This simple black and white press guide introduced the Capitols during their championship season. (Image: Amazon)
Monday night kicks off another exciting slate of home games for the Indianapolis Colts. The nation’s eyes will be on the Circle City for what will be one of the most watched sports programs of the week. Expectations are high for the home team, which has become woven into the fabric of the community over the past two generations. But it hasn’t always been this way in our basketball hotbed. Many remember when the Colts arrived under the cloak of darkness in 1984, but did you know that this was not the city’s first flirtation with professional football.
Professional football in 1968 would be completely unrecognizable to today’s fan. Although the merging of the major league AFL and NFL in 1966 would bring added credibility to the sport, teams often played in stadiums designed for major league baseball in front of smaller crowds. Football players earned around $25,000.00 annually, and the first Super Bowl included nearly 40,000 empty seats. Even during these simple times, an effort was made to establish minor league football as a way to develop players for future NFL careers, and Indianapolis featured a short-lived team during this era.
It’s difficult to find authentic memorabilia for the Caps. Here is a button sporting the helmet logo. Â Â (Image: eBay)
The Indianapolis Capitols fielded teams in the Continental Football League beginning in 1968, lasting a whopping three seasons. Despite this brief tenure, a couple of historic moments can be credited to their existence. In 1969, running back O. J. Simpson was fresh out of college and had a bright future ahead of him. He signed on with an Indianapolis-based agent by the name of Chuck Barnes to negotiate his NFL contract. After coming to an impasse with the Buffalo Bills, the hometown Capitols offered Simpson an unheard of $400,000.00 to play in the Continental Football League. This canny publicity stunt didn’t pan out, and Simpson eventually came to terms with the Bills.
Bush Stadium seats 12,000, but only about half the seats would be filled during Caps home games. The field has been wedged in facing north to south. (Image: eBay)
The 1969 season brought the first football championship to Indianapolis under an unlikely hero. Starting quarterback John Walton came to Indianapolis as a castoff from the Los Angeles Rams. After taking over under center during the middle of the season, the Capitols stormed through the playoffs, eventually taking the championship in a thrilling game over the San Antonio Toros as Bush Stadium. This is notable, as Walton was one of the first African Americans to be given the chance to play quarterback in the professional ranks.
Johnnie Walton definitely would have more exposure playing for the Boston Breakers of the USFL in 1983. (Image: eBay)
After the 1969 season, the CFL was no more. Crowds averaged fewer than 6,000 per game, and no television contract existed. The Capitols limped through one season in the Atlantic Coast League before folding. John Walton went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles for three seasons. To this day, upstart minor league football leagues have failed to gain any traction, perhaps due to the popularity and dominance of college football. Do you have any memories of seeing the Capitols on West Sixteenth Street?
Printed Sources
U.S. News and World Report, September 22, 1969
Indianapolis Star, April 1, 1969
Indianapolis Star, April 24, 2009
My uncle took me to a game one chilly Autumn day. Don’t remember who the Caps played, but they won. We sat on the west side of the stadium and had a great time. My souvenir of the game was a ceramic helmet-shaped bank, white with the red Caps logo on the side complete with a red metal face guard. Bush Stadium was located across the street from CYO field, where I played football for St. Phillip Neri Catholic School.
Lots of great memories all the way back to the Indianapolis Warriors. my memories are as a fan, player, coach and then part owner of the Caps. Lots of hard work, lots of fun, lots of opportunities through the years culminating in a great trip to Europe in 1979 where we introduced American football to people in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. We played five games in stadiums intended for soccer and generally drew crowds of 20-60,000, this paved the way for NFL Europe. When Jim Foster started the Arena Football Indoor League the Caps was offered a Charter Membership, but due to the lack of adequate facilities we had to decline the invite.