Sneak Play

The Colts steal away

In the dark of night, strikingly like a thief, the Baltimore Colts loaded up the horseshoe helmets last week and quietly moved to Indianapolis. Robert Irsay, 61, a Skokie, Ill., contractor who acquired the 31-year-old team in 1972, had been the most eligible carpetbagger in the National Football League since franchise free agency was tested in court by the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders three years ago. Romanced by Phoenix, Jacksonville, Memphis and New York, Irsay finally succumbed to a domed stadium, an inexpensive practice facility and a cheap loan.

The team was not immediately renamed, but the Indianapolis Colts sounds as hollow and sad as the city of Baltimore must feel. Johnny Unitas. Gino Marchetti. Lenny Moore. Jim Parker. Raymond Berry. Art Donovan. Alan Ameche. Bill Pellington. Jim Mutscheller. "Big Daddy" Lipscomb. Bert Rechichar. Buddy Young. The "sudden death" game of 1958. "Let's go, you Baltimore Colts . . ." No room for all of that in a moving van.