Remembering Bert Jones, the Baltimore Colts, and my Dad

[Harley-Ravenson]

Good morning everyone, it's the day AFTER Memorial Day. It's also the day I lost my Dad one year ago today.

Dad passed of some unknown cause that we could not really get to the bottom of because of covid restrictions that were a hindrance to getting proper medical attention. His own difficulty telling us what was wrong with him on the inside because of 7 years of a steeply declining dementia condition did not help the situation.

Fortunately my wife and I were able to get back to Maryland from Kansas City last year, exactly one day before he passed to express our love and gratitude to him.

For the past few weeks on Sundays to pass the time while my wife sits next to me in our movie chairs and does her studies to become a Naturopathic Doctor, I have taken a deeper dive into the Bert Jones Baltimore Colts years.

Why now?

Maybe because the years when the combination of Bert Jones to Roger Carr burst onto the NFL scene remind me of a deep connect point with my Dad when I was about 8 years old.

I remember Dad and I playing catch with the football at halftime in the back yard emulating Bert to Roger! Dad was always Bert, and I was always Roger!

I wanted to remember and feel some of my childhood connection to my dad, and strangely, watching the highlights on THIS WEEK IN PRO FOOTBALL via YouTube, jogged my memories on memory lane... and strangely helped me feel my childhood and some of those precious times.

I remember going to a Colts - Bills game at Memorial with my Dad early in the 1981 season. It was a HOT day, Jones injured his elbow, and a rising young Bills team blew the Colts off the field 35-3. A far cry from those magical years of 75-77.

As I watched each week's highlights from 76 -77 and the injury to Bert in the last pre-season game against the Lions prior to the 78 season opener on Monday Night Football against the Super Bowl Champion Cowboys, I saw and felt things I did not remember.

I felt sick in my stomach that the NFL set the Colts up for that massive Monday night game and suddenly.... it was OVER! There really was no more of the Bert Jones that took the NFL by storm. What a shot to the gut just watching it again 40 years later.

I know that Bert bounced back for a mostly healthy 1980 7-9 season, but something just felt OFF! Not so much with Bert, who still had a cannon, but Lydell was gone due to some kind of racial accusation, the crowd at Memorial seemed distant, and there were so many empty seats for a pretty decent Colt's team. I know Irsay ruined much of the legacy due to horrendous leadership and poor decisions. I would love to hear some addtional insights from the board on this to fill in the blanks a bit more regarding the steep decline of this franchise and the loss of the magic that was around this team just a few years prior.

When I was about 20 years old Dad got me tickets to some kind of charity crab feast at Owings Mills with Bert Jones as the special guest. I got to look into the eyes of my football hero and tell him how awesome I thought he was. I will never forget the size of those hands, the firm handshake and kind look of gratitude he gave me.

I am 52 years old, I am sure some of you my age and older remember a LOT more than I do about Bert, Roger, Lydell, the "sack- pack" and good ole Memorial Stadium.

I would love your thoughts and feedback!

I am grateful for what we have now! I love our Lamar Jackson Ravens, and I love the culture stability and heritage that this team has compared to the disorder and chaos that left our city in 1984, but it was a painful journey wasn't it?

I believe God has a way of taking the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome of this tapestry of life and working it all to our good and His glory IF we will trust Him. Because of my belief in that, I only look to the past to learn and find hope for the future, and to be grateful for the journey and memories!

As a retired 4 Star Air Force General once told me, we have to live life through the front windshield and not the rear view mirror!

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for listening.

[Cleo&Dilly]

I had season tickets from 1975 through 1979 - and saw Bert at his best. If we had Bert Jones in his prime for the last three years (and no slight meant to Lamar - who I love) we would have at least two Lombardi's.

Bert played 5 or 6 consecutive games with broken ribs. They don't make them like him anymore. I'd like to see candy ass Tom Brady take the beating that Bert took and play the game.

I would take Bert Jones (in his prime) over ANY quarterback playing in the NFL today

[pslholder96]

I barely remember Bert Jones, Roger Carr and the Colts. They were hardly shown on TV due to local blackouts. I started watching football in 78 at the age of 8. But I've heard and seen enough old clips to know that Bert Jones was an absolute beast in his prime. Do recall some of the Colts games against the Pats when they had Steve Grogan. And of course there was the 81 colts. Talk about an awful team.
Joe Washington used to live a few miles from me back when I grew up in Reisterstown. Would occasionally see him around town.

[pslholder96]

Good morning everyone, it's the day AFTER Memorial Day. It's also the day I lost my Dad one year ago today.

Dad passed of some unknown cause that we could not really get to the bottom of because of covid restrictions that were a hindrance to getting proper medical attention. His own difficulty telling us what was wrong with him on the inside because of 7 years of a steeply declining dementia condition did not help the situation.

Fortunately my wife and I were able to get back to Maryland from Kansas City last year, exactly one day before he passed to express our love and gratitude to him.

For the past few weeks on Sundays to pass the time while my wife sits next to me in our movie chairs and does her studies to become a Naturopathic Doctor, I have taken a deeper dive into the Bert Jones Baltimore Colts years.

Why now?

Maybe because the years when the combination of Bert Jones to Roger Carr burst onto the NFL scene remind me of a deep connect point with my Dad when I was about 8 years old.

I remember Dad and I playing catch with the football at halftime in the back yard emulating Bert to Roger! Dad was always Bert, and I was always Roger!

I wanted to remember and feel some of my childhood connection to my dad, and strangely, watching the highlights on THIS WEEK IN PRO FOOTBALL via YouTube, jogged my memories on memory lane... and strangely helped me feel my childhood and some of those precious times.

I remember going to a Colts - Bills game at Memorial with my Dad early in the 1981 season. It was a HOT day, Jones injured his elbow, and a rising young Bills team blew the Colts off the field 35-3. A far cry from those magical years of 75-77.

As I watched each week's highlights from 76 -77 and the injury to Bert in the last pre-season game against the Lions prior to the 78 season opener on Monday Night Football against the Super Bowl Champion Cowboys, I saw and felt things I did not remember.

I felt sick in my stomach that the NFL set the Colts up for that massive Monday night game and suddenly.... it was OVER! There really was no more of the Bert Jones that took the NFL by storm. What a shot to the gut just watching it again 40 years later.

I know that Bert bounced back for a mostly healthy 1980 7-9 season, but something just felt OFF! Not so much with Bert, who still had a cannon, but Lydell was gone due to some kind of racial accusation, the crowd at Memorial seemed distant, and there were so many empty seats for a pretty decent Colt's team. I know Irsay ruined much of the legacy due to horrendous leadership and poor decisions. I would love to hear some addtional insights from the board on this to fill in the blanks a bit more regarding the steep decline of this franchise and the loss of the magic that was around this team just a few years prior.

When I was about 20 years old Dad got me tickets to some kind of charity crab feast at Owings Mills with Bert Jones as the special guest. I got to look into the eyes of my football hero and tell him how awesome I thought he was. I will never forget the size of those hands, the firm handshake and kind look of gratitude he gave me.

I am 52 years old, I am sure some of you my age and older remember a LOT more than I do about Bert, Roger, Lydell, the "sack- pack" and good ole Memorial Stadium.

I would love your thoughts and feedback!

I am grateful for what we have now! I love our Lamar Jackson Ravens, and I love the culture stability and heritage that this team has compared to the disorder and chaos that left our city in 1984, but it was a painful journey wasn't it?

I believe God has a way of taking the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome of this tapestry of life and working it all to our good and His glory IF we will trust Him. Because of my belief in that, I only look to the past to learn and find hope for the future, and to be grateful for the journey and memories!

As a retired 4 Star Air Force General once told me, we have to live life through the front windshield and not the rear view mirror!

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for listening.

Condolences to the passing of your father

[mmi16]

Bert was never Bert after the separated shoulder.

Gutty and hard working he just wasn't able to 'capture the magic' again after the shoulder injury.

Loved watching him play - the ex and I had season tickets from 77 to 81.

[BlackBeak]

Great story. My dad wasn’t a football guy so my uncle took me to my first football game in the 76 timeframe. Big loss. Can’t remember the team but Bert was there and his cannon arm was the only thing that didn’t look like the trash heap that had become the the formerly great Colts. Funny i was pretty young but could smell the rot - that something was way off was obvious to a child. Yes, we have a well-run team and I love that they have an identity they built on their own. I love the legacy Ravens, what Joe did, I love the org’s “stability” and with Lamar I feel the future is promise-crammed. I appreciate your look through the rear-view mirror a lot. Regards. And sorry this time of year has to remind you of your loss.

[PalladinInNC]

I had season tickets from 1975 through 1979 - and saw Bert at his best. If we had Bert Jones in his prime for the last three years (and no slight meant to Lamar - who I love) we would have at least two Lombardi's.

Bert played 5 or 6 consecutive games with broken ribs. They don't make them like him anymore. I'd like to see candy ass Tom Brady take the beating that Bert took and play the game.

I would take Bert Jones (in his prime) over ANY quarterback playing in the NFL today

Bert Jones career was basically ruined by how Ted Marchibroda utilized him. His game plan continually left Jones open for taking big hits and it ultimately cost him his career. Marchibroda was the classic case of a HC who too often coached to not to lose rather than play to win!

[whokennyb]

remember ol bert to roger carr many a time loved there style of play don't make them like thse 2 much anymore ..was at most of his games back then but the best and even though we lost the championship game was the one against the raiders and stabler to casper beat us in ot what a game that was .. by the way carr is a preacher down here in north myrtle beach

[Greg]

My dad took me to my first game in 1969 when I was 6. My older brother was sick so he took me. We were upper sideline, section 8 on the Colts side on about the 20. My dad bought a 3rd season ticket in the end zone bleachers (only thing available) and squeezed me in between him and my brother for a while.

I got to see the end of Unitas and the Jones years when that place was on fire.

I got to pay my dad back. I took him to a game with my season tickets in 2000. It was the Chargers game that got us into the playoffs for the first time.

We had always taken the bus from the old 4100 Club in Brooklyn to see the Colts. In 2000 we were tailgating with a bunch of folks under 395 and my dad really enjoyed that. I lost him in 2003.

[beavery]

I was at the ghost to the post game. I will never forgive Marchibroda for sitting on the lead. He ran Mitchell 6 straight times I believe. My favorite was Glen Doughty. I love how he stuttered stepped on out patterns. Jones had an arm and he could run as well. He was a player and would have been in Canton had he not gotten injured.

It was a strange time to be a Colt fan. I saw the tail end of the Unitas era. When Rosenbloom traded the team to Irsay the old Colt culture was destroyed. Long time players were cast off without any real sentiment by ownership or the front office. Joe Thomas did what he had to do but the way he did it kind of sucked. The fan base grew disillusioned with Irsay's antics and threats. Pre Merger, the Colts and Packers were the top organizations in the league. We move from NFL to AFL, lose an owner that brought us winners, had complete roster turnover, other than 74, 75, 76 and 77 we were losing games. We lost the old time fans and the new Colts product, after Jones injury, was fueled by a drunken narcissist. Folks didn't want to watch an inferior product given to us by Irsay. That's my humble opinion.

[DonNMass]

I was at the ghost to the post game. I will never forgive Marchibroda for sitting on the lead. He ran Mitchell 6 straight times I believe. My favorite was Glen Doughty. I love how he stuttered stepped on out patterns. Jones had an arm and he could run as well. He was a player and would have been in Canton had he not gotten injured.

It was a strange time to be a Colt fan. I saw the tail end of the Unitas era. When Rosenbloom traded the team to Irsay the old Colt culture was destroyed. Long time players were cast off without any real sentiment by ownership or the front office. Joe Thomas did what he had to do but the way he did it kind of sucked. The fan base grew disillusioned with Irsay's antics and threats. Pre Merger, the Colts and Packers were the top organizations in the league. We move from NFL to AFL, lose an owner that brought us winners, had complete roster turnover, other than 74, 75, 76 and 77 we were losing games. We lost the old time fans and the new Colts product, after Jones injury, was fueled by a drunken narcissist. Folks didn't want to watch an inferior product given to us by Irsay. That's my humble opinion.

“Hey Diddle diddle
Lydell up the middle”

[DonNMass]

I went to Marchibroda’s last game. Sat in the open end of the horseshoe. The entire crowd sang over and over in unison, Hey, hey, hey, bye bye” , I can’t type or text the melody but y’all know it. It was deafening.