Book Review: "The Midnight Skedaddle: The Baltimore Colts' Move to Indianapolis, 1984"

By Jim Holt 

Excepting recent expansion franchises, there are only 4 teams in the 4 major North American

professional sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey) which have never either relocated or

threatened the same.

Timothy Thompson’s "The Midnight Skedaddle: The Baltimore Colts’ Move to Indianapolis,

1984"  is a richly detailed recounting of the background and circumstances pertaining to a franchise relocation. 

The meticulous, if at times repetitive 506(!) pages provide a virtual “play by play” of the multi-decade series of situations and decisions that

resulted in the move.

A number of themes permeate the book. There is a celebration of the unique bond that

developed between the fans of Baltimore and the team the city adopted as their own in the early

1950s and grew into a fanaticism bordering on a religious cult during the golden age of pro

football.

Gino Marchetti perhaps characterized the relationship between the Colts and the city best: “We

were like a high school team in a small town; it was like ‘Saturday Night Lights’ on Sunday

afternoon.”

Throughout the narrative, Thompson threads parallels with the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and the trauma their followers experienced when they deserted Brooklyn for the glamor

of LA.

The business of football is starkly portrayed. Colts’ owner Carol Rosenbloom’s dissatisfaction

with the condition of Memorial Stadium and the hesitation of city officials to address his concerns over time ultimately resulted in helping Illinois businessman Bob Irsay’s purchase of the Los Angeles Rams and subsequent (and unique) franchise trade with Rosenbloom in 1972.

Enter the erratic and impulsive Irsay to Baltimore. Two seasons removed from NFL Champions,

and the previous year playoff team, Irsay immediately alienated and enraged the fanbase. 

After a 1-4 start with GM Thomas benching legend John Unitas and gutting the bulk of veteran players.

Over subsequent seasons, Irsay (usually under the influence of alcohol) fired coaches at

halftime, called plays from the owner’s box, berated and fined players publicly, botched the

John Elway draft, and openly shopped the team around the country to locations including

Jacksonville, Memphis, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Mike Chappel, veteran Indy Start beat

reporter summarized: “Bob Irsay is loud, irrational, meddlesome, bombastic, tanked, and

unhinged.”

Notwithstanding the drama, there was cold calculation. Irsay’s attitude was crystal clear on

more than one occasion (including his arrival in Indianapolis): “It’s not your team, it’s not the

city’s team. It’s my family’s team.” The disconnect between fans (customers) and owners

(product providers) has never been articulated so coldly or accurately.

It is probable that given the toxic atmosphere and his pariah status in Baltimore that Irsay would

inevitably have moved the Colts. The failure of local government to build the team a new

stadium (which, of course, they subsequently did for the Orioles and Ravens) was a strategic error

that doomed the team by the early 1980s. 

Courted by a united civic front in Indiana (Indianapolis city government and Indiana Sports Corporation), Irsay was presented with the option of a brand-newHoosier Dome in Indiana (and other lucrative enticements) or a refurbished Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Panicked Baltimore officials proposed taking the team by “eminent domain,” which Irsay simply sidestepped by loading up the Mayflowers and hightailing it out of Baltimore on the snowy night of March 28-29, 1984.

Timothy Thompson’s Midnight Skedaddle provides us with invaluable insight into a seminal moment

in pro football history.

This reviewer never lived in Maryland, but paraphrasing the song “Mr. Bojangles”,  “ ... after 40

years, he still grieves.”

Oh.....the four?

• Chicago Cubs 1876
• Montreal Canadiens 1909
• Green Bay Packers 1919
• Boston Celtics 1947