

Steelers Head Coach Walt Kiesling had made up his mind about Unitas; he somehow thought him not smart enough to quarterback an NFL team.

The opposite would be true, as Unitas would become one of the greatest on-field leaders of all time, introducing the 2-minute offense to the NFL.

Kiesling never even let Unitas take a snap in practice with the Steelers. Among those edging out Unitas was Ted Marchibroda, future NFL quarterback and longtime NFL head coach. Out of pro football, Unitas--by this time married--worked in construction in Pittsburgh to support his family.

On the weekends, he played quarterback, safety and punter on a local semipro team called the Bloomfield Rams for $6 a game

Unitas was the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback with a strong passing game, media fanfare and widespread popularity. He has been consistently listed as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.

Unitas was a star studded pro in the NFL earning several honors including three Bert Bell Awards, a 10-time Pro Bowler, being a three-time Pro Bowl MVP, two-time NEA NFL MVP, three-time UPI NFL MVP, three time AP NFL MVP, six-time First Team All-Pro selection, one Second Team All-Pro selection, one Second Team All-Conference award as well a two time NFL World Champion and Super Bowl Champion in Super Bowl V. He also won the 1970 NFL Man of the Year Award.

Unitas was honored to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994, as well honored as part of the All-Decades team from the 1960s. Unitas’ no. 19 jersey was also retired by the Baltimore Colts.

Colts Win On Monday Night Football

On Oct. 31, 1988, the Indianapolis Colts host their first Monday Night NFL game in Indianapolis. The Colts end up winning, beating the Denver Broncos 55-23.

The Colts were members of the National Football League from their founding, however, they were one of three teams to switch to the AFC following the 1970 merger.

While in Baltimore the team advanced to the postseason ten times and won three NFL Championship games in 1958, 1959 and 1968.

The Colts had two Super Bowl appearances while in Baltimore, losing to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, while defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

The Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and have since appeared in the playoffs fourteen times, with two conference championships and one Super Bowl championship coming against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

It was under quarterback Peyton Manning that the Colts saw their greatest success since relocating to Indianapolis, with the team appearing in the playoffs nine consecutive seasons, tying a league record.

Following Manning's departure in 2012, the Colts drafted Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as their new franchise quarterback.

The Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts have played in 34 Monday Night Football games, winning 20 and losing 14. Their .606 winning percentage is good enough for the fourth highest winning percentage on Monday Night Football trailing only the Seattle Seahawks, .703, Pittsburgh Steelers, .634 and the San Francisco 49ers, .632.

The Colts last appearance on Monday Night Football came this year as they lost to the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 14 in a 19-9 contest.

Nothing Goes Right For San Francisco In 27-7 Loss

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco 49ers were the talk of the NFL coming into the 2013 season, but have begin to show signs for concern in the last two weeks, losing to the Seattle Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts back-to-back.

Sunday’s loss to the Colts was more surprising then the lost to the Seahawks, who were thought to be the 49ers biggest competition going into the year.

It wasn’t just the offense that played poor against the Colts, but the defense as well. The 49ers allowed a season high in points to the Colts who only managed 21 in a win against the Oakland Raiders in week one, and 20 in a loss to the Miami Dolphins in week two.

Sure the addition of Trent Richardson aided the Colts former No. 1 overall draft selection and former Stanford-Harbaugh product Andrew Luck to beat his former coach, but Luck played better than Kaepernick. He didn’t turn the ball over, and scored one on his feet.

TOD FIERNER / Courtesy
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick wasn’t able to manage much of a game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Kaepernick was 13-27 passing for 150 yards with an interception. He rushed for 20-yards.

"I know he's grinning from ear to ear," said Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Chuck Pagano. "I've never seen him smile the way he was smiling after this one."

"I wasn't caught up in, Oh my gosh, I'm going up against Coach(es) Harbaugh, Roman and Fangio," said Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. "I figured any time you play this sport, coaches and players come and go so much that you always end up going against someone that you played for or played with or had a good relationship with."

But it was just as much the lack of play by the 49ers that saw them fail to reach double digits in scoring for the second straight week.

"There's no one thing, we just didn't execute this offense," said 49ers starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The 49ers now 1-2, will have to get ready to face another divisional opponent as the go on the road to face the St. Louis Rams (1-2), and another former No. 1 overall pick, in Sam Bradford.

The 49ers need to have an impressive performance to reassure their fans that all of the off-season hype and off the field problems with players like Aldon Smith are not going to deter this team from at least making their third consecutive appearance in the NFC Championship game come January.