1983 Baltimore Colts season

31st season in franchise history; final one in Baltimore

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Colts seasons
1984 (Ind.) →

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. Professional football was reintroduced to the Baltimore market in 1994 with the creation of the Baltimore Stallions Canadian Football League team during what was essentially an ill-fated American expansion.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1983 Baltimore Colts draft
1	1	John Elway	Quarterback	Stanford	traded to the Denver Broncos
2	29	Vernon Maxwell	Linebacker	Arizona State
3	57	George Achica	Nose tackle	USC
4	85	Phil Smith	Wide receiver	San Diego State
5	113	Sid Abramowitz	Tackle	Tulsa
6	161	Grant Feasel	Center	Abilene Christian
7	169	Alvin Moore	Running back	Arizona State
9	225	Jim Mills	Tackle	Hawaii
9	241	Chris Rose	Tackle	Stanford
10	252	Ronald Hopkins	Defensive back	Murray State
11	280	Jim Bob Taylor	Quarterback	Georgia Tech
12	308	Carl Williams	Wide receiver	Texas Southern
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1983 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
John Miller	Linebacker	Mississippi State

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 95 Earnest Barnes DE 78 Steve Parker DE 99 Donnell Thompson DE 71 Henry Waechter DT 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 Raúl Allegre K 3 Rohn Stark P		Reserve lists 10 Art Schlichter QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

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

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
• Colts	3	10	7	3	6	29
Patriots	0	13	3	7	0	23

Date: September 4
Location: Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 78 °F (25.6 °C), wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Jim Turner

Scoring summary

Q1	BAL	Raúl Allegre 25 yard field goal	IND 3–0

Q2	NE	Stephen Starring 73 yard pass from Steve Grogan (kick failed)	NE 6–3

Q2	NE	Stanley Morgan 50 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick)	NE 13–3

Q2	BAL	Bernard Henry 16 yard pass from Mike Pagel (Raúl Allegre kick)	NE 13–10

Q2	BAL	Raúl Allegre 52 yard field goal	Tie 13–13

Q3	NE	John Smith 39 yard field goal	NE 16–13

Q3	BAL	Bernard Henry 5 yard pass from Mike Pagel (Raúl Allegre kick)	BAL 20–16

Q4	NE	Robert Weathers 9 yard run (John Smith kick)	NE 23–20

Q4	BAL	Raúl Allegre 33 yard field goal	Tie 23–23

Q4	BAL	Johnie Cooks 52 yard fumble return	BAL 29–23

^[2]

Week 15 at Broncos

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

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

Second quarter

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

Third quarter

BAL – Raúl 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
view talk edit	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

^ "Oilers 10 @ Colts 20, 12-18-83 - m.pfref.com". Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com

v t e 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 Blue Cheerleaders Elway to Marino Parks and Recreation
Lore	Dayton Triangles The Greatest Game Ever Played Ghost to the Post Move to Indianapolis 1995 AFC Championship Game Immaculate Redemption/The Tackle Deflategate Colts Catastrophe Snowvertime Minneapolis Miracle II
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
Category

v t e 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 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–65) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–65) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

1983 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay