How Did You Become A ColtsFan?

[ColtRider]

August 13th 1966 - Tulane Stadium - New Orleans, Louisiana

Preseason Game - Baltimore Colts v. Philadelphia Eagles

Colts - 31

Eagles - 17

Attended this game with my Grandfather. Back then, the NFL would schedule preseason games in non- NFL cities to promote the league and grant the fans of these cities a chance to see their favorite teams and players. I had already been a Colts fan 2 years earlier. However, witnessing this game in person against the Philadelphia Eagles cemented my life long beloved loyalty to the Colts. I had the privilege of seeing my two favorite Colts players ... Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry. Ever since that day I have followed the Colts and became a rabid fanatic to this day. It's been a GREAT ride and would not trade my NFL/Colts experiences for anything in the world. I love this team and always will. #COLTSNATION RULES

[Synthetic]

Well I'm not a Colts fan obviously but I really like Andrew Luck and will have a hard time rooting against him when my team comes to Indy this year. He reminds so much of my two all time favorite QB's: Favre and Moon. In a few years, he'll probably be my favorite player in the league. 

[NewColtsFan]

The Colts drafted Andrew Luck,  and I became a Colts fan.

 

It didn't hurt that I liked the GM and HC they hired before they even drafted Luck.    An unexpected bonus.

 

Now that I'm a fan,  I like the whole franchise,  the city,  the state and the community here....

[BigQandTheManiac]

Born and raised in Indy, it was an automatic.

[crazycolt1]

I started out being a Colt fan when Bert Jones become their QB. Jones and the Colts won three division crowns in a row till injury ended Jones playing days. I think it started when Elway blackmailed the Colts into trading him away. Jones won the MVP in 1976. Needless to say I was very happy the day the Colts moved to Indy. I worked at South and Senate Streets and watched the Hoosier Dome being built every day not knowing if Indy was even going to get a NFL team. At first I thought the Colts were going to Arizona but when I found out they left Baltimore heading to Indy I couldn't believe it. My favorite team was coming to my city. It's been a long strange journey needless to say. On a side note I hated Elway and the Broncos and still do.

[dw49]

I started out being a Colt fan when Bert Jones become their QB. Jones and the Colts won three division crowns in a row till injury ended Jones playing days. I think it started when Elway blackmailed the Colts into trading him away. Jones won the MVP in 1976. Needless to say I was very happy the day the Colts moved to Indy. I worked at South and Senate Streets and watched the Hoosier Dome being built every day not knowing if Indy was even going to get a NFL team. At first I thought the Colts were going to Arizona but when I found out they left Baltimore heading to Indy I couldn't believe it. My favorite team was coming to my city. It's been a long strange journey needless to say. On a side note I hated Elway and the Broncos and still do.

 

I'm confused .. did it start with Jones or did it start with Elway shunning the Colts ?

[alawai]

I admit I jumped on the bandwagon and it was after watching The Game! It was love at first sight and the marriage has lasted 55+ years!

[ScissorMeTimbers]

Born in Indianapolis in 1988, raised in Hawaii. My grandmother from Zionsville would always send me Colts memorabilia for my birthdays.

I was proud of my Hoosier roots and would watch the games with my family.

Loyal to the end.

[SteelCityColt]

I met Jim Irsay at the crossroads on a long lonesome road where we battled the Devil with a melody of NFL approved rock songs (Thunderstruck is super effective). After you've gone through an experience like that with a man you tend to be willing to follow him in anything. 

 

Back on planet earth, when I first started watching the NFL as a true neutral a certain #18 blew me away and the rest is history.... that and I love me those Colts Uniforms. 

[crazycolt1]

I'm confused .. did it start with Jones or did it start with Elway shunning the Colts ?

With Jones. I was happy when the Colts were going to draft Elway just to find out what a jerk he was and IMO still is. I was wavering between the Colts and the Vikings for a while there but got back on track. I was pretty upset with Bob Irsay for firing Ted Marchibroda at the end of the 1979 season and was not happy with Bob Irsay as an owner. I was a fan of the Colts but wished they had a different owner. I think a lot of Colt fans felt that way at the time. Irsay fired Ted because Jones got hurt and he brought in Landry to be the QB. They had a losing record because they lost Jones as the starter not because Ted couldn't coach anymore.

[colts8718]

Have been a Colts fan since 1968 living in NY at the time was not easy. As a child always loved the horse shoe meant good luck and my favorite   was those uniforms.

[Hammer]

I was 5 yrs. old in 1958. My brother was 7 and he was already a maniacal Colts fan. I watched him, watching the '58 Championship game and I became a Colts fan because of him. Our older brother was a Bears fan, so we had a lot of fun with him, growing up.

    When the Colts left Baltimore, I swore I'd never root for them again. But, the first time I saw the Horseshoe on the Indianapolis Colts helmets on TV, I realized the Colts were the Colts no matter what city they called home. My brother and our progeny, still watch every Colts game together.

[FastStarts]

Saw the Super Bowl in '06 and some guy Manning was pretty good and the Colts won! The NFL wasn't so big in Denmark back then so the Super Bowl was the only known event for me. Since then I have followed the Colts.

[pacolts56]

In the early 60s most of the fans around the South Jersey area where I lived were either Baltimore Colts or Eagles fans.

I started rooting for them in 1962 as a little kid and stuck with them ever since.

[TonyBungee]

One night these Mayflower trucks rolled into town, and the next morning Indiana had an NFL team. 

[BlueShoe]

One night these Mayflower trucks rolled into town, and the next morning Indiana had an NFL team. 

 

Similar for me, only I am in southern Indiana. 

[PrincetonTiger]

Started the day the Mayflower arrived cemented on Draft Day 1995

[HarryTheCat]

I became a Colts fan in 1988 when I moved to Indy. At one time I had been a Raiders fan, but lost interest in them when Al Davis started doing all the Oakland - LA - Oakland nonsense. 

[shakedownstreet]

i was abducted & hypnotized by robert irsay in 1984 

[lollygagger8]

As a kid I was a Eric Dickerson fan, so when he came to Indy, I started watching. I also liked Harbaugh when he was on the Bears, so when he came to the Colts, it solidified my Colts love lol. 

[Derakynn]

Was born in Indy, moved when I was 5 but always maintained a pride being from there. Subsequently I have a predisposition to Indiana teams, though I didn't care much for football (and still don't for other sports) until maybe 2010. I watched the Super bowl and got angry the Colts lost which ended up cementing me as a fan...Paid attention in the 2010 season, was a full fan by 2011...lucky me. Think that is when I got involved enough to join this forum. Just in time to experience a new dynasty (in a quartback sense).

[ProblChld32]

I reside in a City where the Majority of the population are either Patriot or Giants fans. As a little kid i would spend every weekend at my grandmothers house, and on Sundays i would watch football with my Grandad. He was a HUGE Colts fan so naturally i grew to love the team and organization.  I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I cant wait to pass the Indy Culture down to my kids. 

[Rhane19]

Brother is a cowboys fan and would always choose the Cowboys in every sports game, which obviously was always overpowered in the 90s and I could never beat him ... (games included Madden, Tecmo Superbowl 1 to 3, NFL QB Club). I was still a kid, so I didn't have my team fully decided yet even though I pulled for the 49ers (I grew up in Wisconsin, Packer fans everywhere and I despised their constant complaining and gloating of Favre).

 

Finally ended up beating him in the game NFL Blitz for N64, I was obviously the Colts.  It was Peyton Manning's rookie year, so the QB stat shown by the game was a 0, and the rest of the team wasn't that good either. Not sure what made me pick them, it was probably Marshall Faulk.  I just stuck with the Colts ever since.

[Valpo2004]

I always sort of favored the Colts because they had some big players from my fav. college team (Iowa) Dallas Clark and Bob Sanders where the biggest names.  But they signed a few others and several members of the coaching staff went to Iowa.  It also helped they where in my home state.

 

But I didn't really become a fan until 2012.  Up until then I just watched Iowa regularly and the idea of starting to watch a completely new team where I didn't know many of the players was kind of frightening.  But in 2012 it helped because most of the team was released anyways AND at the same time Iowa was kind of on a short decline.

 

Plus I heard so much about Andrew Luck and him being the best pro prospect in a really long time and then was excited to see that due to Peyton's neck injury he was going to the Colts so I was pretty curious as to how he would do.  

 

Honestly I think I like it more then college football now.  With all the ways that it's coming out that the NCAA is exploiting players and honestly the one thing I never thought about before was just how fair the whole thing was to all the teams.  There is very little a team can blame outside of themselves for failing in the NFL.  But the reality with college is that some teams could get the best coaches in the world and still wouldn't ever compete for a national title because they are just too small or havn't built a name for themselves.  Plus it's a little better now but things are still determined by computers and humans in a conference room as opposed to on the field where it belongs. (Although to be fair with so many teams in college football it sort of has to be done that way for practicality purposes.) Meanwhile in the NFL the Green Bay packers are sitting in like the smallest media market to have a major pro sports team and are a very successful team in the long run.

 

 Now I still don't like that coaches in the NFL rarely make personnel decisions.  That's something I liked about college football because it makes it easier to judge a coaches overall abilities.  While in the NFL a coaching dream team isn't gonna save teams like the Jags until they get some better players, but that coaching dream team would likely only get 2 years to try to make winners out of a team totally lacking in talent.  

[dw49]

With Jones. I was happy when the Colts were going to draft Elway just to find out what a jerk he was and IMO still is. I was wavering between the Colts and the Vikings for a while there but got back on track. I was pretty upset with Bob Irsay for firing Ted Marchibroda at the end of the 1979 season and was not happy with Bob Irsay as an owner. I was a fan of the Colts but wished they had a different owner. I think a lot of Colt fans felt that way at the time. Irsay fired Ted because Jones got hurt and he brought in Landry to be the QB. They had a losing record because they lost Jones as the starter not because Ted couldn't coach anymore.

 

 

I think part of the losing was due to Irsay taking ownership of the team. It was more than just Jones being hurt. It takes a while for even an owner like Irsay to ruin a franchise . He swapped the Rams for the Colts about the same time as Jones was drafted.. maybe a tear or so before.

[The Old Crow]

I think you guys know my story. A Colts fan because I grew up in Baltimore. Still a Colts fan of the 1953-1983 Colts. A Ravens fan since 1996. I respect the Indy Colts, but I follow the home town team.

[coltsfansince65]

In 1965 I was 11. I idolized my oldest brother who at the time played on a semi pro team in NH called the Nashua Colts. During the off season I attended his teams banquet which had the honor of having one Johnny Unitas as guest speaker. I was already a mild "fan" because of my brother's connection however meeting the legend Johnny U. sealed the deal for life.

 

I have been a "fanatic" of the horseshoe ever since.

[Coltsfanman1953]

I was a Colts fan ever since I first saw Unitas throwing deep from his own end zone but beating the dreaded cowboys in Super Bowl IV just cemented the my love for the team.

[Gramz]

You all know my story.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

Well my first year watching the colts I don't remember much because I was too little to remember. Like the game vs the bucs where we came back and won it. I don't remember anything from that game. But the first game I remember was a playoff game in 2003. And from that point on I had a boiling hatred for the patriots. And I just had to keep watching and keep hoping that we would make it to the SB. But I have come to love the Colts. I never thought I would see Peyton leave and see a continued Colts success which is awesome to get to watch.

So I've been a colts fan for 13-14 years or so. I just can't like any other team in this league. If the Colts are out my days of watching the NFL are over.

[Smonroe]

I was 5 yrs. old in 1958. My brother was 7 and he was already a maniacal Colts fan. I watched him, watching the '58 Championship game and I became a Colts fan because of him. Our older brother was a Bears fan, so we had a lot of fun with him, growing up.

    When the Colts left Baltimore, I swore I'd never root for them again. But, the first time I saw the Horseshoe on the Indianapolis Colts helmets on TV, I realized the Colts were the Colts no matter what city they called home. My brother and our progeny, still watch every Colts game together.

From Ohio, but loved the Colts since Unitas, Matte, Bubba, etc. I guess I was a bit too young to remember the 58 team, but I'll never forget SB 3. I still think it was fixed...

[horseshoeblue22]

Back in 2003. (I was 13 at the time, 25 now) I was mostly interested in art and video games. Being born and raised in central PA, most of my family members were fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I wasn't really a fan of the slow-paced, conservative offense and strong defense play style, and at such a young age I just didn't have any appreciation for football. Then in 9th grade or so, a kid that I was good friends with, Roger, was a huge Colts fan. He would constantly talk about Peyton Manning this, Marvin Harrison that...and eventually I decided to watch a Colts game. I remember my first Colts game was a matchup between Indy and the KC Chiefs. I don't remember the exact score but it was something like 43-38. I was blown away by the individual performances of Manning and KC running-back Priest Holmes.

 

I watched a few more games, including other teams, and the interest grew. I had a few "favorite players", such as Manning, Holmes, R. Moss, Tomlinson, etc, but considered the Colts my favorite team. Soon after that Holmes suffered a career-ending injury, and Manning went on to set the passing TD record in 2004. 

 

As a Colts fan in Central PA, I get some criticism for being a "band-wagon fan". Oh how could I possibly be a fan of the Colts instead of the Steelers or Eagles? The Steelers and Eagles don't appeal to me. The Colts do. I have been a die-hard Colts fan for most of the last twelve years. I stuck with them during the Curtis Painter season, and when all hope seemed lost, I stayed on that bandwagon.

 

Last season, I attended my first Colts game (at Cleveland) and it was one of the most incredible experiences in my life. The play from the Colts that day was sloppy, to say the least, but they pulled it off 25-24. I told friends and co-workers that all I wanted to see was a TY Hilton touchdown. I got one in the first half, and then a second TY touchdown secured the victory for the away team. I couldn't have asked for more.

 

That's why I am a Colts fan. The players have changed, the GM and coaches have changed. I've now been a fan through three head coaching tenures (Dungy, Caldwell, Pagano) and two GM tenures. I have Dungy's book. I have three or four Colts t-shirts and three jerseys. Four or five hats, all kinds of memorabilia. I could never see myself rooting for another team.

[HeSoColt]

Remember this vividly.

 

I was 6 and about to turn 7 (1992). Birthday is in January. Just casually started glancing at football because my dad was a big fan.

 

January is getting close and my mom is asking me what I want for my birthday. Well, I told her I wanted a Bengals trash can because their helmets were really cool. Fast forward to my birthday... opened the trash can and it was a freaking Colts trash can. I was devastated and cried and told my mom that I did not want it, I wanted the "tiger" trash can. She persuaded me that blue was much cooler than orange. I once calmed down and told her to send it back, but obviously, it was more expensive to send it back than the can cost.

 

Therefore, she just let the situation cool down and kept telling me blue was much more of a boy color than orange. I cooled down and the rest is history... fast forward a few years and my local pee wee football team was the Colts, so I had a matching trash can with my football helmet.

[bababooey]

Great Grandpa lived in Baltimore back in the day, knew some of those guys like Geno Marchetti. Moved back up to CT and raised his son a Colts fan, who raised his two sons (my uncle and father) Colts fans. I was pretty neutral about football growing up, especially when the Yankees were winning every single year and Michael Jordan was mesmerizing every little kid.

 

I am surrounded by NYG/NYJ fans, which eventually turned into NE fans as well. If they moved to Hartford I might have even ended up going with them. I started getting more into the Colts in the early 2000's when I was 11 or so but it didn't pick up as much until I started playing in high school.

 

I have seen them play in person 5 times.

- last minute drive/comeback win at NYJ during the SB winning season (Fall 2006)

- SB XLIV loss in Miami (Feb 2010)

- blowout loss to NYJ the week after the comeback against the Packers (Oct 2012)

- shutout win vs. Cincinnati this past season (first time ever visiting Indy!)

- blowout win vs. NYG on MNF this past season (only time I saw Reggie score a TD - and it was his last as a Colt)

 

My cousin works at NBC Sports and was able to get Tony Dungy to autograph my SB 41 program that I bought on Ebay. Love everything Colts. We are heartbroken A LOT but I wouldn't change it one bit.

[crazycolt1]

I think part of the losing was due to Irsay taking ownership of the team. It was more than just Jones being hurt. It takes a while for even an owner like Irsay to ruin a franchise . He swapped the Rams for the Colts about the same time as Jones was drafted.. maybe a tear or so before.

Did Bob Irsay ever learn to run a franchise? That is debatable.  I think his vices got the better part of him around that time.

[PuntersArePeopleToo]

Born in Indiana. Picked good timing to be growing as Peyton rookie year I was one. Didn't have to go through many bad years

[dw49]

Did Bob Irsay ever learn to run a franchise? That is debatable.  I think his vices got the better part of him around that time.

 

 

I never said "run" ... I said "ruin." Vices ..? When your own mother thinks you are the devil , that says it all.

[ColtRider]

i was abducted & hypnotized by robert irsay in 1984

That is hilarious, SDS! Almost p-ed my pants from laughing. Heck, I'm still laughing! Thanks, man. I needed that today.

[ColtRider]

You all know my story.

I do not, Gramz. Would like to hear it.

[ColtRider]

Great Grandpa lived in Baltimore back in the day, knew some of those guys like Geno Marchetti. Moved back up to CT and raised his son a Colts fan, who raised his two sons (my uncle and father) Colts fans. I was pretty neutral about football growing up, especially when the Yankees were winning every single year and Michael Jordan was mesmerizing every little kid.

 

I am surrounded by NYG/NYJ fans, which eventually turned into NE fans as well. If they moved to Hartford I might have even ended up going with them. I started getting more into the Colts in the early 2000's when I was 11 or so but it didn't pick up as much until I started playing in high school.

 

I have seen them play in person 5 times.

- last minute drive/comeback win at NYJ during the SB winning season (Fall 2006)

- SB XLIV loss in Miami (Feb 2010)

- blowout loss to NYJ the week after the comeback against the Packers (Oct 2012)

- shutout win vs. Cincinnati this past season (first time ever visiting Indy!)

- blowout win vs. NYG on MNF this past season (only time I saw Reggie score a TD - and it was his last as a Colt)

 

My cousin works at NBC Sports and was able to get Tony Dungy to autograph my SB 41 program that I bought on Ebay. Love everything Colts. We are heartbroken A LOT but I wouldn't change it one bit.

I'm outta likes. Like this a lot, bababooey!