Indianapolis Colts Milestones

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Order these Indianapolis Colts franchise moments by the year they happened. Drag or tap it onto the line

Indianapolis Colts

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How to play the Indianapolis Colts history timeline

Colts milestones make up the deck, each with a short description under the headline, and you sort them by year. One card is on the line to start, showing its year. You take each new card and choose its gap. Get it right and the year shows; get it wrong and it drops into the right position while costing one of your three lives.

Much of this deck takes place in another city, so the setting in a description is a real clue. The Colts' story is also a story of quarterbacks: legends, draft-day refusals, stars who rewrote the record book and sudden retirements. Those quarterback cards are the hardest, because the franchise has had more than one famous passer and their highs and lows can feel very similar.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 28 of the 30 cards you might be dealt, with 2 more in the deck. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Franchise's first season in Baltimore The NFL rebuilt the failed Dallas Texans into a new team for Maryland, with Carroll Rosenbloom as owner.
Hired Weeb Ewbank The new head coach promised Baltimore a championship within five years — and delivered right on schedule.
Signed Johnny Unitas off the sandlots Cut by the Steelers, the crew-cut quarterback joined Baltimore for next to nothing and debuted when George Shaw went down injured.
Won 'The Greatest Game Ever Played' Alan Ameche plunged in from the one-yard line at Yankee Stadium to beat the Giants in the NFL's first sudden-death championship.
Repeated as NFL champions One year after their overtime classic, the Colts beat the Giants again for back-to-back titles.
Hired 33-year-old Don Shula Baltimore handed the whistle to the youngest head coach in modern NFL history.
Shut out in the NFL title game Heavily favored against Cleveland, Baltimore was blanked 27-0 in the championship.
Lost Super Bowl III Joe Namath guaranteed his Jets would beat the heavily favored Colts — and made good on it.
Won Super Bowl V Jim O'Brien's field goal in the final seconds beat Dallas in a sloppy, turnover-filled game.
Robert Irsay acquired the Colts In a one-of-a-kind deal, Irsay bought the Rams and immediately swapped franchises with Carroll Rosenbloom.
Bert Jones named NFL MVP The 'Ruston Rifle' claimed the league's top individual honor in America's bicentennial year.
Winless strike season In a players' strike that cut the schedule to nine games, the Colts finished 0-8-1.
Drafted John Elway — who refused to play The No. 1 overall pick forced a trade to Denver rather than suit up for Baltimore.
Moved to Indianapolis overnight Mayflower moving vans slipped out of Baltimore in a March snowstorm, and the city woke up without its team.
Hail Mary falls incomplete in Pittsburgh Jim Harbaugh's desperation heave grazed Aaron Bailey's hands as the underdog Colts came up one play short of the Super Bowl.
Drafted Peyton Manning first overall Indianapolis chose the Tennessee quarterback over Ryan Leaf.
Drafted Edgerrin James, flipped the record Passing on Ricky Williams, the Colts jumped from 3-13 to 13-3 — then the biggest one-season turnaround in NFL history.
Hired Tony Dungy Days after Tampa Bay let him go, the soft-spoken coach took over in Indianapolis.
Manning threw 49 touchdown passes Peyton broke Dan Marino's two-decade-old single-season record.
Won Super Bowl XLI In a Miami downpour, the Colts beat the Bears as Tony Dungy became the first Black head coach to win it all.
Lucas Oil Stadium opened The Colts left the RCA Dome for a retractable-roof home the same season Manning won his third MVP award.
Lost Super Bowl XLIV Tracy Porter's late pick-six sealed New Orleans' win over a Colts team that had started its season 14-0.
Manning's lost season Neck surgery sidelined No. 18 for the entire year, and the team crashed to 2-14.
Released Manning, drafted Andrew Luck A tearful goodbye in March, then the Stanford star with the No. 1 pick in April.
The 28-point playoff comeback Down 38-10 to Kansas City, Andrew Luck's Colts roared back to win 45-44 in the wild-card round.
Manning statue unveiled, No. 18 retired About a year and a half after Peyton retired as a Bronco, the Colts honored him outside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Andrew Luck retired at 29 The stunning preseason announcement leaked out during a home exhibition game, and some fans booed him off the field.
Jonathan Taylor won the rushing title Taylor piled up 1,811 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, far ahead of the rest of the league.