During the month of June, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will construct a Mount Rushmore for each team. For this series, we will only consider players. Today, the Indianapolis Colts are the focus. Please keep in mind that the Colts played in Baltimore from 1953-1983.
Indianapolis Colts Mount Rushmore
Johnny Unitas
“Johnny U” played for the Baltimore Colts for 17 years and left his mark on the league as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. He won ten Pro Bowls, three NFL MVPs, three NFL Championships, and a Super Bowl in Baltimore. Unitas’ post-career activities, including those in support of greater protection for players, just adds to his legacy. To try and list his many accolades and accomplishments would inevitably fall short. He was an all-time great and remains beloved by both the cities of Baltimore and Indianapolis.
Raymond Berry
What is a quarterback without his favorite receiver? Berry would have been a famous receiver anywhere, but having “The Golden Arm” throwing to him certainly didn’t hurt. Berry was on the Colts for two of Unitas’ NFL Championships (1958 and 1959). The Hall of Fame receiver racked up almost 10,000 receiving yards in an era when quarterbacks often didn’t throw for that many yards in a career. The move from Baltimore to Indianapolis has eroded his popularity somewhat, but he is still one of the top receivers in NFL history, let alone Colts history.
Peyton Manning
Not many teams in the NFL can claim they have a quarterback who had a better career than Johnny Unitas. The Indianapolis Colts can, though. Don’t let the not-so-happy ending to his career in Indianapolis fool you; Manning will define Indianapolis sports for a long time. In fact, Manning’s place in this Colts Mount Rushmore makes him one of the few active players to earn his face on a mountain, which no one can really argue against. He earned an unreal 11 Pro Bowl appearances in his 14 years in Indianapolis and brought the Colts their only Super Bowl in Indianapolis. His less-than-stellar postseason record often holds him back in the “greatest of all-time” debates, but his raw talent and insane stats often outweigh the fact that he has just one Super Bowl. Like Unitas, any attempt to list his achievements will just undersell him. He will throw for 70,000 passing yards before he retires and has NFL records in career passing touchdowns, passing touchdowns in a season, and passing yards in a season, among a host of others.
Marvin Harrison
Notice a trend here? We took an all-time great quarterback from the Colts in Baltimore with his favorite receiver and we’re complementing them with the all-time great quarterback and his favorite receiver from the Colts in Indianapolis. Harrison played all 13 years of his career in Indianapolis. He trails only Jerry Rice with 1,102 career receptions and is one of only seven players with more than 100 career receiving touchdowns. He made eight Pro Bowls and was an integral piece in the Colts’ Super Bowl-winning offensive juggernaut in 2008. He barely missed being a first-ballot Hall of Famer last year, but will be inducted in no time.
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