1953 Baltimore Colts season

1953 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom (primary)
General manager	Don "Red" Kellett
Head coach	Keith Molesworth
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	3–9
Division place	5th NFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1952 Dallas Texans Colts seasons 1954  →

The 1953 Baltimore Colts season was the first season for the second Colts franchise as a member club of the National Football League (NFL). The Colts had a record of 3 wins and 9 losses and finished fifth in the Western Conference for the year.

Background

The Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) were one of three teams merged with the NFL in 1950, despite having suffered a woeful 1–11 season in 1949. Adding complexity to the prospects of a team with an obvious talent shortage, as the odd 13th team in the league the Colts were given a round-robin schedule in 1950, meeting every team but the Chicago Bears one time and allowed a standard home-and-away relationship only with the neighboring Washington Redskins.

A predictable debacle ensued, with the Colts again going 1–11 in 1950. Amidst a sea of red ink, the original AAFC Colts shut down operations, with the team's players distributed to the other 12 teams of the league via the 1951 NFL draft.

There would be no professional football in Baltimore during the 1951 and 1952 seasons.

With the original Dallas Texans franchise a major financial failure in their one and only season in Dallas, by the end of 1952 it became clear that a new 12th team would be needed by the NFL. On December 8, 1952, a drive to "Bring Back the Colts" was launched in Baltimore, with headquarters located at Baltimore Memorial Stadium. ^[1] Doors were thrown open at 9 am and by midnight more than $25,000 towards the purchase of season tickets was pledged. ^[1] This amount was matched on Day 2 and again on Day 3; at the end of six weeks more than $300,000 for 15,0000 season tickets was pledged, with over 99% of this figure ultimately collected. ^[1]

This show of enthusiasm drew attention around the country and proved decisive. ^[1] In January 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise to begin play later that year. ^{[2] [3]}

Rosenbloom's group was awarded the remains of the Texans organization, including the rights to its players. Among these players were future Hall of Fame defensive linemen Gino Marchetti and Art Donovan, who would comprise a nucleus for the new Colts franchise. Rosenbloom chose the blue and white color scheme used by the original Dallas Texans, while appropriating the bucking-horse-with-football logo used by the original AAFC Baltimore Colts franchise.

Despite using the Texans' colors and many of their players, the Colts did not and never have reckoned themselves as a continuation of the Texans franchise or their predecessors, the Boston/New York Yanks/Bulldogs. Likewise, the NFL reckons the Colts as a 1953 expansion team.

Season highlights

In the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 27, Colts' defensive back Bert Rechichar set an NFL record for the longest field goal (56 yards), ^[4] breaking the previous unofficial record of 55 yards (set by drop kick by Paddy Driscoll in 1924). It stood for over seventeen years, until Tom Dempsey booted a 63-yarder in 1970. ^[5]

The Colts opened the season strong, winning 3 of their first 5 contests — including two against the venerable Bears and a home win over neighboring Washington — before going into a tailspin in which they racked up 7 consecutive losses.

The 1953 Colts have the unusual distinction of having a losing record, despite having a league-leading 56 defensive takeaways. ^[6]

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1953 NFL Draft

1953 Baltimore Colts draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Billy Vessels	HB	Oklahoma	1952 Heisman Trophy winner; signed with Edmonton Eskimos (WIFL). Joined Colts in 1956.
2	14	Bernie Flowers	E	Purdue	signed with Ottawa Rough Riders (IRFU)
3	26	Buck McPhail	FB	Oklahoma
4	39	Tom Catlin	LB	Oklahoma
5	51	Jack Little	T	Texas A&M
6	63	Jim Sears	DB	USC
7	75	Bill Athey	G	Baylor
8	87	Jim Prewett	T	Tulsa
9	99	Bob Blair	E	TCU
10	111	John Cole	B	Arkansas
11	123	Gene Rossi	B	Cincinnati
12	135	Kaye Vaughan	G	Tulsa	Signed with Ottawa Rough Riders (IRFU)
13	147	Bobby Moorhead	B	Georgia Tech
14	159	Frank Continetti	G	George Washington
15	171	Buddy Sutton	B	Arkansas
16	183	Jim Currin	E	Dayton
17	195	George Rambour	T	Dartmouth
18	207	LeRoy Labat	B	LSU
19	219	Bill Powell	B	California
20	231	Pete Russo	T	Indiana
21	243	Frank Kirby	T	Bucknell
22	255	Merlin Gish	C	Kansas
23	267	Mike Housepian	G	Tulane
24	279	Monte Brethauer	DB	Oregon
25	291	Joe Szombathy	E	Syracuse
26	303	Scott Prescott	C	Minnesota
27	315	Ray Graves	B	Texas A&M
28	327	Joe Sabol	B	UCLA
29	339	Jack Alessandrini	G	Notre Dame
30	351	Tom Roche	T	Northwestern
Made roster

^[7]

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 27	Chicago Bears	W 13–9	1–0	Memorial Stadium	23,715	Recap
2	October 3	Detroit Lions	L 17–27	1–1	Memorial Stadium	25,159	Recap
3	October 11	at Chicago Bears	W 16–14	2–1	Wrigley Field	35,316	Recap
4	October 18	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–37	2–2	City Stadium	18,713	Recap
5	October 25	Washington Redskins	W 27–17	3–2	Memorial Stadium	34,031	Recap
6	October 31	Green Bay Packers	L 24–35	3–3	Memorial Stadium	33,797	Recap
7	November 7	at Detroit Lions	L 7–17	3–4	Tiger Stadium	46,508	Recap
8	November 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–45	3–5	Shibe Park	27,813	Recap
9	November 22	Los Angeles Rams	L 13–21	3–6	Memorial Stadium	27,268	Recap
10	November 29	San Francisco 49ers	L 21–38	3–7	Memorial Stadium	26,005	Recap
11	December 5	at Los Angeles Rams	L 2–45	3–8	L.A. Memorial Coliseum	26,696	Recap
12	December 13	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–45	3–9	Kezar Stadium	23,432	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	10	2	0	.833	8–2	271	205	W6
San Francisco 49ers	9	3	0	.750	8–2	372	237	W4
Los Angeles Rams	8	3	1	.727	7–3	366	236	W2
Chicago Bears	3	8	1	.273	2–7–1	218	262	L2
Baltimore Colts	3	9	0	.250	2–8	182	350	L7
Green Bay Packers	2	9	1	.182	2–7–1	200	338	L5

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	1	0	.917	9–1	348	162	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	4	1	.636	6–3–1	352	215	W1
Washington Redskins	6	5	1	.545	6–3–1	208	215	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	6	0	.500	5–5	211	263	W2
New York Giants	3	9	0	.250	3–7	179	277	L2
Chicago Cardinals	1	10	1	.091	0–10	190	337	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Keith Molesworth
• Backfield coach: Nick Wasylik
• Line coach: Ray Richards
• Assistant Line coach and trainer: Otis Douglas

Roster

Official team photo of the 1953 Baltimore Colts.

Appearing at some time during the 1953 season on Baltimores's 33-man in-season roster were the following players. ^[8]

Centers 50 Brad Ecklund † Guards 60 Sisto Averno 61 Dick Barwegen † 62 Alex Agase 64 Ed Sharkey 65 Bill Pellington 66 Bill Lange †

Tackles 68 Ernie Blandin 70 Art Donovan * 72 Jack Little 73 Joe Campanella † 74 Ken Jackson 75 Gino Marchetti † * 76 Jim Winkler 77 Tom Finnin Ends 81 Art Spinney 82 Dan Edwards † 83 Barney Poole 85 Mel Embree 86 Monte Brethauer † 89 Elmer Wingate

Quarterbacks 18 Dick Flowers 19 Jack Del Bello Fullbacks 31 Buck McPhail † 36 Zollie Toth ‡ 38 John Huzvar

Halfbacks 20 George Taliaferro † 21 Tom Keane 22 Buddy Young † 23 Carl Taseff 24 Larry Coutre 25 Don Shula 26 Ed Mioduszewski 40 Tommy Kalmanir ‡ 44 Bert Rechichar

† - Denotes starter; 1953 Colts ran a single-wing offense around a tailback rather than a quarterback

* - Denotes NFL Hall of Famer

‡ - Not on end of season roster

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• List of Indianapolis Colts seasons

References

1. Sam Banks (ed.), The Baltimore Colts: 1953 Press, Radio, and Television Guide. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Colts Football Club, 1953, p. 3.
2. "Baltimore assured NFL franchise". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. January 7, 1953. p. 29.
3. "Historical highlights of Colts". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. South Carolina. March 30, 1984. p. C4.
4. "Colts jolt Bears, 13-9, get record 56-yard field goal". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. September 28, 1953. p. 2, part 2.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
5. "Dempsey's 63 yard FG jolts Lions". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 9, 1970. p. 1, part 2.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2012, in the regular season, sorted by descending Takeaways. The total is tied for the 6th most in NFL history.
7. "1953 Baltimore Colts Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
8. San Francisco Forty Niners vs. Baltimore Colts: Kezar Stadium, December 13, 1953. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Forty Niners Football Club, 1953; p. 15.