1950s
On January 23, 1953, under the principal ownership of Carroll Rosenbloom, the NFL's Dallas Texans franchise was moved to Baltimore where, keeping the "Colts" nickname, the Texans team colors of blue and white were inherited.
Before their first NFL season, the "new" Baltimore Colts engineered one of the biggest trades in sports history. In a deal with Cleveland involving 15 players, Baltimore received 10 Browns in exchange for five Colts. Among the players traded to Baltimore were Don Shula, Bert Rechichar, Carl Taseff and Art Spinney. These players helped the Colts open 1953 with a 13-9 upset of Chicago in a game where Rechichar booted a then-NFL record 56-yard field goal.
In 1954, the Colts hired Weeb Ewbank as head coach. Ewbank guided the Colts for nine seasons (the longest tenure of any Colts head coach) and won two conference and NFL championships.
On November 30, 1958, the Colts clinched their first Western Conference title with a 35-27 win over San Francisco before a record home sellout crowd of 57,557. Four weeks later, Baltimore won its first NFL title, downing the New York Giants, 23-17, in the fabled "sudden-death" overtime contest at Yankee Stadium.
The Colts repeated as champion in 1959, clinching their second conference crown after defeating the Giants, 31-16, in Baltimore for the NFL Championship.
