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 as one of the meanest players in the game.  How much does that tell you about Curtis?

Alan Ameche was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1954, and the Wisconsin Badgers star promptly 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 would become an offensive fixture on an excellent Colts team that would win 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”) as 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.

Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb enlisted in the military and played football as 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" would help 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.

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.

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.

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.

A three-time Pro Bowl Selection for Baltimore in the 1970s, Lydell Mitchell was a major offensive cog in the Bert Jones led the team that won three straight divisions.  The Running Back out of Penn State put up three straight seasons where he would rush for over 1,000 Yards, but more notably he would lead the National Football League in Receptions, a rare feat for any non-Wide Receiver.  Mitchell also was the league-leader in Approximate Value in 1976.  Overall, Mitchell had 8,010 Yards From Scrimmage with 41 Touchdowns.

Making history as the first African-American starting Center in NFL history, Ray Donaldson came out of the University to Georgia to spend thirteen seasons with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts.  Donaldson would go to four consecutive Pro Bowls in the late 1980’s and later in his career would win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

Known as the “guy who was traded for John Elway”, Chris Hinton had a pretty good career in own right, predominantly with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts.  Hinton would make six of his seven Pro Bowls with the Colts and while he wasn’t “John Elway”, who would have blocked for him had he come to Baltimore?  
Chris Hinton agrees!