Remember not too long ago when the Ravens’ fan base complained about not being featured enough in prime time games, particularly in Baltimore? Those days are gone, at least for now. The Ravens will host Indianapolis next Monday night, their third prime time game in the first five weeks of the season, and second at home with at least one each at home and on the road still to come.
Since we’re all primetime now, seems like a good time to look back (that’s what I do) at Baltimore’s history of football after dark. This week I’ll focus on the Colts, and later in the season I’ll review highlights of the Ravens’ nighttime contests.
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The Colts were reborn in 1953, and back in those days Saturday night games were a thing. The Colts played four of them in each of their first three seasons, then settled into hosting a Saturday night game in week 2 of the 1956-59 seasons. Baltimore then hosted the Cardinals on a Monday night in 1964 when their game was bumped from St. Louis due to the World Series. The Colts were actually the visiting team in their 47-27 win. Both of Baltimore’s games with Green Bay in 1966 were played on Saturday night, and their game with Philadelphia in 1969 was bumped to Monday night due to the 1969 World Series (the less said about that here the better).
Did you know that Baltimore hosted the second ever ABC Monday Night Football game? It was, to put it politely, a disaster even before the game was played. First, there was a contract dispute with the Orioles about using the stadium on that night. Back in those days, most NFL teams shared stadiums with their city’s MLB team, with the baseball team usually either the landlord or prime tenant.
In Baltimore, the Orioles had a clause that prohibited any other team from using the field within 36 hours of a scheduled baseball game. The Colts ran afoul of that clause with this Monday night game coming less than 24 hours before a scheduled doubleheader with the Washington Senators. However, the same agreement contained a clause that guaranteed the Colts use of Memorial Stadium any day after the last Sunday of September, which fell on the day before this scheduled game. Unable to find common ground, the two sides wound up in court on September 11th and the Colts received a favorable ruling on September 17th, but with conditions.
The Colts were required to leave the backstop and foul poles up, and the field was pushed out about 30 yards further from the closed end. It was a bad time to have lower deck end zone seats. This also placed the back of the end zone beyond where the pitchers’ mound was, allowing the ground crew to keep it intact. The end zone at the open end of the stadium was extended well out beyond the warning track and was kinda dark.
Turns out, the Colts would have been better off losing in court because they proceeded to get hammered on the field.
This was billed as a glamour matchup, the defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs vs. Johnny U and the Colts. There was one key number that night-11. Yes, 11 turnovers, with Baltimore contributing 7! Unitas had one of the worst games of his career, working to a passer rating of 6.4, 5-15 and 2 picks. Earl Morrall came in to finish it off with three more interceptions. The Colts trailed 31-7 at halftime and lost 44-24. Baltimore shook it off though, only losing once more that season on their way to winning the turnover infested Super Bowl V and never hosted a Monday Night game in September or October again.
The Colts’ most memorable season of Monday Night games came in 1978, when they made three appearances with three wildly different outcomes. Baltimore drew the opening Monday Night game that year, travelling to Dallas to take on the defending champion Cowboys. Unfortunately, QB Bert Jones, only two years removed from an MVP season, had separated his throwing shoulder in the final preseason game. That gave precious little time for backup Mike Kirkland to prepare for not only his first start but his first game experience in the NFL.
Kirkland at least broke double figures with a 24.2 QB rating (still abysmal). He got precious little help from anyone, really. The Colts were outgained 583-181 and fell 38-0 in a truly non-competitive effort. A Cowboy rookie enjoyed much better success in his debut that night-Tony Dorsett. He turned one of the first touches of his career into a 91-yard touchdown pass and had 254 combined yards from scrimmage. Kirkland would make only one more start that season and was out of football at the end of the year. Dorsett, of course, would wind up in the Hall of Fame.
Imagine the horror ABC executives must have felt afterwards when they glanced at their upcoming schedule and saw Baltimore coming up again in only two weeks in New England. The Patriots would supplant the Colts atop the AFC East in 1978 after losing out to them on the final week in 1977, and there was little reason for anyone to expect a much better game there than the opener, especially after Miami whipped Baltimore 42-0 in week 2.
They overlooked one thing-the Colts had Joe Washington. He had only recently joined the team, coming from San Diego in the Lydell Mitchell trade, and was ready to bust loose big time.
Head Coach Ted Marchibroda had quickly moved on from Kirkland to QB Bill Troup, who was in his fourth year with Baltimore but had only thrown a total of 20 passes in the first three. Troup had started the debacle against Miami, so there was no where to go but up. He did, at least on that night.
The teams slugged it out in the first half, with the Patriots leading 13-7 at the break. As the weather deteriorated from steady into driving rain, the game took a wild turn in the fourth quarter, the Patriots still holding on to their 13-7 lead.
The teams combined for six touchdowns in the final quarter, with Joe Washington having a hand (or legs) in three of them. He gave the Colts the lead with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Roger Carr, then scored on a 23-yard pass from Troup, who then connected with Carr for a 67-yard score. Touchdowns on three consecutive possessions was pretty heady stuff for a team that had only scored one in its first eleven quarters.
This staked the Colts to a shocking 27-13 lead, but the Patriots stormed back in the storm to even the score at 27-27 with less than two minutes to go. Washington saved his best for last, returning the ensuing kickoff 91 yards, splashing as he want, to put the Colts back in front 34-27. Baltimore held on to secure the win with an interception in the end zone with :15 left in the game.
The Colts’ final Monday Night appearance in 1978 didn’t have the action of that fourth quarter in Foxboro, but it made up for it with melodrama, a game the Baltimore Sun referred to the next day “as tense and thrilling a game as the …fans…will see.”
Bert Jones made only his second start of the season at QB that night, having not even been able to finish the first quarter in his previous attempt three weeks earlier before reinjuring his shoulder. The Redskins came in battling for first in the NFC East, having won their first six games but eventually ending up 8-8 and missing the playoffs.
Washington moved out to a 10-0 lead before Jones got the Colts moving. A 19-yard touchdown pass to Reese McCall cut the deficit to 10-7 at halftime, then the magical connection of Jones to Roger Carr started working. Carr caught a 78-yard touchdown pass from Jones to put the Colts ahead 14-10. Later in the third quarter, Jones took a hit and came off the field with his right arm hanging limp. Washington seized the momentum with a touchdown march that put them back up 17-14.
Amazingly, Jones returned to the field and threw the game winning 27-yard touchdown pass to Carr, a feat that the Sun said marked Jones “as one of the guttiest players to play on the Stadium turf.” Given that was where Unitas had demonstrated many acts of valor in days past, that was high praise indeed. Jones would play the next week in a win at Seattle but would yet again reinjure his throwing shoulder and sit out the rest of the 1978 season.
That Redskin game marked two milestones, unknown at the time. First, it was the last game Washington quarterback Billy Kilmer would ever start, and it was the last time the Baltimore Colts would appear on Monday Night Football, somewhat merciful considering how those last five seasons played out.
The Colts would wind up with an 8-4 record on Monday Night Football, and certainly finished with a flourish.
Fascinating Factoid of the Week:
Joe Washington’s heroics in the 1978 Monday night win at New England made him still the only player in NFL history to rush for a touchdown, catch a touchdown pass, and return a kick for a touchdown in the same game.
The Ravens have a game coming up next week with the Chargers. While there is not really a rivalry between the teams, they have played two games with memorable finishes, Darren Sproles being stuffed on 4th down in 2009, and “Hey Diddle Diddle, Ray Rice Up the Middle,” in 2012. I’ll take a look back at both games next week.
Until then, you can keep up with me on Twitter @jimjfootball and remember, it’s good to look back as long as you live forward.
Jim Johnson spent most of his life in Maryland, growing up with the Orioles, the Colts, Terps, and later Ravens. He started his sports writing career as “The Courtmaster,” covering the Terps and ACC hoops and was a frequent guest on Bob Haynie’s old WNST show and other sports talk across the region. He is currently in his second run at BSL. After previously covering Maryland and Big Ten Football, he now writes about the NFL, primarily the action in the AFC North. Jim covers both current and historic stories, seeking perspective and having fun in the process.