See the Colts artifacts housed at the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WISH) — The Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore started in 1974 as a shrine to “The Great Bambino” and eventually became the home of the Baltimore Colts archives. News 8’s Phil Sanchez spoke to Michael Gibbons, a historian at the museum, to get the back story on how it happened.

“When the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis, the mayor of Baltimore negotiated to get the Baltimore Colts’ archives returned to Baltimore with the Irsays, and that happened,” Gibbons said. “So he called me on the phone and said ‘Gibbons, you’re now the official Baltimore Colts archives. Come get this stuff.’ And it’s been here ever since on display, off display. It’s a terrific collection.”

Included in the collection are artifacts such as the football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas threw his last touchdown pass with, jerseys and helmets dating back to the 1950s and a piece of goal post from the 1958 NFL Championship Game, the first NFL playoff game to go to overtime.

Gibbons says even though those pieces are in a museum dedicated to Ruth, plenty of people still like to see the Colts collection, including Peyton Manning, who recently paid a visit.

Click on the video to see the full interview.

The Indianapolis Colts return to Baltimore on Monday night for a primetime showdown with the Ravens. Both the game and extensive postgame coverage can be seen live on WISH-TV.