Football in Baltimore: History and Memorabilia

A radio/television sports announcer who moved to Baltimore in what turned out to be the final decade of the Baltimore Colts, Ted Patterson has amassed one of the world's premier collections of Baltimore sports memorabilia. In this short history of football in Baltimore, he takes us on a tour of his remarkable collection―not only to highlight memorable games and players but also to explore the pop culture that surrounded and has survived them.

Patterson introduces us to the teams and early stars of Johns Hopkins and Morgan State; Army-Navy games in old Municipal Stadium; high-school rivalries like City-Poly, Loyola-Calvert Hall, Gilman-McDonogh, and the great years of Patterson High; the original Colts (colors silver and green); and, at considerable length, the legendary Baltimore Colts of Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Raymond Berry, Alan "the Horse" Ameche, Artie Donovan, and Lydell Mitchell. He also includes the lastest chapters in this eventful story: the fight to bring pro football back to the city, the dawn of the Ravens' era, and the building of a new football stadium in downtown Baltimore.

Football in Baltimore offers an engaging, wonderfully illustrated history of Baltimore's love affair with the game―a running essay on the large subject of football in Baltimore's past along with the varied and highly colorful material objects that the game generated for the sake of the fans and that fans generated for the fun of it. Here are game programs, autographed pictures, press guides, bubblegum cards, comic strips, advertising ephemera, and miscellaneous collectibles from championship banners to the special-issue sets of china that Carroll Rosenbloom once gave to the Colts and their wives as Christmas gifts.

This altogether new take on the game and the storied Colts will appeal to every lover of the college and pro game―and may even inspire popular support for a Colts museum to match the Babe Ruth House and Museum. Patterson's engaging writing style keeps the pages turning. Dozens of color and black-and-white photographs from Patterson's collection will captivate Colts fans, football lovers, local history buffs, and sports memorabilia collectors.

Ted Patterson is a broadcast journalist who has covered the local sports scene since 1973. He was sports director at WBAL radio for six years before joining WMAR television as weekend anchor and later as sports director. As sports director at WPOC radio, he handled morning sports and began the popular "Sports Book" segment. In recent years, Patterson has done Orioles and Ravens reports on WCBM and has hosted the station's Monday night talk show from McCafferty's restaurant in Mt. Washington. He was the voice of Navy football for fourteen years and of the David Robinson-led Navy basketballers, has announced for Morgan State football, and did play-by-play for two Orioles seasons on Super-TV. Since the Ravens came to Baltimore, he has served as ESPN's game-day broadcaster. Patterson has been honored three times as Maryland Sportscaster of the Year, numerous times by the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association, and in 1979 with the prestigious Eclipse Award for his coverage of thoroughbred racing in Maryland. His other books include Baltimore Orioles: Four Decades of Magic and Day by Day in Baltimore Orioles History.