When the Colts Belonged to Baltimore

In this personal and moving book, William Gildea blends reminiscences of his boyhood in Baltimore with profiles of famous Colts players such as Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Gino Marchetti, Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, Y. A. Tittle, and others. Recalling his relationship with his father and the love they shared for a team, Gildea evokes the spirit of 1950s America, when professional athletes were workaday neighbors and community was more than a political slogan. This is a story, too, about the geography of the heart: why something so simple as a team can arouse such emotional attachments, how a group of players with horseshoes on their helmets could have been part of the generational glue between parent and child. Written with feeling and insight, this is an affecting tribute to a team and a time etched in memory.