Winning the championship is the main goal of any football team, or any sports team. There is only one reason to go out and play and that is to win the championship. A championship season is not only rewarding for the players who struggle on the field, but also for the fans who root for them. Cities and regions should be very proud of their championship winning teams.

Baltimore is a great soccer city, and professional soccer has been around in one form or another for over 60 years. Many people don’t know this, but four different professional football teams have won championships representing the city of Baltimore.

The Baltimore Ravens – 2000

The last Baltimore team to win a league title in professional football was the team that currently represents the city in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens began as a franchise in 1996, having been active as the Cleveland Browns the previous year. They had some rough years, but in 2000 it all came together behind a strong running game and out-of-this-world defense. They ended up defeating the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV.

Baltimore Colts – 1958, 1959 and 1970

The Baltimore Colts have won championships three times. In 1958, they defeated the New York Giants for the NFL title in what many would call the greatest game ever played. After trailing for most of the 1959 title game, the Colts would eventually score 24 unanswered points and defeat the Giants in a rematch of the previous year’s championship game 31-16. The Colts won their third league title in 1970 when they beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl V by a score of 27-17. Technically, the Colts have a fourth title since they were NFL champions in 1968, but they lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets of the American Football League before the two leagues merged.

The Baltimore Stars – 1985

The Stars franchise had played the first two seasons of its USFL stage in the city of Philadelphia. The team moved to Baltimore in 1985, and although they weren’t as successful as they had been in the past, they were able to make the playoffs. The magic was still there though and they marched through the postseason and would win the last championship game in USFL history by defeating the Oakland Invaders.

The Baltimore Stallions – 1995

The Canadian Football League expanded to the United States in the mid-1990s, and one of the cities that got a team was Baltimore. In 1995, their second season, the Baltimore Stallions not only won their division, but became the first US-based team to win the Gray Cup as Canadian Football League champions. The team left the following year when they moved to Montreal and were renamed the Allouettes.