Indianapolis Colts: 15 greatest receivers in franchise history

• Super Bowl V Champion
• NFL Champion (1968)
• First-Team All-Pro (1965)
• Pro Bowl w/Colts (1965)

Jimmy Orr was originally drafted in the 25th round of the 1957 NFL Draft. He would make his NFL debut in 1958 as a tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Georgia. After three years in the Steel City, Orr made his way to Baltimore, where he would have a great career as a flanker and split end for the Colts.

Orr might have only had 18 catches in his first season with the Colts, but those catches went for 357 yards and four of those grabs went for touchdowns. He averaged 19.8 yards per reception that season. Three times in his NFL career did Orr have the best mark in the league in that department, including twice with the Colts in 1964 and 1968.

1962 saw Orr grab 55 balls for 974 yards and 11 touchdowns. Shockingly, he didn’t make the Pro Bowl that season. His first Pro Bowl nod with the Colts would have to come a few years later in 1965. After leading the league in yards per catch in 1964 with 21.7, Orr not only made his first trip to the Pro Bowl with Baltimore, but was also First-Team All-Pro.

Orr had 45 catches for 847 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1965 for Baltimore. He had higher numbers in all three categories at different parts of his career, but that was a very impressive season nonetheless for Orr in 1965.

In 1968, Orr again led the league in yards per reception with 25.6. He had 29 catches for 743 yards and six receptions that season playing split end. The Colts would also win the NFL Championship over the Cleveland Browns in 1968. However, Orr would unfortunately have a pivotal role in the Colts’ upset loss at the hands of the New York Jets in Super Bowl III right after that NFL Championship.

Orr was ridiculously wide open on the last play of the first half versus the Jets in Super Bowl III. Quarterback Earl Morrall had the Jets defense beaten on a well-executed flea flicker. The problem was that Morrall couldn’t find Orr on the play. Instead, he tossed it to the fullback, which led to a Jets interception. New York would win 16-7.

Some say that Orr’s jersey blended in with Baltimore band playing in the stands that day. Others suggest that the sun was in Morrall’s eyes on that play, thus preventing him from tossing the pigskin to the wide open Colts receiver. Fortunately for Orr, he would be a Super Bowl Champion with the Colts before he finally hung up the spikes.

Though a shell of himself in 1970, Orr and Colts beat Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. He retired after that with 303 career receptions with the Colts. Orr had 5,859 of his career receiving yards and 50 of his career NFL touchdowns in Baltimore uniform.