A three time Pro Bowl Selection with the Baltimore Colts, Rick Volk would represent his team three times in the Pro Bowl.  Volk went from the Rose Bowl to the Super Bowl, although in Super Bowl III he would be knocked out of the game with a severe concussion in Baltimore’s shocking loss to the New York Jets.  Super Bowl V would be a much better result for Volk as not only did he help them win he picked off Dallas Quarterback, Craig Morton to set up a touchdown that tied the game.  Volk would tally 31 Interceptions as a Colt.

Spending his entire career with the Baltimore Colts, Defensive Tackle, Fred Miller would participate in three championship games on behalf of his team.  Miller would win a ring in his final attempt, Super Bowl V, and along the way would go to three Pro Bowls.

Alan Ameche went from Heisman Trophy Winner to UPI NFL Rookie of the Year and was the starting Running Back for the Baltimore Colts for six seasons.  That was from 1955 to 1960, the glory period for Baltimore.   We have referenced the two straight Championships for Baltimore (and we will again) and the “Greatest Game Ever Played”.  Ameche was a part of that and was the man who scored the winning touchdown in that game.

Following Johnny Unitas couldn’t be easy.

A former Super Bowl Champion, Offensive Lineman, Bob Vogel would helm the Left Tackle slot for the Baltimore Colts for a decade earning five Pro Bowls and a First Team All-Pro nod along the way.  Vogel remains an icon in Professional Football in Baltimore.

Considered by many to be the meanest football player of his day (and that says a lot doesn’t it?) Mike Curtis feasted on Quarterbacks the way we feast on turkeys at Thanksgiving.  Curtis was originally drafted as a Fullback but converted to the defensive side of the ledger much to the benefit of the Colts.  He would be named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1970 by the NFL 101 writers and aided the Colts in their Super Bowl V win.

If this were a list based on charisma and personality, the legendary Art Donovan would be at the top.  Known for one generation for his radio show and David Letterman appearances, another generation knew him for his excellent defensive play and “Bulldog” like tendencies.  Donovan was actually a member of the first version of the Baltimore Colts that folded in 1950, and then the New York Yanks, which folded the following year.  Coincidentally, it happened again as he signed with the Dallas Texans in 1952, which would make him the only player in NFL history to play for three teams in three years that all went out of business (though the new Baltimore Colts bought all the Texans’ assets, which was how he came to Baltimore a second time.)

The holder of the all-time Interception Record in franchise history, Cornerback, Bobby Boyd was a converted Quarterback who adapted well to the defensive side of the ball.  Boyd would accumulate 9 Interceptions in a season twice and six times would exceed 100 Yards in Interception Return Yards.  The three time First Team All Pro is still in the top ten in that category all-time.

A Baltimore Colt for all twelve seasons of his career, Halfback, Lenny Moore was a bona fide dual threat.  Moore was one of the rare players who was equally adept at rushing and receiving and scored more than 100 Touchdowns.  Moore would lead the National Football League in Yards/Attempt four times, Touchdowns twice, and Yards from Scrimmage once.  The offensive superstar would be a five-time First Team All-Pro and was named the MVP in 1964.  

In the history of professional football, there have been multiple names that have been tagged as someone who “redefined the position”.

John Mackey is one of those guys.

When the Baltimore Colts selected Jim Parker eighth overall from Ohio State in 1957, Woody Hayes lost his prized lineman, but Johnny Unitas gained a pivotal asset that would change pro football history. After winning the Outland Trophy and a national championship with the Buckeyes, Parker arrived in Maryland at 6-foot-3 and 273 pounds—a formidable powerhouse for his era who moved with the agility of a middleweight boxer.

Head coach Weeb Ewbank handed Parker a singular mandate: keep Johnny Unitas untouched. Parker executed that task with clinical perfection, transforming left tackle into an impenetrable fortress. Possessing exceptionally quick feet and wide, punishing hands, he routinely thwarted premier edge rushers, providing Unitas with the pristine pocket time necessary to revolutionize the NFL's passing offense.

After dominating at left tackle for five years, Parker seamlessly kicked inside to left guard in 1962, demonstrating extraordinary versatility without missing a beat. His pulling ability in the run game opened up massive lanes for Lenny Moore and Alan Ameche, giving the Colts a balanced, punishing attack to complement their vertical passing scheme.

His peak years yielded an unmatched run of individual brilliance. From 1958 through 1965, Parker was selected as a First-Team All-Pro for eight consecutive seasons—four times as a tackle and four times as a guard—while earning eight straight Pro Bowl nods. He served as the primary physical anchor for back-to-back world championship teams in 1958 and 1959, including an iconic performance in "The Greatest Game Ever Played."

After retiring following the 1967 campaign, Parker became the first player in NFL history elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame based exclusively on his achievements as an offensive lineman, earning first-ballot enshrinement in 1973. A member of the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, Parker was inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor as a true titan of the game.

Drafted in the ninth round of the 1955 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers—who notoriously cut him before he ever played a down—Johnny Unitas was forced to play semi-pro ball for $6 a game on a dirt field in Pittsburgh while working construction to support his family. Baltimore Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank offered him a second chance in 1956, signing him as a backup. When starter George Shaw broke his leg early that season, Unitas stepped off the bench, threw an interception on his first attempt, and then laid the blueprint for every modern quarterback that followed.

What made "Johnny U" standout among his peers was his exceptional mastery of the passing game, earning him the nickname "The Golden Arm.” Wearing his signature black high-top cleats, Unitas showed unwavering confidence in the pocket, often holding the ball until the last moment to throw accurate passes while absorbing hits from unblocked defenders. He introduced the two-minute drill, made the hurry-up offense popular, and called his own plays from the huddle with a bold, calculated approach that kept defenses guessing and off-balance.

By 1957, Unitas had fully assumed control in Baltimore, leading the franchise to its first winning season while ranking first in the NFL for passing yards (2,550) and touchdown passes (24). The next season was truly remarkable. Unitas guided the Colts to the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, famously called "The Greatest Game Ever Played.” During the league's inaugural sudden-death overtime, Unitas remained calm under pressure as he methodically moved Baltimore down the field, culminating in Alan Ameche’s game-winning touchdown run—a nationally televised moment that propelled professional football into America's top sport.

In 1959, Unitas reached a career high by winning his first AP NFL MVP award, leading the league with 2,899 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes. He finished the season by spearheading a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Giants in a rematch of the title game, securing back-to-back championships for Baltimore. During this period, Green Bay legend Vince Lombardi famously said about Unitas: "Without him, they're just ordinary. With him, they're great.”

His consistent performance during the regular season set numerous historical records, most famously a streak of 47 straight games with at least one touchdown pass from 1956 to 1960. This record remained unbroken for 52 years, highlighting his dependability week after week during an era when passing rules provided quarterbacks little protection from severe hits.

In 1964, Unitas secured his second NFL MVP award after leading the Colts to a 12–2 season, passing for 2,824 yards and achieving a league-leading 9.3 yards per attempt. He won a third MVP in 1967, completing a league-high 58.5% of his passes for 3,428 yards. Despite injuries toward the end of his career, his veteran leadership helped guide the Colts to victory in Super Bowl V, where they defeated the Dallas Cowboys, and he earned his final world championship ring.

Throughout 17 seasons in Baltimore (1956–1972), Unitas played 206 games, with 39,768 passing yards and 287 touchdowns. A three-time NFL MVP, five-time First-Team All-Pro, and 10-time Pro Bowler, he retired as the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. Named to the NFL’s 50th, 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, his No. 19 jersey was retired by the Colts. Enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1979, Unitas is regarded as the father of modern quarterback play.

Overcoming a shortened leg, wearing a back brace, and dealing with poor eyesight that required thick-lensed glasses on the field, Raymond Berry turned physical adversity into legendary mastery. Drafted out of SMU in the 20th round in 1954, Berry spent hours after practice running routes until dark, pioneering precise route running and turning wide receiver play into a science.

Berry's relentless pursuit of perfection made him an ideal opponent for Johnny Unitas, forming the iconic passing duo of the 1950s. Though he lacked top-tier speed, Berry designed more than 50 different route variations, employing deceptive head fakes, quick cuts, and precise footwork to break away from defenders. With soft, dependable hands and a well-known grip-strengthening routine, he rarely let the ball slip and significantly reduced fumble occurrences.

His peak years, from 1957 through 1960, saw him dominate the league with mechanical precision. Berry led the NFL in receiving yards three times (1957, 1959, 1960) and in receptions three times (1958–1960), capturing the receiving "Triple Crown" in 1959 by leading the league in catches (66), yards (959), and receiving touchdowns (14). He earned three consecutive First-Team All-Pro honors (1958–1960) and was selected to six Pro Bowl rosters.

When championship stakes were highest, Berry was untouchable. In "The Greatest Game Ever Played"—the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants—Berry caught 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, including three critical receptions on the game-tying drive late in regulation to set up Baltimore's overtime victory. He followed that up with another title in 1959, cementing the Colts as a dominant force of the era.

Retiring as the NFL's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards at the time, Berry's relentless work ethic established the modern template for route-running technique.

Berry compiled 631 receptions, 9,275 receiving yards, and 68 receiving touchdowns, along with two NFL Championship titles (1958, 1959). He was named to the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team, and 100th Anniversary Team. Berry was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor.

A World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge before starring at the University of San Francisco, Gino Marchetti arrived in Baltimore in 1953 via the Dallas Texans dispersal draft. Standing 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds at defensive end, Marchetti redefined edge play in pro football, deploying an explosive speed rush, elite leverage, and cat-like agility that made him virtually unblockable for a decade.

Technically, Marchetti operated ahead of his time. He was one of the first defensive ends to weaponize a true "arm-over" swim move, slapping away an offensive tackle’s hands the instant the ball was snapped to burst into the backfield untouched. When blockers tried to set up wide to counter his outer-edge speed, Marchetti would convert his momentum into raw, bull-rushing power, collapsing the pocket directly into the quarterback’s face. Opposing coaches routinely assigned two or three blockers to slow him down, but his motor never idled, opening up easy pass-rushing lanes for teammates like Art Donovan and Eugene Lipscomb.

Beyond his pass-rushing acrobatics, Marchetti set a gold standard for interior edge setting against the run. He possessed extraordinary peripheral vision and spatial awareness, diagnosing play-action fakes in a heartbeat and shedding blocks to shut down sweep plays before they could develop. Hall of Fame offensive tackle Forrest Gregg once called Marchetti the single hardest player he ever had to block, marveling at how a player could combine such ferocious physical contact with absolute tactical discipline.

His peak years from 1956 through 1964 represent one of the most dominant individual stretches in NFL history, yielding nine First-Team All-Pro selections across his career. In 1957, Marchetti spearheaded a defense that turned Baltimore into an elite contender, and by 1958, he was the undisputed heart of the squad. In 1960, informal film charts credit him with leading the league in sacks, and unofficial Colts team tracking once recorded him logging an astounding 43 sacks in a single 12-game season—a testament to how completely he destroyed opposing game plans.

His defining moment unfolded during "The Greatest Game Ever Played"—the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants. With Baltimore clinging to a late lead, Marchetti made a game-saving tackle on third down to stop Frank Gifford short of a first down, breaking his own leg in a violent pileup. Refusing to leave the field for treatment, Marchetti watched from a stretcher behind the end zone as his teammates rallied to win in overtime, securing the franchise's first world title before returning the following season to captain a repeat championship in 1959.

From 1954 through 1964, Marchetti earned 11 consecutive Pro Bowl selections, cementing his place as the cornerstone of Weeb Ewbank’s defense. Though sacks were not an official NFL statistic during his playing days, modern film study credits him with 138.0 unofficial career sacks (though only 56.0 via the work of Pro Football Reference), making him one of the premier pass rushers in gridiron history.

Marchetti was also a member of the NFL’s 1950s, 75th, and 100th Anniversary Teams; he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Colts retired his No. 89.

As much as football changes, there are some statistics that will always remain critical to the game.  One such stat is the Interception, which is one of the biggest game-changers regardless of era.  In the ’60s, Bobby Boyd was one of the masters of the pick.

As the second draft pick of 1969, George Kunz had the fortune of playing for Notre Dame (when that mattered) and winning a National Championship there.  He did not have the same luck when he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons.