1973 Baltimore Colts season

21st season in franchise history August 2023 March 2026 Baltimore Colts 1973 4–10 T-4th AFC East Howard Schnellenberger Robert Irsay Joe Thomas Memorial Stadium Did not qualify Colts seasons The 1973 Baltimore Colts season was the 21st season for the team in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger, the Colts finished with a record of 4 wins and 10 losses, tied for fourth in the AFC East with the New York Jets. The Colts lost the tiebreaker to the Jets based on head-to-head sweep (0–2). Baltimore was the only team to lose to the Houston Oilers, bowing 31–27 in week eight at home. The Oilers broke an 18-game losing streak with the victory. Hired in February, Schnellenberger was previously the offensive coordinator with the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9KpVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6862%2C3352768 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Colts wanted a winner, so it got Schnellenberger February 15, 1973 4B who went undefeated in 1972 under head coach Don Shula. This was the first year since 1955 in which long-time quarterback Johnny Unitas was not on the Baltimore roster. Offseason NFL draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 Baltimore Colts 1 2 Bert Jones Quarterback LSU yes yes 1 10 Joe Ehrmann Defensive tackle Syracuse yes yes 2 35 Mike Barnes Defensive end Miami (FL) yes yes 3 61 Bill Olds Running back Nebraska yes 3 62 Jamie Rotella Linebacker Tennessee no 4 83 Gery Palmer Tackle Kansas no 4 85 Ollie Smith Wide receiver Tennessee State yes 5 114 David Taylor Guard 1972 Catawba Indians Catawba yes 8 189 Ray Oldham Defensive back Middle Tennessee yes 8 191 Bill Windauer Guard Iowa yes 11 270 Dan Neal Center Kentucky yes 12 295 Bernard Thomas Defensive end Iowa no 13 322 Tom Pierantozzi Quarterback 1972 West Chester Golden Rams West Chester yes 14 347 Ed Williams Running back West Virginia no 15 347 Jackie Brown Defensive back South Carolina no 16 399 Marty Januszkiewicz Running back Syracuse no 17 426 Guy Falkenhagen Tackle 1972 Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan no no Staff 1973 Baltimore Colts Owner/president and treasurer – Robert Irsay General manager – Joe Thomas Head coach – Howard Schnellenberger Receivers – Pete McCulley Running backs - George Sefcik Offensive coordinator/offensive line – George Young Defensive coordinator/defensive line – Don Doll Defensive backfield – Bobby Franklin Linebackers coach – Ray Callahan Final roster 1973 Baltimore Colts 14 Marty Domres  7 Bert Jones y 23 Don McCauley 26 Lydell Mitchell 38 Bill Olds y 35 Glenn Doughty 17 Sam Havrilak 28 Cotton Speyrer 88 John Andrews American football 87 Raymond Chester 84 Tom Mitchell American football 66 Elmer Collett G 74 Tom Drougas T 54 Fred Hoaglin C 61 Cornelius Johnson offensive lineman G 57 Ken Mendenhall C 50 Dan Neal y C 68 Dennis Nelson American football T 62 Glenn Ressler G 64 David Taylor American football y T 73 Richard Amman DE 79 Jim Bailey American football DT 63 Mike Barnes American football y DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT y 85 Roy Hilton DE/DT 75 Joe Schmiesing DT 59 Stan Cherry y no OLB 32 Mike Curtis American football MLB 83 Ted Hendricks OLB 52 Michael Kaczmarek y OLB 53 Stan White linebacker OLB 29 Brian Herosian y FS 44 Rex Kern CB 40 Bruce Laird American football CB 11 Jack Mildren SS 31 Nelson Munsey CB 25 Ray Oldham y SS 21 Rick Volk FS 10 George Hunt American football y K 49 David Lee punter P 27 Hubert Ginn RB IR 60 Larry Christoff y no G 58 Ed Mooney LB 71 Gery Palmer y T  9 Tom Pierantozzi y no QB 80 Ollie Smith American football y WR 65 Bill Windauer y DT Regular season 1973 NFL season Before the season, the Colts traded long-time quarterback Johnny Unitas to the San Diego Chargers. Unitas had been splitting quarterback duties with Earl Morrall and Marty Domres over the past few seasons; he played one season for San Diego and retired. Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Game recap 1 September 16 at Cleveland Browns L 14–24 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,303 Recap 2 September 23 New York Jets L 10–34 0–2 Memorial Stadium 55,942 Recap 3 September 30 New Orleans Saints W 14–10 1–2 Memorial Stadium 52,293 Recap 4 October 7 at New England Patriots L 16–24 1–3 Schaefer Stadium 57,044 Recap 5 October 14 at Buffalo Bills L 13–31 1–4 Rich Stadium 78,875 Recap 6 October 21 at Detroit Lions W 29–27 2–4 Tiger Stadium 48,058 Recap 7 October 28 Oakland Raiders L 21–34 2–5 Memorial Stadium 59,008 Recap 8 November 4 Houston Oilers L 27–31 2–6 Memorial Stadium 52,707 Recap 9 November 11 at Miami Dolphins L 0–44 2–7 Orange Bowl 60,332 Recap 10 November 18 at Washington Redskins L 14–22 2–8 RFK Stadium 52,675 Recap 11 November 25 Buffalo Bills L 17–24 2–9 Memorial Stadium 52,250 Recap 12 December 2 at New York Jets L 17–20 2–10 Shea Stadium 51,167 Recap 13 December 9 Miami Dolphins W 16–3 3–10 Memorial Stadium 58,446 Recap 14 December 16 New England Patriots W 18–13 4–10 Memorial Stadium 52,065 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book Workman Publishing Co New York, NY 0-7611-2480-2 296 References See also History of the Indianapolis Colts Indianapolis Colts seasons Colts–Patriots rivalry External links 1973 Baltimore Colts at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1973 Baltimore Colts at JT-SW.com Baltimore Colts Category:Baltimore Colts seasons Baltimore Colts Category:Long stubs with short prose