1983 Baltimore Colts season

Baltimore Colts
1983 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
Head coach	Frank Kush
General manager	Ernie Accorsi
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	T-4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G Chris Hinton

The 1983 Baltimore Colts season was the 31st season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). This would be the last season in Baltimore as they moved to Indianapolis for the following season. The Colts finished the year with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses, and tied for fourth in the AFC East division with the New York Jets. However, the Colts finished ahead of New York based on better conference record (5–9 to Jets’ 4–8).

Having finished the 1982 season with the NFL's worst record at a winless 0–8–1, the Colts held the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NFL draft and expected to land the nation's top collegiate player to their 1983 roster. The Colts used the top pick on John Elway of Stanford. Elway, however, refused to play for the Colts and even considered joining the New York Yankees baseball organization unless he was traded. The Colts were forced to trade Elway to the Denver Broncos and Mike Pagel retained his position as starting quarterback. The Elway controversy became more interesting when Elway's Broncos visited Baltimore for the second game of the season. The Broncos won that game 17–10. Later, when the teams faced each other again in Denver for the second-to-last game of the season, the Colts took a 19–0 lead over the Broncos, only to blow the lead in the fourth quarter and lose 21–19. They won their final game as a Baltimore team against the Houston Oilers 20–10.[1] This left Baltimore without an NFL team until the Ravens began play in 1996.

Personnel

Staff

**1983 Baltimore Colts staff**

	Front office President and Treasurer – Robert Irsay General Manager – Ernie Accorsi Director of Player Personnel – Jack Bushofsky Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Terpening Head coaches Head Coach – Frank Kush Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Zeke Bratkowski Running Backs – Roger Theder Receivers – Richard Mann Tight Ends – Mike Westhoff Offensive Line – Hal Hunter			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Gunther Cunningham Linebackers – Rick Venturi Secondary – Bob Valesente Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Westhoff

Roster

**1983 Baltimore Colts roster**

	Quarterbacks 9 Mark Herrmann 18 Mike Pagel 8 Mark Reed 12 Jim Bob Taylor Running backs 33 Curtis Dickey 32 Randy McMillan FB Wide receivers 85 Matt Bouza 80 Ray Butler 88 Bernard Henry 84 Victor Oatis 87 Tracy Porter Tight ends 81 Pat Beach 83 Tim Sherwin		Offensive linemen 74 Sid Abramowitz T 76 Karl Baldischwiler T 53 Ray Donaldson C 50 Grant Feasel C 75 Chris Hinton T 64 Ben Utt G 73 Steve Wright G Defensive linemen 97 Quinton Ballard DT 78 Steve Parker (defensive end, born 1959) DE 99 Donnell Thompson DE 69 Leo Wisniewski DT		Linebackers 52 Greg Bracelin 98 Johnie Cooks 55 Barry Krauss MLB 56 Vernon Maxwell 54 Sanders Shiver Defensive backs 30 Larry Anderson SS 45 Jim Burroughs CB 34 Jeff Delaney CB 25 Nesby Glasgow FS 42 Derrick Hatchett CB 29 Mark Kafentzis SS 44 Kendall Williams Special teams 2 Raul Allegre K 3 Rohn Stark P		Reserve lists 10 Art Schlichter QB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 4, 1983	at New England Patriots	W 29–23 OT	1–0	Sullivan Stadium	45,526
2	September 11, 1983	Denver Broncos	L 10–17	1–1	Memorial Stadium	52,613
3	September 18, 1983	at Buffalo Bills	L 23–28	1–2	Rich Stadium	40,937
4	September 25, 1983	Chicago Bears	W 22–19	2–2	Memorial Stadium	34,350
5	October 2, 1983	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 34–31	3–2	Riverfront Stadium	48,104
6	October 9, 1983	New England Patriots	W 12–7	4–2	Memorial Stadium	35,618
7	October 16, 1983	Buffalo Bills	L 7–30	4–3	Memorial Stadium	38,565
8	October 23, 1983	Miami Dolphins	L 7–21	4–4	Memorial Stadium	32,343
9	October 30, 1983	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 22–21	5–4	Veterans Stadium	59,150
10	November 6, 1983	at New York Jets	W 17–14	6–4	Shea Stadium	53,323
11	November 13, 1983	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–24	6–5	Memorial Stadium	57,319
12	November 20, 1983	at Miami Dolphins	L 0-37	6–6	Miami Orange Bowl	54,482
13	November 27, 1983	at Cleveland Browns	L 23–41	6–7	Cleveland Stadium	65,812
14	December 4, 1983	New York Jets	L 6–10	6–8	Memorial Stadium	35,462
15	December 11, 1983	at Denver Broncos	L 19–21	6–9	Mile High Stadium	74,864
16	December 18, 1983	Houston Oilers	W 20–10	7–9	Memorial Stadium	20,418

Week 1

[2]

Week 15 at Broncos

Week Fifteen: Baltimore Colts (6–8) at Denver Broncos (8–6)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	3	13	3	0	19
Broncos	0	0	0	21	21

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Date: December 11, 1983
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C)
Game attendance: 74,864
Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database

Game information

First quarter

BAL – Raul Allegre 42-yard field goal, 1:20. Colts 3–0. Drive:

Second quarter

BAL – Raul Allegre 55-yard field goal, 10:55. Colts 6–0. Drive:
BAL – Raul Allegre 41-yard field goal, 7:23. Colts 9–0. Drive:
BAL – Bernard Henry 40-yard pass from Mike Pagel (Raul Allegre kick), 5:55. Colts 16–0. Drive:

Third quarter

BAL – Raul Allegre 26-yard field goal, 7:50. Colts 19–0. Drive:

Fourth quarter

DEN – Clint Sampson 21-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick), 10:52. Colts 19–7. Drive:
DEN – Jesse Myles 26-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick), 4:54. Colts 19–14. Drive:
DEN – Gerald Willhite 26-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick), 0:44. Broncos 21–19. Drive:

Top passers

BAL – Mike Pagel – 13/27, 217 yards, TD, INT
DEN – John Elway – 23/44, 345 yards, 3 TD

Top rushers

BAL – Curtis Dickey – 19 rushes, 92 yards
DEN – John Elway – 3 rushes, 23 yards

Top receivers

BAL – Bernard Henry – 8 receptions, 169 yards, TD
DEN – Steve Watson – 4 receptions, 98 yards

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins⁽²⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	9–3	389	250	W5
New England Patriots	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	274	289	L1
Buffalo Bills	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	283	351	L2
Baltimore Colts	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–9	264	354	W1
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	3–5	4–8	313	331	L2

References

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2016-05-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Pro-Football-Reference.com

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2016-05-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Pro-Football-Reference.com

Indianapolis Colts
Founded in 1953 Played in Baltimore (1953–1983) Based and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana
Franchise	History in Baltimore relocation to Indianapolis Players Quarterbacks Coaches Seasons Draft First-round draft picks Ring of Honor
Stadiums	Memorial Stadium RCA Dome Lucas Oil Stadium
Culture	Carroll Rosenbloom Robert Irsay Jim Irsay 12th Man AAFC Colts Baltimore Colts Marching Band The Band That Wouldn't Die Blue Cheerleaders Parks and Recreation
Lore	The Greatest Game Ever Played Ghost to the Post 1995 AFC Championship Game Immaculate Redemption/The Tackle Deflategate Colts Catastrophe Snow Bowl
Rivalries	Houston Texans New England Patriots Brady–Manning rivalry
Division championships (16)	1968 1970 1975 1976 1977 1987 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2013 2014
Conference championships (7)	1958 1959 1964 1968 1970 2006 2009
League championships (5)	1958 1959 1968 1970 (V) 2006 (XLI)
Retired numbers	18 19 22 24 70 77 82 89
Media	Broadcasters WFNI-AM Bob Lamey Jim Sorgi
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: American Football Conference Division: South Division
Seasons (67)	1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Championship seasons in bold Category

Indianapolis Colts seasons
Played in Baltimore (1953–1983)
1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance