The Move | Episode 3: Mayflower

The Move | Episode 3: Mayflower

[Music] last time I talked to you and stemman you were a bad man so I don’t want to talk to you let me the first question okay what y let me ask one thing what is all this about it’s Saturday Jan January 20th 1984 Robert ERS the owner of the Baltimore Colts is just inside the doors of a building at Baltimore Washington International Airport he’s flanked to his left by William Donald Schaefer the mayor of Baltimore in front of him is a stand with several microphones bearing the logos of Baltimore news stations it’s a press conference and it’s being carried live on TV in Baltimore local stations preempted the Dukes of Hazard and Webster for this and it was called by Robert ERS who had just flown from Las Vegas to Baltimore to address a bombshell report wait let me put in perspective go go Dad on the on the uh give me a give me a break let the mayor have a chance what thank you in the newspaper in the newspaper today there was a story that said uh Robert ERS was in Arizona and that the Mr Mayor and Mr at the podium let’s go right to them I am I told uh everyone that you told me if you were going to move the team ever going to move the team you would tell me first what they’re here for all we get this over real fast I haven’t been in Arizona I haven’t been in zero Arizona I’ve been in uh three four places where I got uh working machines going of my own companies I haven’t been in Phoenix I give you my word of honor I’m a good good Catholic I haven’t been in Arizona what the hell do this all come from who started this govern I don’t want to talk to you I don’t want to talk to you govern the governor’s Aid had mentioned that last night to uh the media and that’s where I want to give you my word of Honor I have not been in Arizona uh for the last couple days did you have a meeting planned today with the Govern I didn’t have any meetings planned I don’t know where all this comes from Don schaer my friend the report in fact was true ERS and the Colts had come to a handshake agreement with Arizona businessman Anthony Nikolai who was a close friend of then head coach Frank kushes as well as Arizona government officials to relocate the Baltimore Colts to Phoenix Nikolai had been working on a deal to get the Colts to move to Phoenix since January 5th which was a little over a week after the Colts 1983 season ended a meeting between ERS Nikolai and Arizona governor Bruce babbett was scheduled for Friday January 19th and there was a good chance that by the end of that meeting the Baltimore Colts would have became the Arizona Colts back at Colts headquarters in Owings Mills Maryland Pete Ward who’s now the Colts Chief Operating Officer stopped by general manager Ernie ACC Cory’s office that Friday and found him finishing up a phone call with Robert ERS January 19th of 1984 and I was an administrative assistant I was down the hall from the general manager Ernie Cory Jim Ray was in Tampa for the Super Bowl that year I was delivering a document to our general man with the time into his office and he was on the phone with Mr ERS and he hung up it was me and one other person the director of marketing who was a close friend to Ernie back then and he said we’re moving to Phoenix we’re moving and he looked at me and I was cheap labor and he said I’m going to need you to help you know with the logistics because I was part of my job was buses and things like that and that was the the extent of it and I went back to my office office and I was like you know kind of in shock but also excited because you know I I’ve been through Phoenix and I it appealed to me you know and I think the first thing I did was call my parents I said my I was just told we’re moving to Phoenix you know I don’t know when but just you know I don’t know when yet you know and then 20 minutes later I get called down to Ernie’s office I get paage Pete Ward come to my office I went down there and he’s on the phone again and he h the phone he was with Mr he said yeah yeah Bob okay okay Bob okay and he hung up the phone and he said somebody from the governor’s office in Arizona leaked a deal and he’s pulling out he wants me to call a press conference Airport tonight and then he looked at me and and he goes what the is he doing that meeting between ERS and the Arizona folks that was supposed to be on January 19th it never happened news of the deal had hit newspapers and radio Airwaves across the country first the meeting was delayed then it was cancelled nickoli held out hope the deal could be revived he later told the Arizona Republic until Robert R showed up at BWI ostensibly to clear the air with that press conference now why would I want to go to Arizona did Mr Nikolai come to you Mr Nikolai is a friend of mine has he’s a friend of Frank kushes now you just put this in your bag he’s a friend of Frank kushes not mine did he offer you I don’t he offered me whatever I want money I have not any intention to moving the goddamn team if I did I will tell you about it okay stay here I said if I have an intention of moving the team I will tell you about it ERS with the city of Baltimore watching was continually pressed by the media on reports of the deal and he continued to deny there ever was a deal in place now we have no deal with Mr Tony Tony is a friend Anthony Nikolai is a friend of Frank kushes not mine I only saw him once I that’s I can’t picture what all this is about was that in Chicago two weeks ago sir he was he was my guest in Chicago two weeks ago well that’s supposedly when this deal was formulated there 5% was no deal formulated okay weren’t you supposed to meet the governor of Arizona today no absolutely not why did he say that I don’t want to talk to you tell everybody else I don’t want to talk to you any other questions why would he say that why would he say that I don’t call him the whole scene that unfolded on live TV gripped the city of Baltimore a city that for all the rumors about the Colts leaving over the last six or seven years collectively didn’t believe the Colts would actually pick up and leave a reporter then asked gers if he would pledge to keep the Colts in Baltimore how strong you feel stay in Baltimore I’m very strong about it I have no problems with the mayor I have a very fine lease all right I let me tell you sign the contract for the mayor now will you sign the contract with the stadium for the mayor let me tell you I flew a couple thousand miles to be here tonight and I don’t need any gra aggravation all right and I only came because of him because of him and I told you I flew a lot of miles today that’s my plane out there and that burned Burns a lot of fuel I come over to tell you I don’t know what the hell this is about only because Anthony Nicholas made a statement now why don’t you make a statement well I think speaking on behalf of media we we love the Colts and we want to make sure on behalf of everyone who lives here that it stays here if you love the Colts why don’t you treat me right I’m going to send you some uh articles this man here number one instead with a couple others hang me all the time what do you hang me for that’s a report of for local paper that you’re referring to now I’m reporting to read the papers what do you hang me for you want me here why you hang me what do you hang me for took the plane to Baltimore that night and kind of reiterated his commitment to Baltimore but no one believed him our relationship with our fan base in Baltimore was blown to hell it was surreal okay it was stunning it was just uh Baltimore had had broken away from the regular program it was live broadcast live on Baltimore TV all the satellite trucks were there and um it was just a you know a surreal scene and and then what kept running through my mind is how are we going to salvage this you know with our fans and with the city how are we going to Sal what what are we going to do from here you know Ward didn’t know it at the time no one with the Colts did as they picked up the pieces of an irrevocably shattered relationship with the city of Baltimore but what the Colts are going to do from there from that moment at BWI they were going to move to Indianapolis this is episode three of the move [Music] Mayflower over the seven or so minutes Robert ‘s press conference was on live TV in Baltimore plenty of people who didn’t believe the Colts would skip town they changed their minds this was the team of Johnny unitis the team that brought Baltimore its first championship and the team that finally allowed the city to compete against its East Coast Rivals but now folks thought they actually were going to leave a WB TV News special in January 1984 after that press conference featured some comments from less than optimistic baltimoreans one citizen said he felt like Robert ERS had made up his mind the team was leaving another looked into the camera and begged saying quote please do not take our Baltimore Colts away from us among those folks trending toward pessimism was William Donald Schaefer the immensely popular mayor of Baltimore who stood next to ERS in that press conference he shuffled side to side he gazed down then up and he wore an exasperated look on his face after the press conference schaer who had steadfastly remained optimistic he would work out a deal With Ur to keep the Colts in Baltimore was asked if he was confident the city’s football team would stay put his answer was a strong no according to the Arizona Republic that was a significant change in his tone back at Colts headquarters things went back to normal for the football side of the building Rick ventu who’s now a color analyst on the Colts radio network was entering his third season as an assistant coach the weekend the Arizona deal imploded he and other coaches were told to not go anywhere and stay by their phones since a team might wind up being the Arizona Colts within hours if not days but after that press conference it was fair to think this was just yet another false alarm it got really quiet you know after the Arizona thing and it was almost as if you know well maybe this is just another threat like Jacksonville had been a couple years before things were different though for the Colts business operations plenty of folks on that side of the building were Maryland Natives and there were folks who probably wouldn’t join the team in a new city and from a business standpoint too the lack of certainty about where the Colts would actually be playing in 1984 but plenty of stress on staff members total unpredictability it was a very unsettling time you didn’t really know we still had not issued season ticket renewals or renewals without sponsors you know and car dealers and all that sort of things so it was really a tough time for a lot of employees after Phoenix fell through Memphis popped up in the relocation Rumor Mill but that was dispelled pretty quickly weeks went by with the Spectre of the team moving still hanging around though nothing close to that 2-day stretch in January had materialized but again the lasting effect of the near Miss in Arizona and the ensuing press conference was a lingering feeling in Baltimore that the Colts were going to move and somewhat quickly an otherwise off the- map Midwestern city a city which was putting the finishing touches on a 60,000 seat do Stadium raced to the Forefront of the rumor mill Indianapolis Indiana state and local officials in Maryland were aware of the Colts talks with Indianapolis which picked up steam in the days and weeks after the Phoenix deal fell through and negotiations with Phoenix and the city of Baltimore were still ongoing with the Colts although Indianapolis had a major advantage they already had the Dome Robert Ur wanted built Baltimore was nowhere near building a new stadium they were still negotiating renovations to Memorial Stadium and Phoenix promised a dome but hadn’t begun building one yet in Arizona there was nothing there Colts owner and CEO Jim R oh yeah come and play in a college Stadium uh you know where the college team plays and uh you know as far as a new stadium we have nothing on that yet for you buddy and oh by the way you’re probably going to have to sell at least 49% if not 50 you know uh to you know several different businessmen in Arizona I mean there was no way and while some Baltimore officials were still trying to pitch Robert ERS on staying in town others realized they were out of options to cut a deal with the Colts and perhaps it was time to operate not with the Olive Branch but with the [Music] bayonet on March 2nd 1984 Mark waserman who is an aid to Mayor schaer wrote a memo presenting a last ditch but aggressive option to keep the Colts in Baltimore it read quote I can’t help but assume that ERS has himself so boxed in that there is almost nothing left but for him to move the franchise even if the Indianapolis deal were to fall through this morning the situation here is so badly deteriorated that it would be virtually impossible to think that he would or could remain here I find it hard to believe that we are going to sit back and watch him go without so much as a whimper after the mistreatment that we you have been subjected to for my money what little there is we ought to take our best shot and complicate the move any way we can I recommend that you consider seriously seeking Council passage of a condemnation ordinance today and couple that with seeking an injunction a condemnation ordinance otherwise known as eminent domain they threaten because negotiations have become so acrimonious Jerry sanduski is a Baltimore native who’s now the voice of the Ravens they floated the threat they didn’t make the direct thre but they floated the idea that they were going to initiate eminent domain basically saying the culture so valuable to this community the city now owns the Cults kind of like you know a dictatorship taking over the oil factory or the lumber Factory you’ve probably heard of local state or federal government officials claiming eminent domain over private property to build infrastructure a highway Public Works Etc but claiming eminent domain over a football team that’s a stretch right you’d think so but earlier in the decade the city of Oakland claimed eminent domain over the Raiders when Al Davis to move to Los Angeles the Raiders took the city of Oakland to court and the eminent domain claim was dismissed with prejudice meaning it could not be refiled the city of Oakland though appealed to a higher court and had the ruling reversed in 1982 the case would go to trial in granting the appeal the court cited a government code that read quote a City May acquire by eminent domain any property necessary to carry out any of its powers or functions effectively if Baltimore could show having the Colts a team so entrenched in their community and so entwined with citizens civic pride was necessary to carry out the city’s powers or functions maybe it had a shot at least to mess things up for the Colts the case of the city of Oakland versus the Oakland Raiders was still ongoing in 1984 there was a lot going on about the stadium about eminent domain about trying to do something to force the team to stay in Baltimore Jane Miller was a long time reporter for Channel 11 in Baltimore and I think there was some skepticism generally about whether you could do that the Raiders despite ongoing litigation with not just the city of Oakland but an Anti-Trust suit against the NFL still were able to move to Los Angeles in 1982 Al Davis had made plans to move to Los Angeles long before the 1981 season ended which was a much more normal relocation timeline as far as Baltimore was concerned because the Colts hadn’t entered an agreement with another city maybe they had a shot to really things up or Force Robert ERS to sell the team to an owner who would keep them in Baltimore it’s very clear you know what the imminent domain law was and what it potentially meant to destroy in your business but what’s even more clear is their intent to to fight that’s the message I I think that forced them to make a decision a headline in the Baltimore Sun on March 6th 1984 read quote legal scholar thinks eminent domain could hold the key the article was an interview with a law professor at NYU who thought based on Oakland’s chances of continuing to emerge with favorable judgments in court against the Raiders as well as a few other recent other uses of eminent domain that the city of Baltimore’s best shot at keeping the Colts was by pulling that lever that was hard ly the only article in the Baltimore Sun floating or even encouraging the idea of local government using eminent domain to keep the CTS that’s how dir the circumstances were for a state and local government that didn’t seriously consider the Colts moving until they got to the goal line with Phoenix still as the days bled off the calendar in March the prospect of the Colts relocating for the 1984 season seemed to dwindle the immediate threat that presented itself in January maybe was fading TV news stations still covered every meeting or rumor about the possib of the Colts leaving town but internally within the organization there was doubt as to whether the team would actually relocate in 1984 I and every other employee didn’t really know what was going to happen and by March 27th 28th there’s no way we’re moving it’s too late in the year you know we have the draft coming up in a few weeks and we got mini camp a week after that and then we got training camp coming up and and it was just and we you know we’d have to sell season tickets and all sort of thing it was just it was so was unbelievable when when it happened you know how it happened and why the Colts had to leave Baltimore in the cover of Darkness started with an under the radar action by the Maryland state senate on March 27th 1984 a bill was brought to the floor of the Maryland state senate by Thomas Bramwell a state senator from Baltimore County the legislation would Grant the city of Baltimore power to claim eminent domain over the Colts according to a Baltimore news blurb in the morning paper on March 28th the bill quote slipped quietly through the state senate by a resounding vote of 38 to4 it was expected to fly through the Maryland house and quickly be signed into law but for the Baltimore Colts there was nothing quiet about the bill passing through a chamber of Maryland’s assembly with very little opposition the message was clear the state and city government were coming for the Colts so what did the club do I lived at an apartment called Morningside Heights where a lot of the players lived and it overlooked the complex so I was that close John Scott was the Colts equipment manager in 1984 so that was a Tuesday and about 10:00 at night I get a telephone call pick it up and I recognize the voice right away it’s Jim ERS and it’s Johnny it’s Jim talks you know I just talked to my dad we’re moving it’s 27th at night I go oh my gosh I said when he said tomorrow I’m like oh my gosh then I said Phoenix fingers crossed and there’s a long pause he goes no Indie and then he told me hey you got to keep this quiet you can’t tell any of the staff working with the Colts you can’t tell your friends you got to keep it quiet from your family I’m going oh my gosh what is going on and it was you know didn’t know at the time that state of Maryland City Baltimore they’re trying to get the team to eminent tomain Colts vice president and general counsel Michael chernoff recalled seeing the emminent domain blurb in the Baltimore Sun tucked away in a note section deep within the paper and feeling like as he told the New York Times later in 1984 quote they were putting a gun to Mr ‘s head and cocking the trigger and for ERS and the Colts they didn’t have time to figure out if that gun was loaded or not the bottom line is they forced him to move because they were going to you know imminent domain means for those people who’ve never heard of the laws is it means you know the city you know we’re building a new highway for the public interest we’re going to you know claim your house and it says your house is worth 200,000 so you have you don’t have a choice here’s do 100,000 get out of your house because the highway is coming through here they were going to try to use that on the football team that okay we’re taking the Colts because it has to stay here for the public interest Scott the equipment manager slipped into the Colts Owings Mills facility at 4:00 in the morning on March 28th he shut the doors to the team’s equipment room and he started packing an NFL team knowing he had barely 24 hours to complete a job that otherwise would have taken weeks if not months then it was so surreal as I’m doing it packing the uniforms up I’m going I wonder if the colors are going to change wonder if the name is going to CH all these things going through my head as I’m packing it up and still am I going to pinch my Am I Dreaming this thing business side employees front office staffers and coaches all showed up to work that morning in owing Mills like it was a normal day the coaches went to work with their usual schedule they had meetings on football in the morning and then they had meetings on the upcoming NFL draft in the afternoon the Colts had two first round picks that year their own at number eight overall and the 19th overall pick acquired from the Denver Broncos in 1983’s John Elway trade there was plenty of work to do it was about midm morning and my good friend rest in peace Hal Hunter uh was my good friend and one of our assistance and he was real close to Frank and he stopped me in the hallway and whispered he whispered Hey listen don’t go home tonight after work uh coach is coming back in coach wasn’t even in town and he he wasn’t in town a lot in those days during the off season so he said he’s coming back in town we’re going to have a meeting about 6:00 he said so um you know just don’t make any plans I think it’s important and we didn’t say very much after that everybody just kind of I went about my business and he said now don’t say anything to anybody news of the team’s impending move to Indianapolis was kept under strict need to know orders not all staffers were going to leave Baltimore with the team and legitimately there was a risk that if the wrong person found out something was up the whole move could fall apart because if the wrong person found out and the wrong person let the media know then the state government could have acted swiftly to get the eminent domain Bill signed into law which at best would have complicated things for the Colts at worst it could have blocked a move forced Robert ERS to sell the club and kept the team languishing in Memorial Stadium the reason for the stealth the reason for the immediacy was that Baltimore now they were going to try to block Bob from leing and they were going to try to block him with the legal concept of eminent domain you know with essentially says that the community owns the franchise and you can’t move it and he I guess felt his legal people felt that maybe they could do that and so he was going to get out of Dodge before it got to the uh you know to the house or whatever so I mean I think that was the reason for the stealth in the immediacy of it as the hours ticked away and as employees began getting ready to go home not knowing it would be their last day of work for the Baltimore Colts Pete Ward was summoned to Jim ‘s office for the second time in 1984 Ward was told the Colts were moving late in the day Jim calls me in his office and says uh you know my dad says we’re moving tonight to Indie go home get your personal life in order I live like 5 minutes away in an apartment and but be back here by 10:00 because all the trucks are going to arrive and you need to help bring some semblance of order to the move so and I had very few possessions and not much of a personal life so that part was easy for me one of Ward’s first orders make sure everyone who sticks around to pack the team up stays safe after the the Phoenix thing I had to hire G guard a guard company with guard dogs because we’re getting death threats and bomb threats we had them on call and and right after I was told we’re moving I call them up and uh we had so we had security there most employees left work that day not noticing or thinking anything was up the Colts facility was two stories with the football side of the team’s operation on the first floor and the business side on the second floor but one eagle-eyed staffer a guy who stayed late after work to play racketball at the facility yes it was a facility that had a racket ball court noticed something strange as he left work everyone else has to be out of the building and it was a short list you know and you know we were waiting for while kakowski get out of the building cuz he was playing racketball and we’re like cuz he wasn’t on the list to come there’s one gentleman who a great guy uh he was our PR director a young man um he’s only 23 years old at the time he was our PR director you know and um I went home and he called me at home and he said Pete something’s going on here I was leaving the office and all the coach’s cars are here but all their doors are closed and I said well hold on Walt let me come over there so I went uh to the office and I met with Walt I went down to see Jim and that’s when he told me everything and I said well Walt knows something’s up and he said well send Walt down to me Walt being a great guy you know took it you know like a man he said I understand and um this is tough situation I know you know it’s not you’re doing and there’s a there’s a funny aside to that and that’s when Walt and I uh when you walked into the employee entrance you walked right into the coach’s hallway and as Walt and I walk into the coach’s hallway Rick comes out of his office with a with a box sees us and [Laughter] goes what the hell man you know that was Rick so Walt went home and as far as I know he never told anybody he gave his word to Jim he never told anybody Venturi found out what was going on that evening he stayed past 5:00 and a few hours later he found himself in a conference room with seven other coaches a handful of front office staffers Pete Ward and Jim ERS Jim clears his throat like you always did in those days he always clears cleared his throat before he delivered and I’ll never forget what he said he said okay men he goes the deal has been done we’re moving to Indianapolis tonight the trucks will be here at 11: we will all assist in different deals to help on the move and this will be done with the secrecy of moving an embassy in Washington DC don’t tell your wives don’t tell your girlfriends we want this thing totally absolutely quiet I remember calling Miss Sher and saying uh Sher I I think I’m going to be really late tonight and she said well how late and I said I might not be home at all everybody left in the building had a specific job venturi’s was to take town all the blackboards and whiteboards in the complex he grabed gra a screwdriver and he went to work everything and I mean everything had to be taken off the walls and thrown into boxes time was of the essence anything that didn’t make it onto the Mayflower moving trucks which were a few hours from rolling into the team facility might not make it to Indianapolis anything left behind could be caught in legal limbo the moment Baltimore claimed eminent domain over the Colts so everything that was essential to the operation of a football team had to be on its way to Indianapolis in just a few hours back in Indianapolis the work folks like David Frick had done prior to March 28th paid off the city of Indianapolis and the Colts were on the same page for the terms of a deal to relocate the Colts guaranteed attendance a favorable loan a new training facility stuff like that Mayor Bill hudnut had already secured moving vans through Mayflower whose CEO happened to be his nextdoor neighbor Mayflower had a convoy of 11 moving vans ready to head east down Interstate 70 to go get the Colts so when Robert ERS called hudnut at 11:00 in the morning on Wednesday March 28th to tell him we’re coming to Indianapolis the city was not just ready they were ready right now Indianapolis didn’t build the hoer doome so they could secure a team overnight they built it thinking the NFL would expand to their City sometime in the 1980s but because they had already had a brand new 60,000 seat do stadium with Sky boxes and luxury amenities Indianapolis was uniquely ready to welcome the Colts whenever they were ready to move HUD nuts risky no guts no glory play for an NFL franchise was about to pay off as the sun set on March 28th 1984 all that had to happen was getting those Mayflower trucks loaded up in Baltimore and on the road to Indianapolis before the city of Baltimore could claim eminent domain over the Colts easy right and right at 10:00 all the trucks arrive and they coming in it’s dark we’re kind of in a rural area and they have their lights out and they’re all Mayflower Vans and a bus comes in this is how spooked the Colts were at the wrong people getting wind of what was happening chernof scrapped HUD nut’s plan of a convoy of Mayflower trucks and asked him to have the moving company dispatch trucks from a handful of East Coast Depots the drivers were to arrive at the Colts complex in owing Mills after Nightfall but they were not to be told their destination until it was absolutely necessary so finally it was time and I swear I remember standing outside waiting for the trucks and it was dark and it was snowing and when that first truck went in the first gear and and Owens Mills back then you had to climb a big hill to get to our parking lot in the complex and I said my God the whole state of Maryland could hear that hudnut earlier in the day had called Mayflower CEO John B Smith at about 11:45 a.m. and he told him send the trucks meanwhile the folks who were swiftly packing up boxes needed some help getting those boxes onto the waiting moving trucks that’s when a bus showed up filled with college students from the University of Maryland who were usually tasked with moving foreign diplomats and dignitaries around the Washington DC region and I hopped on on the bus and there’s all the Packers you know and the guy in front says um hey man is this an embassy you know cuz embassies move at night it didn’t take long for those college kids on the bus to realize what they were doing and how they might be able to take a little advantage of the situation so the trucks are pulling up then a bus pulls up and it’s all these workers hired that night or the day before to come in and then they started taking a lot of the boxes that I had going on the Mayflower trucks so I’m kind of watching these guys and then about a hour later I noticed watching these guys and they had coats on it was a rainy snowy night and underneath their jackets was half zipped I could see Baltimore across here but I’d heard earlier that these guys came from Washington DC and I’m thinking to myself wait minut these guys are fans why do they have I know where I’m going with this they would go in the back parts of these rooms put on a jersey put on a Colts shirt or hat whatever put their jacket back on and then walk out and then they were ripping us off you know and these guys were gaining weight God that guy looked like he was 190 P now he’s 240 and know he’s like the Michelin Man yeah they’re stealing stuff right and left it was mass chaos so I got with the guy in charge I said hey you know something’s going on here you know whatever it is you need to get with those people he goes okay I get I get it give me 15 minutes so when went back in the locker room there’s a mountain of stuff there’s footballs jerseys hat all in this big pile you know what these guys had taken from I’m sure they got off with some the scene at the Colts facility was utterly chaotic how could it be anything but a handful of people were trying to move an NFL team as fast as they could organization was not at a premium it wasn’t like okay let’s do to this office and this office so I couldn’t be everywhere to label boxes I I it was just mass chaos and so that’s how things end up being packed and shipped and when we got to Indianapolis it was just a big pile of boxes and desks and uh you know weed M bank’s hat and the footballs and everything as snow and darkness fell in owing Mills that sleepy somewhat rural Baltimore suburb the move was going according to plan at least as planned out as moving an NFL team with a few hours notice could be nobody outside the building had let it slip that the team was about to skip town but at some point in the night Ward had to call up the Colts football video guy all the video equipment in the building actually belonged to the video director not the team now our video director at the time was a native baltimorean and he owned our video equipment so we had to call him in to come get his equipment and he he was a long time I mean all the way back to the 50s you know and he was the one who ended up calling local radio station that’s what broke it you know about about midnight word was out shortly after the news broke over the r radio Airwaves the pitch black snowy Darkness outside the Colts complex was broken by the glowing lights of TV trucks news crews were quickly dispatched to owing Mills that was before cell phones and everything else Jane Miller the longtime Baltimore news reporter was quickly sent to owing Mills to report that night you know clearly word got out that they were moving so I hustled out there and it’s in oing Mills which is about it’s a suburb of Baltimore city it’s probably about 20 30 minutes outside the city it was a nasty night it was dreary weather it was like a wet snow that was falling uh by the time the sun came up John Zeman the leader of the Colt marching band worked at a local TV station in Baltimore he and his wife Charlene who was also involved in the Colt band were out that night doing auditions for the 1984 season at the time I worked for w TV in Baltimore in studio uh operations and and um the night they moved I was auditioning new drummers because at the time I was also in charge of percussion line a drum line my wife Charlene was auditioning new flagline for some reason I don’t know why we didn’t turn a radio on going home and I got home my son Christopher was born Patrick was just born he was a month old maybe two and the babysitter just looked at me coming in I thought something happened to one of the buies and she just pointed to the TV and I saw Mayflower and I saw the name bottle calls inside the building and then they was H Zan was dispatched to owing’s Mills to help with wm’s coverage of the night he was one of the few people around Baltimore who for years truly belied the Colts were destined to move but as he watched those green moving vans get loaded up the emotions he felt were difficult to process Zan was a true CT fan someone who was intimately involved with the team and someone whose civic pride swelled when he played the CT fight song before games and even if he thought this day would come watching it unfold in person was as heartbreaking as it was surreal I had to take a l kit and go out to the Bal Mall’s complex with reporter Susan white bin and stand out there all night in the snow and freezing rain and watch the Mayflower Moving bands leave and it was hard on me as as a citizen and and a bottom cold span but even harder on me as somebody invested in that team and that at lot of times I didn’t think this isn’t real Am I Dreaming inside the facility the frenetic work getting things loaded up was starting to wind down some of the trucks began leaving in the wee hours of the morning I would say 2:30 to 3:00 a.m. somewhere in there you know it escapes me a little bit but then Jim called us all together and he said okay our part of it is done um you know we want you guys to go on home he said we will then I’ll fly out on my dad’s plane uh we will leave from Dallas airport and he gave us a time and obviously we couldn’t leave from Maryland I mean that we the LI to get [Music] kills but leaving the now baren Colts complex was not going to be the easiest thing for anyone there the presence of news crews complicated things the employees who were left in the facility would ultimately have to leave and get past those Crews waiting outside for one employee that was an especially problematic situation Jim ERS who was the son of owner Robert ERS while Jimmy as he was known to Baltimore locals was largely well-liked and respected in the area there were threats against him and his family he said just to let you know you and I are flying to Indianapolis in a couple of hours I think okay all right he goes we got to get some sleep are you almost done here I said yeah he goes I I can’t I can’t go home because there’s been death threats on my family everything else I said well wait a minute we just go to my apartment he goes yeah but you’re going have to sneak me out of here I said well okay we can do that so we went in my car I’m driving Jim’s in the passenger side I have this big blank in the back I throw it over them now as we’re going out of course there’s a lot of news people and they got their cameras and everything and I’m pulling it up you know they’re stopping me and taking pictures I roll down the window I said okayy can I help you oh that’s John’s got equipment guy yeah come on through you know so I went there and Jin’s hiding underneath there as Dawn broke on Thursday March 29th some employees those ones who left the day before at 5:00 p.m. treed through the snow and slush to the Colts complex a handful of longtime fans showed up to see the sight of their team leaving Baltimore for themselves the mood among the folks outside the gate our people watching things unfold on the morning news or Colts fans in general was a mix of the five stages of grief there was denial I was doing an internship at a TV station and it came across the AP wire story Jerry sanduski is a Baltimore native who’s now the voice of the Baltimore Ravens that the Colts had moved and I read it a couple times before I could digest it because it was like saying you know what Christmas no longer exists there’s now only seven months in the year it was like all these impossible thoughts that hit you all at once there was anger when you have to sneak out in the middle of the night don’t inform your vested employees of your intentions I don’t want to work for people like that there was bargaining you never forget the Colts are you going to go on wearing that hat absolutely we’re still going down our convention June Ocean City to carouse we’re not going to stop just because the teams gone the band didn’t stop in 50 and 51 so why should we stop we’ll be here when the new Colts come in there was depression I saw my father cried twice in his life my father was born in 1919 he died in 92 I saw him cry when his sister died and I saw him cry when the Colts left town and there was acceptance the last person out the very last person out was a gentleman by the name of Walter katowski Walter was the pr director and he came out and un paraphrase and said guys don’t stand out here in a cold they’re gone and he closed the G and that was it whoever you believe was to blame for the Colts overnight move whether that’s Robert ERS the state legislator eminent domain whoever whatever the impact on scores of people was profound they hadn’t just lost their team they went to bed on March 28th as Baltimore Colts fans they woke up on March 29th without a team without a piece of their identity and without a part of their city and the speed with which that happened which with they had a part of their identity ripped out of them that is a big part of why the hurt still lingers in some people in Baltimore John Scott began packing up the Colts equipment room around 4 a.m. on March 28th coaches and front office staffers join the efforts around 6 p.m. and within 24 hours the Baltimore Colts were gone I mean it was unbelievable you know what in 24 hours in other words when that complex in Baltimore closed let’s say at 5:00 it was a fully functioning complex as you would know today equipment rooms everything you know by 4 in the morning or 5: in the morning it looked like an empty airplane [Music] hanger maybe the Colts are going to move anyway they almost left for Phoenix 2 months prior and Indianapolis put together a strong bid to land the team they met every one of Robert ur’s requests while opening the hoer do with its 60,000 serendipitously colored blue and white seats but when the Maryland state senate overwhelmingly approved eminent domain legislation signaling it was a matter of when not if the city of Baltimore could try to seize the Colts it forced the team’s hand sure the courts could have got involved and maybe the city wouldn’t have been successful but any ongoing litigation could could have at the very least complicated things for the Colts as they looked for their exit from Memorial Stadium the Colts had a good option awaiting them in Indianapolis why wait around and see what could happened at Baltimore not necessarily iminent domain cuz that was a that was a reach that was what spurred the move to be that night but a judge could have temporarily issued a a a stay and so uh and actually we had stuff that was still there for another year and a half because he was able to sign an order first thing in the morning that we hadn’t yet yet shipped so we had things that were in Baltimore for another you know 18 months or so the morning of March 29th the Maryland assembly quickly moved the eminent domain Bill through committee and then to its floor where it easily passed by noon Marilyn Governor Harry Hughes signed it into law saying according to the Baltimore sonote I don’t like having to do something like this but extraordinary circumstances made it necessary the Cults are an integral part of the Baltimore Community and the Maryland community if this is necessary to assure that the city can make the last ditch effort to keep the team here then we have to do it but folks in Baltimore and officials in Maryland had plenty of chances to keep the Colts in the Years leading up to 1984 Memorial Stadium had been a problem for a decade and a half dating back to Carol Rosen Bloom’s days as the Colts owner government officials responded by shutting down a plan to build a dome stadium to house the Colts in the Orioles and then by putting a referendum on the ballot that eliminated any chance of building a new stadium in Baltimore fan support was dwindling falling hard from the sellout streak in the 1960s to under 30,000 fans for some games in the 1980s mayor William Donald Schaefer did everything he could within those boundaries to keep the Colts but he was not able to do the thing that could have kept the Colts in Baltimore and that’s build a new stadium it’s one of life’s lessons right I don’t know what else to say Nestor apparicio is a longtime Baltimore radio host if there’s not enough money the business closes and you don’t get to eat the the ringings you love there anymore right like if enough people don’t support it but the narrative in Baltimore quickly and strongly became as mayor William Donald Schaefer told TV news stations outside his home on the morning of the 29th that the Colts had to sneak out of town the narrative was that Robert Ur did something Despicable and dishonorable overnight the team moved that’s classless to this day Robert ERS is still hated by B sorians old enough to remember March 28th 1984 because of how that night played out but the way his son observed it a few things were true Robert R didn’t really want to move the Colts but he needed a new stadium and the state of Maryland pulling the rip cord on eminent domain was the reason why Robert Ur had to get the hell out of Baltimore overnight I would just tell anyone who wants to vilify my dad about moving the team is totally wrong I would say if it’s right look at when my dad’s wrong I’ll tell you he was wrong when he’s right I’ll tell you he was right that’s just the way I am with myself or anyone else I mean I’m not going to you know the truth is is that there was no question he was forced to move and he just did it something which is unheard of is they built a new stadium and back then a dome stadium which they were very few of and they didn’t have a team you know I mean it’s like what indianapolis’s government official and business Community meanwhile put their reputations on the line to construct the hoer do their bold actions building a 6,000 seat Stadium without an NFL tenant set the city up to welcome the Colts with open arms on March 29th 1984 hudnut maneuvering to build the stadium wasn’t universally well received until it paid off so as a journalist it’s kind of show me you know really you know are you really I mean this feeding this BS here or or and this Dreamland of how things are everything you know so you do have that attitude early on Debbie Knox began a long career as a reporter for Wish TV in 1980 but when those vans loaded up Baltimore Colts in you know all their you know stuff that they had in Vans and they traveling into Indianapolis and Bob ‘s in the city that’s when it really became real so beginning on March 29th 1984 the Baltimore Colts were now the Indianapolis Colts they did it the team moved now what we didn’t really know where to be we didn’t have you know we didn’t have phones we didn’t have anybody to answer phones we didn’t have stationary we didn’t know what our address was we didn’t have a copier you know all that stuff it was just like wow starting a franchise from scratch except except that you had your players and your coaches under contract the story of what came next after the Colts arrived in Indianapolis and how on remarkably short notice an NFL team got off the ground in a new city with just over 5 months before the season started is on the next and final episode of the move [Music] aftermath now we’re going to take you to the complex I thinking great I hope it’s as nice as the one in Baltimore and we pull up to Fall Creek Elementary School and it’s like why are we here March 29 of 84 the Colts arrive in Indie and I still remember thinking wow that’s kind of late you know in the in the ticketing process to move and I thought wow that’s going to be pretty tough for someone over there in Indie and little did I know it was going to be me like the talking head song life during wartime you know that gunfire and the distance I’m getting used to it now you know it’s so absurd that no one would Poss you just could not believe what was going on that first year I mean it just it’s unbelievable there was a learning curve to becoming a crowd I think what was evident once the season started there was a basketball state with a tremendous Heritage because whenever the offense got in the field they were cheering so we kind of had kind of hold our hands down like no no no you Che when they’re on defense I was angry about it for so long bro I landed at your airport and I went in past the kalachi stand into Center City for years and and would see that cult shop in the mall it would piss me off the story of the 1984 season and the Fallout of the Colts move both in Indianapolis and in Baltimore will be told on episode 4 of the move the episode will be released on July 15th subscribe to the Colts audio Network on your podcast platform of choice to download episodes one and two of the move which tell the story of Baltimore and Indianapolis before the Colts moved episode three of the move was written and narrated by JJ stankovitz and produced by Casey valer Amber Darrow Dave nicker boach and Matt Taylor contributed with research and editing [Music]

In the third episode of “The Move,” host JJ Stankevitz tells the story of the night of March 28, 1984. What sparked government officials to turn to the legal concept of eminent domain to try to keep the Colts in Baltimore? Why did the Colts feel the need to move in the middle of the night? And how, exactly, did a small group of people pack up and move an NFL team in less than 24 hours?

You’ll hear remarkable stories from Jim Irsay, Pete Ward, Jon Scott, Rick Venturi, John Ziemann and others in the episode.

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