I knew the Colts left but didn't realize the attempted seizures that the Maryland Democrat governor Harry Hughes had tried.
March 27, 1984: The Maryland State Senate passed legislation to enable the city of Baltimore to seize the Colts through eminent domain.
March 28, 1984: Moving trucks arrived at 10 pm in a snowstorm and began loading the Colts' items, including their Vince Lombardy Trophy. By dawn, the trucks, taking different routes to avoid Maryland state troopers from potentially stopping the column, were on route to Indianapolis.
March 29, 1984: Maryland Governor Harry Hughes (Democrat) signed the eminent domain bill.
March 30, 1984: Maryland filed an eminent domain suit but it was too late.
Later lawsuits filed by Baltimore to reclaim the team's name, logo, and memorabilia failed.
So it was basically a second underground railroad: secret paths into PA.
I bet you didn’t know about this. The people who did the packing were Hell’s Angels. They were told it was to help an embassy move and didn’t know what they’d really be doing until they got there.