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Colts new throwbacks echo team’s all-time greats

Colts throwbacks

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — As the Indianapolis Colts start their late-season push toward the playoffs Saturday, they will also try to take their fans to another place and time. The team will be wearing newly-unveiled throwback uniforms that echo the Baltimore Colts squad of 1956.

“They had a ton of full Pro Football Hall of Famers, and they were even led by Richmond, Indiana native Weeb Ewbank,” explained Colts senior marketing manager Hayden Barnack, as she unveiled the new gear on News 8’s Daybreak. The ’56 Colts served as the foundation for one of the Colts’ most powerful eras. It was the first to feature future all-time greats Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, and Raymond Berry all in the same lineup.

The 1956 Colts were also, according to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the first Baltimore team to wear blue and white exclusively. As hard as it may be to imagine now, prior Colts teams sometimes wore red.

For this week’s throwback look, the most obvious nods to the past are on the helmet and sleeves. As with throwbacks seen in the last two seasons, the Week 15 helmets have horseshoes on the back instead of the sides. The sleeves feature three stripes instead of the now-customary two.

Blue shows off the Colts’ throwback helmet, featuring horseshoes on the back (From News 8’s Daybreak)

For some teams, such tweaks happen frequently. They are much rarer for the Colts; even through the tumult of a move halfway across the country, the Colts have kept their look nearly constant for more than 6 decades.

“It’s a part of our history,” said Barnack. “But we’re also in a unique era right now where we’re making some historic moves and moments that we’re adding to that history as we look forward.”

The organization is leaning into the on-field throwbacks with similar looks in the souvenir stands. New offerings include a cream-colored ringer tee with a new, more realistic version of the bucking horse logo, and a v-neck sweatshirt with ‘Colts’ in script that mirrors one the team’s early cheerleaders wore.

The first 30,000 people in the stadium Saturday will get a throwback pennant.

While the tweaks in the throwback uniforms are certainly noticeable, they are far less dramatic than the jolt to tradition the team wore earlier this season. The Indiana Nights uniforms featured black helmets and heather blue jerseys and pants.