Baltimore Colts

You knew it would come up as soon as you heard that the Indianapolis Colts would be releasing star quarterback Peyton Manning and a sportscaster there was calling him the "best player to ever play for the Colts. " More than a few Baltimore Colts fans will beg to differ with him. So the Johnny Unitas vs. Peyton Manning debate is likely to be re-ignited by today's release of Manning . And you're sure to hear that Manning is the greatest Colt who ever lived.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski on Wednesday likened the loss of the USNS Comfort to the departure of the Baltimore Colts - and asked Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to reconsider. The U.S. Fleet Forces Command announced last month that it was moving the white-hulled hospital ship, a fixture of the Baltimore waterfront for a quarter century, to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. “We love the Comfort,” Mikulski, chairing a subcommittee hearing Wednesday morning on the Navy's 2013 budget request, told Mabus.

Hines Ward may be gone, but he won't soon be forgotten by Ravens fans. Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have parted ways with the wide receiver and his maddening, ever-present smile, here's a look at some other famous Baltimore sports villains.  Robert Irsay -- Erratic owner who moved the beloved Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis under cover of darkness in March, 1984, breaking a city's heart. Paul Tagliabue -- Cold-hearted NFL commissioner who bluntly suggested, in the wake of the Colts leaving town, that Baltimore should have built a museum rather than pine for a new pro football team.

As he carried the Lombardi Trophy to midfield after the Super Bowl Sunday, past a double row of giddy and groping New York Giants, Raymond Berry felt their glee. "They (players) were in another world," said Berry, 78. "As I watched them touch the trophy, and kiss it, the emotion of the experience was written all over those boys' faces. Winning the championship is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I could identify with them. I've been there. " Fifty-four years ago, Berry led the Baltimore Colts to their first NFL title, a 23-17 sudden-death victory over the Giants.

Lenny Moore and Lydell Mitchell were two of Penn State's greatest players, and not surprisingly, became two of the greatest Baltimore Colts. Two weeks ago they drove to State College, Pa., to pay their respects to Joe Paterno, who died Sunday and who they give much of the credit for their success on and off the field. "When you say Penn State, you say Joe Paterno," said Moore, the Colts' Hall of Fame running back. Moore played for the Nittany Lions in the mid-1950s, when Paterno was assistant to head coach Rip Engle.

Lucy Ewbank, wife of former Baltimore Colts coach Weeb Ewbank, died Monday in The Knolls of Oxford (Ohio). She was 105. Her husband died in 1998. He coached the Colts from 1954 to 1962, winning championships in 1958 and 1959. He also coached the New York Jets. He went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. According to a news release from Miami University in Oxford, where her husband was an athlete and coach, Mrs. Ewbank is survived by her daughters; Luanne Spenceley, Nancy (Charles)

At 68, Roy Hilton still enjoys fooling people. "They come up to me and think I'm an old basketball player. I like that," said Hilton, who, at 6-foot-6, was one of the tallest Baltimore Colts of his day. He fooled people in other ways, back then. The Colts' 15th round draft pick in 1965, Hilton surprised everyone by making the team at defensive end and lasting 11 years in the NFL. And in Baltimore's 16-13 victory in Super Bowl V, he surprised Dallas by roaring past its All-Pro tackle, Ralph Neely, and sacking Cowboys' quarterback Craig Morton twice before halftime.

He had a funny name, a Texas drawl and churning legs that chewed up yardage. Remember Norm Bulaich, the Baltimore Colts' star running back in their 1970 Super Bowl run? He turns 65 on Christmas. Bulaich can't believe it, either. When he signed up for Medicare, he told the clerk, "I don't feel 65. Will you check it out?" She did. He was. The Colts' top draft choice 41 years ago, Buliach caught on quick: he led Baltimore in rushing as a rookie. Bulaich (rhymes with goulash)

The photograph hangs in Lenny Moore 's club basement, amid the hundreds of trophies, plaques and keepsakes that chronicle the life of the Baltimore Colts Hall of Fame running back. But few treasures mean as much to Moore as the black-and-white snapshot of him and his mentor, former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, with their arms draped around one another. Were the two to meet today, Moore said, they would again embrace. Never mind Paterno's recent dismissal in the wake of child sex abuse charges brought against onetime Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky.

Los Angeles County Coroner's officials announced Wednesday that the official cause of death for Bubba Smith, the former Baltimore Colts defensive end who died August 3, was acute drug intoxication and other conditions. According to The Los Angeles Times , an autopsy found that Smith, 66, had the weight-loss drug phentermine in his system. The coroner also said that he suffered from heart disease and high-blood pressure. The report noted that Smith's heart was nearly twice the weight of a normal heart and some vessels were nearly blocked.