The Colts were coming back to Baltimore for the first time in 14 years. They snuck away in the middle of a cold, snowy night in the dead of winter back in March 1984 in what was the only NFL relocation in league history to not be league-approved.
Baltimore suffered without American football for 12 years before the Browns moved to Charm City in 1996. And the Colts’ “homecoming” took place two years later.
The game between the Ravens and Colts in 1998 was nothing short of a grudge match. Ravens fans wanted the Colts to lose more than they wanted the Ravens to win. That’s how much they loathed Colts’ owner Robert Irsay, who was nothing more than a loud-mouthed drunk who pretty much sucked the life out of anyone around him whenever they had the unfortunate pleasure of being in his presence.
Ravens Stadium was filled with loud “Irsay Sucks” chants during the pregame and again after the game was finished. Ironically Irsay had already been dead for a year prior to the game. Baltimore didn’t care, much like Irsay didn’t care 14 years prior when he relocated the Colts.
I had the privilege of attending the game with my dad and grandfather. Poppop Miller had attended just about every Colts game in Baltimore from the 50’s onward and every Ravens home game since their arrival. It was tough seeing the horseshoe on the opposing team’s helmets. I was only eight years 
old at the time, but I could still appreciate the gravity of the situation. Beating the Colts and Irsay meant everything to Baltimore.
There wasn’t much to cheer about through the first three quarters. The Ravens gave up 339 yards of offense to rookie quarterback Peyton Manning in the first half and trailed the Colts by 10 points entering the 4th quarter. Reserve receiver Floyd Turner turned the deficit to just three early in the
4th after beating a Colts’ defender on a 22-yard corner route in the end zone. Priest Holmes later scampered into the end zone on a 36-yard run to put the Ravens ahead for good.
Holmes finished the day with 22 carries and 103 yards rushing. Jim Harbaugh (yeah, that guy) finished 16-25 with 198 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Ravens’ quarterback. Peyton Manning tried to lead the comeback in the final minutes, but Ralph Staten’s interception with 1:01 remaining off a deflected pass intended for Marshall Faulk sealed the deal. Jim Harbaugh immediately gave the game ball to Johnny Unitas on the sidelines.
The game wasn’t the 59-3 thrashing that Ravens fans had hoped to see, but the furious 17-point comeback in the 4th Quarter delivered a different type of thrill that few will ever forget.
During the waning seconds of the game, after the game-sealing interception, Johnny U was shown on the jumbotrons standing on the sidelines. That was quite the ovation.
Think about that picture!
Johnny Unitas on the big screen, half the fans cheering for him, the other half chanting “Irsay Sucks”, and the Ravens kneeling down in victory formation on the field to clinch as cathartic a victory as you’ll ever see. The Ravens were only 5-7 at that point, and the playoffs were out of reach. But the euphoric feelings of walking out of that stadium, even at only eight years old, were just as grand as walking out of Pittsburgh this past January after a Ravens’ victory.
Ravens fans got what they deserved: A victory over the Colts.
That still feels weird to say, though.
