1953 Baltimore Colts season


The Baltimore Colts season was the first season for the team as a member club of the National Football League. The Colts had a record of 3 wins and 9 losses and finished fifth in the Western Conference.
In January 1953, a Baltimore-based group led by Carroll Rosenbloom won the rights to a new Baltimore franchise. Rosenbloom was granted an NFL team, and awarded the holdings of the defunct Dallas Texans organization, which lasted only one season. The new team was named the Colts after the previous team that folded after the season; Baltimore was without a team in and.
The 1953 Colts have the unusual distinction of having a losing record, despite having a league-leading 56 defensive takeaways. Baltimore had a winning record after five games, defeating neighbor Washington before a capacity crowd of over 34,000 at Memorial Stadium, then lost seven straight to finish the season.
In the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 27, Colts' defensive back Bert Rechichar set an NFL record for the longest field goal breaking the previous unofficial record of 55 yards. It stood for over seventeen years, until Tom Dempsey booted a 63-yarder in.

Regular season

Schedule

Standings