Radio/TV sports announcer Patterson has amassed one of the world's premier collections of Baltimore sports memorabilia in this short history of football in the city. He takes readers on a tour of his remarkable assemblage, not only to highlight the remarkable games and players, but also to explore the pop culture that has survived them. 250 photos, 48 in color.

Baltimore is home to some of the greatest football players ever to step onto the gridiron. From the Colts' Johnny Unitas to the Ravens' Ray Lewis, Charm City has been blessed with multiple championship teams and plenty of Hall of Fame players. Between the Colts and Ravens, a brief but significant chapter of Baltimore football history was written--the Stallions. Formed in 1994, they posted the most successful single season in the history of the Canadian Football League, when in 1995 they became the only U.S. team to win the Grey Cup. By 1996 the Stallions were gone, undermined by the arrival of the Ravens and the overall failure of the CFL's U.S. expansion efforts. Drawing on original interviews with players, coaches, journalists and fans, this book recalls how the Stallions both captured the imagination and broke the hearts of Baltimore football fans in just 24 months.

Thirty players, coaches, officials, and broadcasters for the legendary Baltimore Colts from 1947 to 1983 talk about their lives in professional football. For the first time in one book, Hall of Famers Gino Marchetti, John Unitas, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Art Donovan, John Mackey, Jim Parker, Weeb Ewbank, and other Colts greats tell their inside stories of the unforgettable 1958 championship win over the New York Giants, the haunting Super Bowl loss to the Jets, and other highlights and low points of their lives in and out of football.Like the Dodgers and the people of Brooklyn, the Colts have a special relationship with Baltimoreans; general manager Ernie Accorsi says, This sounds corny, and maybe it happens in other places, but these guys played for the town.

He includes the next 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.

Feel like you are on the field with today's NFL teams with these exciting and informative books. Learn about the history, best moments, and top players of teams like the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings. With easy text and heart-racing photos, these hi-lo books will have any young reader going for the extra point! Aligned to Common Core standards & correlated to state standards. Fly! is an imprint of Abdo Zoom, a division of ABDO.

To read a sample chapter, visit www.uapress.com. Baltimore is the birthplace of Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the incomparable Babe Ruth, and the gold medalist Michael Phelps. It’s a one-of-a-kind town with singular stories, well-publicized challenges, and also a rich sporting history. Baltimore Sports: Stories from Charm City chronicles the many ways that sports are an integral part of Baltimore’s history and identity and part of what makes the city unique, interesting, and, for some people, loveable. Wide ranging and eclectic, the essays included here cover not only the Orioles and the Ravens, but also lesser-known Baltimore athletes and teams. Toots Barger, known as the “Queen of the Duckpins,” makes an appearance. So do the Dunbar Poets, considered by some to be the greatest high-school basketball team ever. Bringing together the work of both historians and journalists, including Michael Olesker, former Baltimore Sun columnist, and Rafael Alvarez, who was named Baltimore’s Best Writer by Baltimore Magazine in 2014, Baltimore Sports illuminates Charm City through this fascinating exploration of its teams, fans, and athletes.