Sixty years in the past, the Baltimore Colts performed a soccer recreation that modified their future. Preparing for the middling Chicago Bears, the Colts have been heady (6- 1/2-point) favorites.
They misplaced, 57-0. On Nov. 25, 1962, Chicago crushed the Colts, shredding them for greater than 500 whole yards and eight touchdowns, together with three scores within the fourth quarter after yanking its starters. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s moribund offense misplaced 4 fumbles and crossed midfield simply 4 instances. On one futile drive, quarterback Johnny Unitas noticed receiver Jimmy Orr open in the long run zone — and overthrew him by 20 ft.
The worst loss in Colts historical past galled the practically 57,000 followers, who jeered their expenses, and mortified proprietor Carroll Rosenbloom, who took the drubbing to coronary heart. Five weeks later, he fired longtime coach Weeb Ewbank, a patriarchal kind who’d led the Colts to 2 NFL titles, and employed boyish Don Shula who, at 33, turned the league’s youngest-ever head coach. The gamble labored. In seven years right here, Shula led the Colts to an NFL championship, a second title berth and a report of 71 wins, 23 losses and 4 ties — the very best mark by any crew in that span within the Nineteen Sixties.
The Chicago bloodbath, the fourth-worst shutout in trendy (post-1950) NFL historical past, had proved the set off. After profitable successive championships in 1958 and 1959, the Colts fell again to the pack, going 14-12 within the subsequent two seasons. Although they cut up their first 10 video games in 1962, the Colts appeared on the rise in November, hanging robust till the top in opposition to Green Bay earlier than shedding, 17-13, to the undefeated (and soon-to-be champion) Packers. Next up for Baltimore was the Bears, who’d misplaced twice to Green Bay, 49-0 and 38-7. Oddsmakers favored the Colts. It wasn’t to be.
By halftime, Chicago led 20-0. Then issues acquired ugly. In the third quarter, the Bears scored 3 times inside 4 minutes and thundered on. Minus fearsome defensive finish Gino Marchetti, sidelined early with a bum leg, the Colts’ move rush folded. For the sport, the Bears scored on 9 of their 14 possessions and handed for 4 touchdowns. Defensively, the Colts managed to dam two further factors however little else.
Unitas, the Hall of Famer-to-be, handed for a paltry 91 yards and one interception for a woeful quarterback ranking of 38.7. Of his off-target aerial to Orr, one Chicago scribe known as it “as badly a pass as has ever been thrown.” The crowd turned on Unitas.
Afterward, The Evening Sun reported, the loss “left 56,164 patrons stunned, disgusted, frustrated, outraged and calling for the scalps of everybody in the Colt organization, from Rosenbloom on down.”
The gamers have been embarrassed as nicely.
“I’ve never been beaten this badly in my life,” stated Jim Parker, the All-Pro deal with.
“I feel like crawling in a big hole,” guard Alex Sandusky stated.
The Bears appeared gracious in victory.
“You could put these same two teams back out there next week and the score might be reversed,” Chicago defensive finish Doug Atkins surmised.
But the injury was completed, and the ripple impact was swift. The following day, in a Baltimore courtroom, a fan was admonished for trying to sneak into the sport on a stolen move and fined $57 — one greenback for each level the Colts allowed.
“It’s no tragedy to miss a Colts game,” Municipal Court Judge Robert I.H. Hammerman declared. “In fact, it was a tragedy to see yesterday’s game.”
Most locals agreed, amongst them Rosenbloom, the Colts’ proprietor, whose chagrin on the final result sealed the destiny of his coach. On Jan. 8, 1963, Rosenbloom fired Ewbank, 55, and trotted out Shula, a onetime defensive again who’d performed for the Colts years earlier than. A change, Rosenbloom asserted, “will help us win.”
Many pundits believed the sport had handed the outdated coach by.
“It is too bad [Ewbank] had to give way for progress — and Shula is progress,” former Colts star Buddy Young opined.
Two years later, the Colts (12-2) strode into the 1964 title recreation as heavy favorites however fell, 27-0, to the Cleveland Browns. In 1968, having completed 13-1 and captured the NFL championship, Baltimore reached Super Bowl III, solely to lose to the New York Jets, 16-7. The profitable coach? Weeb Ewbank, who probably harked again to the sport years earlier than that had prompted his firing.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com