January 12, 1969. Kirk Buchner and Paul Lawrence look at Super Bowl III, one of the most important football games of all time.

There are many forgotten players in the history of the NFL, which needless to say is the case for many an NFL team.  This is especially true if that franchise relocates.

We almost forgot about him!

Undrafted from Rutgers, Bill Pellington would be an excellent sign for the Baltimore Colts as he would play 141 Games starting all but one of them at Linebacker.  His peers would regard Pellington as one of the most vicious players in the game, and he would accumulate 21 Interceptions, an excellent tally for his position.  A member of Baltimore's two Championship Teams in 1958 and 1959, Pellington would be named a Second Team All-Pro in 1964, which was his final season in the NFL.

Think about this for a second.  Mike Curtis played Linebacker in the 1960s and 70s, and his peers in that fierce era considered him one of the meanest players in the game.  How much does that tell you about Curtis?

Arriving as a 1^st Round Pick from Duke, the Baltimore Colts had a gem in the converted Fullback who would excel in the interior of the Colts' defense.  A ferocious tackler, he would also accrue 25 Interceptions in his career, and in 1968, he would be named to the first of two straight All-Pro Teams.   Denied the Super Bowl by Joe Namath's miracle New York Jets team, Curtis would help Baltimore return in Super Bowl V, where in the big game he was arguably the best defensive player on the field for the Colts.  He would be named to four Pro Bowls overall and would finish his career with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins.

Alan Ameche won the Heisman Trophy in 1954, and the Wisconsin Badgers star went 3^rd overall in the Draft.   Chosen by the Baltimore Colts, he would win the NFL Rookie of the Year, leading the league in Rushing Yards, Rushing Touchdowns, and Yards from Scrimmage.  This was Ameche's best statistical year, but he became an offensive fixture on an excellent Colts team that won the NFL Championship in 1958 and 1959.  It was in the former title that Ameche cemented his legacy, as in that game (which has been dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played”), the Running Back scored two Touchdowns, including the game-winning one that would beat the New York Giants.  That alone makes Alan Ameche an iconic figure in Pro football lore.

Ameche was a four-time Pro Bowl Selection (1955-58) and was chosen for the 1950’s All-Decade Team.

Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb enlisted in the military and played football at USMC Camp Pendleton, so if you think the teams of the NFL lightly recruited him, you would be right!

The 300-pound Lipscomb would, however, sign with the Los Angeles Rams in 1952 and would win the starting Right Defensive Tackle job in 1953, but went on to greater success when he was traded to the Baltimore Colts.  "Big Daddy" helped anchor the Colts to the 1958 and 1959 NFL Championships, and, not so coincidentally, he was named a First Team All-Pro for his efforts.  Lipscomb went to Pittsburgh in 1961 and went to his third Pro Bowl in 1962, but that would be his final year in Pro Football, as sadly, his career ended when he died of a heroin overdose in May of 1963. 

We can only imagine how much more he would have accomplished had he been focused, clean, and, more importantly, alive, but what he did on the gridiron cannot be overlooked.

Known mostly for at one time holding the longest Field Goal (56 Yards) in NFL history, Bert Rechichar should probably be known more for being a three-time Pro Bowl Safety who was a punishing tackler.  Rechichar recorded 24 Interceptions for Baltimore and was also a top kick returner in the league.  This is definitely one of those players who you wonder why he isn’t remembered more.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, Ted Hendricks was with the Baltimore Colts for the first third of this career.  Hendricks would win his first of four Super Bowls with Baltimore (Super Bowl V) and went to three Pro Bowls with the team.  Hendricks, the Strong Side Linebacker had 11 picks for the Colts.  He would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

In a professional football career that was only spent in Baltimore, Dick Syzmanski was quite the versatile player, even for his era!  Syzmanski was used predominantly as a Center, a position in which he went to 3 Pro Bowls in.  However for two seasons Baltimore used him at Middle Linebacker, the first of which was the second straight NFL Title that the Colts won in 1959.

Bubba Smith would become more known for his acting career (notably as Hightower in the Police Academy movies) but for many in Baltimore he is best known as the gargantuan defender who helped the Colts win Super Bowl V.  Smith was the first overall draft pick in 1967 and his five year run also saw him make the Pro Bowl twice.

From the Marines to the NFL, Gene Lipscomb had a strange road to the National Football League, as not only was he undrafted out of college, he didn’t play in one.  Lipscomb would break in the Los Angeles Rams, but a trade to the Colts saw him hit his apex, where he would not only help the team win two NFL Championships but would make the First Team All-Pro roster twice.

A member of the Super Bowl V Championship Team, Defensive Lineman, Billy Ray Smith ended his career perfectly; on that championship win.  Nicknamed “The Rabbit” by his teammates, Smith was a defensive captain and known as one of the locker room leaders and on the field with his solid dedication to fundamentals.

Arriving to Baltimore after three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jimmy Orr would be a productive a Wide Receiver earning First Team All-Pro accolades in 1965. Orr finished in the top ten in Receiving Yards as a Colt three times (he had done in twice before in Pittsburgh) and led the NFL in Yards per Reception three times, two of which was when he was in Baltimore. Orr’s last game was in Baltimore’s Super Bowl V win.

A Baltimore Colt for the duration of his thirteen years of service in the NFL, Don Shinnick was one of the better pass rushers of his day. The former UCLA Bruin still holds the career record for Interceptions for the Colts and would lead the league in that metric in 1959, the same year he helped Baltimore to it’s second straight NFL Championship.

Jerry Logan was with the Baltimore Colts for all ten of his National Football League seasons and most notably was with them during their first Super Bowl winning season.  Logan was a three time Pro Bowl selection who recorded 34 Interceptions, five of which he returned to the end zone.  He was also an adept Special Team player in the return game.

Coming out of Ohio State, Running Back, Tom Matte would be with the Baltimore Colts for his entire 12 year career in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts.  Matte would go to two Pro Bowls and had over 7,000 All-Purpose Yards, even leading the NFL in that metric in 1969.

Drafted fourth overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, offensive tackle Chris Hinton was immediately thrust into the spotlight when he was traded to the Baltimore Colts as the centerpiece of the historic deal for John Elway. While Elway's refusal to play for Baltimore reshaped the franchise's trajectory, Hinton quickly proved to be an elite, perennial All-Pro caliber anchor in his own right, famously joking years later that if Elway had stayed in Baltimore, Hinton wouldn't have been there to block for him anyway.

Plugging in immediately at guard as a rookie before switching to left tackle, Hinton weathered the franchise's turbulent relocation to Indianapolis in 1984 while serving as the focal point of the offensive line. Possessing rare technical precision and explosive functional power, he handled the league's premier pass rushers week after week. Across his seven seasons with the Colts, Hinton earned six Pro Bowl selections (1983, 1985–1989), two First-Team AP All-Pro selections (1987, 1989), and three Second-Team AP All-Pro honors (1985, 1986, 1988), spearheading a unit that paved the way for Eric Dickerson's dominant rushing campaigns in the late 1980s.

Hinton spent the final six years of his 13-season NFL career with Atlanta and Minnesota, earning a seventh Pro Bowl nod with the Falcons in 1993. His sustained excellence across the decade was permanently recognized when he was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. The Colts formally honored his enduring impact by inducting him into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor in 2001.

Drafted in the second round (32nd overall) of the 1980 NFL Draft out of the University of Georgia, Ray Donaldson arrived in Baltimore initially ticketed for interior depth. But by his second season in 1981, "Bulldog" earned the starting nod at center, breaking historical ground as the first African-American starting center in NFL history. That barrier-breaking moment launched a stellar, decade-plus run as the unyielding anchor of the Colts' offensive line.

Donaldson was the ultimate model of durability and quiet leadership through a turbulent chapter in franchise history. He served as the primary pivot man during the team's overnight relocation from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984, becoming the undisputed engine of the offense. Combining dense functional strength with elite footwork, he carved out gaping lanes for dynamic backfield talents—most notably clearing the way for Eric Dickerson’s league-leading 1,659 rushing yards during the 1988 season.

Donaldson’s peak national recognition in horseshoe blue came in the late 1980s. Between 1986 and 1989, he was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls, earned Second-Team AP All-Pro honors in 1987, and helped lead Indy to an AFC East division crown and a playoff berth. His streak of 152 consecutive starts over a 10-year span highlighted a relentless work ethic that earned universal reverence from teammates and defensive linemen across the NFL.

He went on to spend two productive years anchoring the line for the Seattle Seahawks before experiencing a career renaissance with the Dallas Cowboys.

Drafted in the second round of the 1972 NFL Draft out of Penn State, Lydell Mitchell arrived in Maryland as an elite, multi-dimensional weapon ready to transform Baltimore's backfield. After a couple of seasons settling into the professional ranks, Mitchell exploded into full stardom alongside quarterback Bert Jones, serving as the offensive engine for a juggernaut squad that captured three consecutive AFC East division titles from 1975 to 1977.

Mitchell’s prime in blue and white was characterized by constant dual-threat versatility. He became the franchise’s first to achieve three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons, surpassing 1,193 yards in 1975, 1,200 in 1976, and 1,159 in 1977. His most groundbreaking achievements, however, came through the air: Mitchell led the NFL in receptions twice—72 catches in 1974 and 71 in 1977—a rare feat for a running back at that time. In his outstanding 1976 season, he recorded an NFL-high 23 Approximate Value (AV), 1,755 scrimmage yards, and eight touchdowns, earning Second-Team AP All-Pro honors.

During his peak stretch, Mitchell was a three-time Pro Bowl selection (1975, 1976, 1977) and a two-time Second-Team AP All-Pro choice. Whether grinding out tough yards between the tackles or lining up as Jones' primary safety valve out of the backfield, he regularly generated high-volume output, racking up over 1,700 yards from scrimmage in three straight campaigns. After a contract dispute, Mitchell spent his final three NFL seasons with San Diego and the Los Angeles Rams, but he reached his highest level in Baltimore.

With the Colts, Mitchell had a total of 8,010 yards from scrimmage and 41 total touchdowns.