Former Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis passes away at age 77

According to Steve Gardner of USA Today,  former Baltimore Colts linebacker Mike Curtis of Washington, District of Columbia, passed away at age 77 on Monday. Curtis passed away due to complications of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, “a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries” according to Mike Preston of the Tampa Bay Times. Unfortunately head injuries with neurodegenerative consequences is not uncommon for football players (past and present) because of the physicality involved in the sport.

Curtis played 14 seasons in the National Football League. He was a member of the Colts from 1965 to 1975, with the Seattle Seahawks in 1976 and with the Washington Redskins in 1977 and 1978. Curtis was able to retire with the Redskins, his hometown football team growing up.

Curtis will be best known for an interception he had in Super Bowl V as the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 on January 17, 1971. Curtis intercepted a Dan Reeves pass late in the game and set up a Jim O’Brien 32 yard field goal to give Baltimore the win. Curtis also had a notable postseason game on December 22, 1968. In a 24-14 Colts win over the Minnesota Vikings, he had a 60 yard fumble return for a touchdown.

In 166 NFL regular season games, Curtis had 25 interceptions for 289 yards and two touchdowns, 22 sacks, one fumble, nine fumble recoveries and one fumble for a touchdown. A four time Pro Bowler (1968, 1970, 1971, 1974), Curtis was the American Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1970. That season he had a career high five interceptions.

Curtis got his first NFL career touchdown from a fumble recovery in the end zone in a 38-23 Colts win over the Minnesota Vikings on September 18, 1966. He then had a pick six for 38 yards in a 28-24 Colts win over the Los Angeles Rams on December 15, 1968 and then had another interception for a touchdown in the Colts’ 31-0 win over the New England Patriots on November 26, 1972.

A two-time first team all pro in 1968 and 1969, Curtis was initially drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft as a fullback. He played his college football career at Duke University, a school that is known more for its basketball than football.