59 Colts, The Ins and Outs - skidsboroff's Blog

skidsboroff's Blog

59 Colts, The Ins and Outs

Posted on May 22, 2009 at 06:29 PM.

For the inaugural SQL season, I've selected to go with the 1959 Baltimore Colts. I originally was looking into the 66 Packers, but they were taken, and I love me some Johnny U.

The '59 Colts were the second of back to back NFL Champions, defeating the New York Giants in the title game for the second consecutive season. The stars you know: Johhny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Art "Fatso" Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Jim Parker. All five of them Golds, so it was a tough task to replicate this amazing roster.
Here it is with an explanation of why each player is where they're at:

G: Johnny Unitas, QB. An easy selection. The leader of the team, and one of the NFL's most iconic figures. And he is one of the most accurately depicted players in the game, IMO. Gotta love that release and those black shoes.

G: Raymond Berry, WR. Thought about relegating Berry to a Silver, but after watching "The greatest game ever played" by ESPN, and some videos on him and Unitas on NFL.com, he had to be a Gold. Again, he's so accurately depicted. He's unstoppable if used correctly, even against Gold CB's.

S: Gino Marchetti, DE. Somebody had to be relegated. So far he's the least satisfactory of my CAPs on here. He has Pass Rush Bonus and Rip. He'll get decent pressure, and he makes the DE up of my 3 star line.

S: Alan Ameche, HB. Tried him out at Bronze FB, then Bronze HB, then Silver FB. None of those spots replicated his running ability. He carried the load for the Colts. He'll play feature back and FB in my offense with Strength Bonus and Bulldozer.

S: Lenny Moore, WR/RB. Here's the X-factor of my offense. He did EVERYTHING as a Colt. He played WR, HB, FB, and Wingback, and occasionally returned kicks. For this reason, he will be everywhere for me as well. If you see him in a spot you think he shouldn't be, trust me he lined up there.

B: Art "Fatso" Donovan, DT. The reason he gets demoted all the way down to Bronze is this: as a Bronze he is not much different than he was at Silver. So therefore, I dropped him, and it made my whole team more accurate. He possesses Leadership in my team.

B: Jim Parker, LT. Second guy I'm disappointed in. My line leaves something to be desired, but what are you going to do when you have 5 golds? He has Brick Wall.

B: Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, DT. Regarded as one of the fastest big men of all time, and the fastest DL in the league at that time. He fittingly has Speed Burner This guy was a character, and loved to party, leading to his tragic death in the prime of his career, (from Wikipedia).

On May 10, 1963, Eugene Lipscomb's 10 year NFL career and life ended. After a night of drinking and partying with two women, Lipscomb collapsed in a kitchen in Baltimore. He had overdosed on heroin. According to the Sports Illustrated profile, the city's assistant medical examiner, Dr. Rudiger Breitenecker, found enough dope inside him to have killed five men. Lipscomb died in the ambulance at the age of 31.

B: Andy Nelson, FS. An all-pro that season, Andy Nelson was an exceptional athlete and the leader of the defensive backfield. He recorded 6 int's that season, so he has Ball Hawk. 1959 was his best season as a professional (he did make the Pro Bowl once, in 1960).

B: Johnny "The Jet" Sample, DB. He's listed as a SS on my team, but will switch between all the DB spots. He was the return man on this Colts team, and famously returned an interception for a touchdown in the NFL Championship game that broke the backs of the Giants. He was a very popular player in those days, and was extremely fast. I was going to give him Speed Burner, but he fumbled several KO's, so I decided to give him Return Specialist, and it has worked out nicely.

B: Don Shinnick, LB. In 1959 Don Shinnick moved from MLB to OLB, which is where he's listed. In old footage of that 1958 NFL Championship game, he was very active and played both inside and outside. He was also an excellent pass defender, so he has Coverage Bonus.

I was forced to leave off several excellent players, but the overall feel of the team is very accurate. I will say that not all the identifiers for the positional sets in-game will be perfect. All you guys really need to know is that Lenny Moore, Raymond Berry, and Alan Ameche will be on the field every play unless they get too tired. My offensive system isn't complicated so there aren't any positional exploits happening.

There is no Shotgun in a 1959 offense. It's just Pro Set, Far/Near, and I-form variations. That's it. Anyone who has played me with this team can attest.

I look forward to playing everyone this season. It's gonna be fun.