The
Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore,
Maryland
. They compete in the
AFC North Division of the
American Football Conference
(AFC) in the
National Football
League (NFL)
The Ravens have won one
Super Bowl title,
Super Bowl XXXV, in the
2000 season against the
New York Giants.
The team name is a reference to the poem "
The
Raven" by
Edgar Allan Poe, who
lived and worked in Baltimore at various points during his life and
is
buried in the
city.
History
The
Baltimore Ravens came into existence in 1996 when Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his intention
to relocate his team from Cleveland
to Baltimore
. The controversy ended when representatives
of Cleveland and the NFL reached a settlement on February 8, 1996.
with
Pro Football
Hall of Fame
players. A new team to begin play in 1999
would be regarded as the "reactivated" Cleveland Browns. Modell's
Baltimore team, while retaining all current player contracts, would
officially be the
expansion team, a
"new franchise." Not all players, staff or front office would make
the move to Baltimore, however.
Modell relocated the team and hired
Ted
Marchibroda as head coach. Marchibroda was already well known
because of his work as head coach of the
Baltimore Colts during the
1970s and the
Indianapolis Colts
during the early 1990s. Ozzie Newsome, the Browns' tight end for
many seasons, joined Modell in Baltimore as director of football
operations. He was later promoted to Vice President/General
Manager.
The home
stadium for the Ravens first two seasons was Baltimore's Memorial
Stadium
, home field of the Baltimore Colts years
before. The Ravens moved to their own new stadium at Camden
Yards in 1998.
Raven Stadium would subsequently wear the
names PSI Net Stadium and then M&T Bank
Stadium
.
In the
1996 NFL Draft, the Ravens,
with two picks in the first round, drafted offensive tackle
Jonathan Ogden at #4 overall and
linebacker
Ray Lewis
at #26 overall. Both players would go on to have
Hall of Fame-caliber careers for the
Ravens.
The 1996 Ravens won their opening game against the
Oakland Raiders. However, they would not
keep this momentum for long, and they finished 4-12. One other
highlight of the season was their trip to Indianapolis to play the
Colts (who won 26-21). This game was
aired on
TNT, and was the first such game following the closure of the
acquisition of TNT parent
Turner Broadcasting System by
Time Warner, only three days
earlier.
The 1997 Ravens started 3–1.
Peter Boulware,
a rookie defender from Florida State
, recorded 11.5 sacks and was named AFC Defensive
Rookie of the Year. The team finished 6–9–1.
On October 26, the
team made its first trip to Landover, Maryland
to play their new regional rivals, the
Washington Redskins, for the
first time in the regular season, at the new Jack Kent Cooke Stadium
(replacing the still-standing RFK Stadium
in Washington, DC
). The Ravens won the game 20-17.
Quarterback
Vinny Testaverde left
for the
New York Jets before the 1998
season and was replaced by former Indianapolis Colt
Jim Harbaugh, and later
Eric Zeier. Cornerback
Rod
Woodson joined the team after a successful stint with the
Pittsburgh Steelers, and
Priest Holmes started getting the
first playing time of his career and ran for 1,000 yards. The
Ravens finished 1998 with a 6–10 record. On November 29, the Ravens
welcomed the Colts back to Baltimore for the first time in 15
years. Amidst a shower of negative cheers towards the Colts, the
Ravens won 38-31.
Three consecutive losing seasons under Marchibroda led to a change
in the head coach.
Brian Billick took
over as head coach in 1999. Billick had been offensive coordinator
for the record-setting
Minnesota
Vikings the season before. Quarterback
Tony Banks came to Baltimore from
the
St. Louis Rams and had the best
season of his career with 17 touchdown passes and an 81.2
pass rating. He was joined by receiver
Qadry Ismail, who posted a 1,000-yard season.
The Ravens struggled early starting 3-6 but managed to finish with
an 8–8 record.
Due to continual financial hardships, the NFL directed Modell to
initiate the sale of his franchise. On March 27, 2000, NFL owners
approved the sale of 49% of the Ravens to Bisciotti. In the deal,
Bisciotti had an option to purchase the remaining 51% for $325
million in 2004 from Art Modell. On April 9, 2004 the NFL approved
Steve Bisciotti's purchase of the majority stake in the club.
2000 season — Super Bowl champions
The 2000 season saw the Ravens defense, led by defensive
coordinator
Marvin Lewis, develop into
a rock-solid unit that emerged as one of the most formidable
defenses in NFL history. The Ravens defense set a new NFL record in
holding opposing teams to 165 total points; the feat eclipsed the
mark set previously by the
1986
Chicago Bears of 187 points for a 16 game season. Linebacker
Ray Lewis was named
Defensive Player of the Year and, with two of his defensive
teammates,
Sam Adams and
Rod Woodson, made the
Pro Bowl.
Baltimore's season started strong with a 5–1 record. Banks began
the 2000 season as the starting quarterback, but was replaced by
Trent Dilfer mid-season. Dilfer
provided a steady hand at quarterback. The 1,364-yard rushing
season by rookie running back
Jamal
Lewis combined with the stout Ravens defense to keep Baltimore
competitive in games even when the offense struggled. At one point
in the season the team played five consecutive games without
scoring an offensive touchdown but still managed 2 wins during that
stretch. The team regrouped and won each of their last seven games,
finishing 12–4. The Ravens had made the playoffs for the first
time.
Since the divisional rival
Tennessee
Titans had a record of 13–3, Baltimore had to play in the wild
card round. They dominated the
Denver
Broncos 21–3 in their first game. In the divisional playoff,
they went on the road to Tennessee. Tied 10–10 in the fourth
quarter, an
Al Del Greco field goal
attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown by
Anthony Mitchell, and a Ray Lewis
interception return for a score put the game squarely in
Baltimore's favor. The 24–10 win put the Ravens in the AFC
Championship against the
Oakland
Raiders. The game was barely in doubt.
Shannon Sharpe's 96-yard touchdown catch
early in the second quarter, followed by an injury to Raiders
quarterback
Rich Gannon, was crucial as
the Ravens won easily, 16–3.
Baltimore then went to Tampa for
Super
Bowl XXXV against the
New York
Giants, cruising to a 34–7 win for their first championship in
franchise history. The Ravens recorded four sacks and forced five
turnovers, one of which was a
Kerry
Collins interception returned for a touchdown by
Duane Starks. The Giants' only score was a
Ron Dixon kickoff return for another
touchdown (after Starks' interception return); however, Baltimore
immediately countered with a TD return by
Jermaine Lewis. The Ravens became only the
third wild card team to win a Super Bowl championship. The
interception return for a touchdown, followed by two kick return
TDs, marked the quickest time in Super Bowl history that three
touchdowns had been scored.
The title made the Ravens the fourth Baltimore-based pro football
team to win a league championship. They were preceded by the
NFL Colts in
1958,
1959 and
1970.
2001–2002
In 2001, the Ravens attempted to defend its title with
Elvis Grbac as its new starting quarterback, but
a season-ending injury to
Jamal Lewis on
the first day of training camp and poor offensive performances
stymied the team. After a 3–3 start, the Ravens defeated the
Minnesota Vikings in the final
week to clinch a wild card berth at 10–6. In the first round the
Ravens showed flashes of their previous year with a 20–3 blowout
over the
Miami Dolphins, in which the
team forced three turnovers and outgained the Dolphins 347 yards to
151. In the divisional playoff the Ravens played the
Pittsburgh Steelers. Three interceptions
by Grbac ended the Ravens' season, as they lost 27–10.Baltimore ran
into
salary cap problems entering the
2002 season and was forced to part with a number of impact players.
The Ravens stayed somewhat competitive, until a losing streak in
December eliminated any chances of a post-season berth.
2003 draft
The Ravens
needed a quarterback but, drafting after all the top quarterbacks
were gone, used their 10th pick to select Arizona
State
defensive end Terrell
Suggs. They then traded their 2nd round pick and 2004
1st round pick to the
New England
Patriots for the 19th overall selection. The Ravens used it to
draft
Cal quarterback
Kyle Boller. The Patriots eventually
used the Ravens' 2004 1st round selection to take defensive tackle
Vince Wilfork.
2003–2005
After the 2003 season, Art Modell officially transferred his
remaining 51% ownership to Bisciotti, ending over 40 years of
tenure as an NFL franchise owner. Modell still has an office at the
Ravens' headquarters in Owings Mills, Maryland, and acts as a
consultant.
The Ravens named Boller their starting QB just prior to the start
of the 2003 season, but he was injured midway through the season
and was replaced by
Anthony
Wright. Jamal Lewis ran for 2,066 yards (including 295 yards in
one game against the Cleveland Browns on
September 14). The Ravens held a 5–5 record
until, in a home game against the
Seattle Seahawks, wiped out a 41–24 gap in
the final seven minutes of regulation, then won on a
Matt Stover field goal in overtime for a 44–41
triumph. From there the Ravens won five of their last six games.
With a 10–6 record, Baltimore won their first AFC North division
title. Their first playoff game, at home against the Tennessee
Titans, went back and forth, with the Ravens being held to only 54
yards total rushing. The Titans won 20-17 on a late field goal, and
Baltimore's season ended early. Ray Lewis was named
Defensive Player of the
Year for the second time in his career.
The Ravens did not make the playoffs in 2004 and finished the
season with a record of 9-7 with Kyle Boller finishing the season
at QB.
In the 2005 offseason the Ravens looked to augment their receiving
corps (which was second-worst in the NFL in 2004) by signing
Derrick Mason from the Titans and
drafting star Oklahoma wide receiver
Mark Clayton in the first round of the
2005 NFL Draft. However, the Ravens
ended their season 6-10.
2006 season
The 2006 Baltimore Ravens season began with the team trying to
improve on their 6–10 record of 2005. The Ravens, for the first
time in franchise history, started 4–0, under the leadership of
former Titans quarterback
Steve
McNair.
The Ravens lost 2 straight games mid-season on offensive troubles,
prompting coach Brian Billick to drop their offensive coordinator
Jim Fassel in their week 7 bye. After the
bye, and with Billick calling the offense, Baltimore would record a
five-game win streak before losing to the Bengals in week 13.
Still ranked second overall to first-place
San Diego, The Ravens continued on. They
defeated the
Chiefs, and held the
defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers to only one
touchdown at Heinz Field, allowing the Ravens to clinch the AFC
North.
The Ravens ended the regular season with a franchise-best 13–3
record. Baltimore had secured the AFC North title, the #2 AFC
playoff seed, and clinched a 1st-round bye by season's end. The
Ravens were slated to face the Indianapolis Colts in the second
round of the playoffs, in the first meeting of the two teams in the
playoffs. Many Baltimore and Indianapolis fans saw this historic
meeting as a sort of "Judgment Day" with the new team of Baltimore
facing the old team of Baltimore (the former Baltimore Colts having
left Baltimore under questionable circumstances in 1984). In one of
the most bizarre playoff games in NFL history, both Indianapolis
and Baltimore were held to scoring only field goals as the two
defenses slugged it out all over M&T Bank Stadium. McNair threw
two costly interceptions, including one at the 1-yard line. The
eventual Super-Bowl-Champion Colts won 15-6, ending Baltimore's
season.
2007 season
After a stellar 2006 season, the Ravens hoped to improve upon its
13-3 record but injuries and poor play plagued the team which
finished the 2007 season in the AFC North cellar with a
disappointing 5-11 record. A humiliating 22-16 overtime loss to the
previously winless Dolphins on December 16 led to Brian Billick's
dismissal on New Year's Eve, one day after the end of the regular
season.
2008 season
With rookies at head coach (
John
Harbaugh) and quarterback (
Joe
Flacco), the Ravens entered the 2008 campaign with lots of
uncertainty. After a season-opening home victory over the Bengals,
their Week 2 match at the
Houston
Texans was postponed until two months later because of
Hurricane Ike, forcing the Ravens to play for
what would eventually be eighteen straight weeks. Their record
would drop to 2-3 after three straight losses - in overtime at
Pittsburgh, a home heartbreaker versus Tennessee and a blowout in
Indianapolis. A win at Miami, redemption for what happened late in
the previous season, sparked a four-game winning streak. After a
road loss to the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants in Week 11,
the Ravens beat Philadelphia at home, powered by
Ed Reed breaking his own NFL record for longest
interception for a touchdown
when he returned one 108 yards against Eagles quarterback
Kevin Kolb. The previous record was 106 yards in
2004.
In
Week 16, the Ravens bounced back from a frustrating home loss to
the Steelers that was decided by a highly controversial call from
officials by humbling the Dallas
Cowboys 33-24 in the final game at Texas Stadium
behind Le'Ron McClain
and Willis McGahee combining for 249
rushing yards and two touchdowns. McGahee broke a 77-yard
run for a touchdown, a stadium record which would last until
McClain, on the very first offensive play of the Ravens' next
possession, secured the victory with an 82-yard touchdown run of
his own. Baltimore closed out the regular season at home by
defeating the Jaguars to clinch the sixth seed in the AFC
playoffs.
On the
strength of two more Ed Reed interceptions, one resulting in a
touchdown, the Ravens began its postseason run by winning a rematch
over Miami 27-9 at Dolphin Stadium
on January 4, 2009 in a wildcard game.
Six days
later, they advanced to the AFC
Championship Game by avenging a Week 5 loss to the Titans 13-10
at LP
Field
on a Matt Stover field
goal within the last two minutes of regulation. Even though they
trailed by only two points with about four minutes remaining in the
fourth quarter, the Ravens fell one victory short of Super Bowl
XLIII by losing to the Steelers 23-14 at Heinz Field
on January 18, 2009.
2009 season
With Jonathan Ogden retiring in the offseason after the 2007 season
and Matt Stover going into free agency, Baltimore's only remaining
player from its first season was
Ray Lewis. The Ravens held the
26th pick in the
2009 NFL draft but
went up to the 23rd pick by trading its 26th pick and a 5th round
pick to the
New England
Patriots. The Ravens selected
Michael
Oher in the first round of the
NFL
Draft. In the season opener, the offense continued its
improvements from the year before as it scored 38 points and
accounted for over 500 yards in a 38-24 victory over the
Kansas City Chiefs. Week 2 of the NFL
2009 Season, The Ravens defeated the
San Diego Chargers 31-26. Week 3 of the
2009 NFL Season, The Ravens defeated the
Cleveland Browns in a 34-3 blowout while
celebrating Derrick Mason's 800th pass reception in his career.
Mason also received a 78 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco near
the end of the game. In week 4 of the 2009 NFL season, The Ravens
lost to the
New England
Patriots 27-21 with The Ravens final drive resulting in a
dropped pass to Mark Clayton on 4th down within the 10 yard line
with 28 seconds left on the clock. The following week, the Ravens
hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in a game played in Baltimore, but
lost with the Bengals final drive resulting in a touchdown and the
last attempt pass by Flacco resulting in an interception. In week 6
of the 2009 NFL season, the Ravens played an away game against the
Minnesota Vikings and suffered a
heartbreaking lost 33-31, putting them behind both the Bengals and
the Steelers in the AFC North. The Ravens rallied from 17 points
down and managed to drive the ball down the field and missed a 44
yard field goal. Flacco made 28 out of 43 passing attempts and
threw for a career high 385 yards and Ray Rice ran for 117 yards.
The very next week they hosted a game against the
Denver Broncos, who were undefeated (6-0).
After the Raven's kicker scored 6 points in field goals in the 1st
and 2nd quarters, the Broncos kicked off at the start of the 3rd
quarter and the Ravens immediately returned it for a touchdown,
giving them a 13-0 lead. They finished the game victorious,
crushing the Broncos 30-7, giving them their first loss of the
season. The following week, the looked to avenge a week 5 loss to
the Bengals by replaying them at Cincinnati, however they were out
played on both the offense and defense side of the ball and
suffered a crushing 17-7 loss. With a 4-4 record, a playoff
appearence looked doubtful if they suffered any more losses. In
week 10 of the 2009 NFL season, the Ravens played the Cleveland
Browns again at Cleveland Browns Stadium. After a slow start, the
Ravens went on to shut out the Browns 16-0. Ravens kicker,
Steve Hauschka, missed a field goal and had
an extra piont blocked, costing the Ravens 4 points. This led coach
John Harbaugh releasing Hauschka from
the team. They went on to picked up Billy Cundiff from Cleveland to
replace the spot for kicker. In week 11, the Ravens were up against
their third undefeated team, the
Indianapolis Colts, who were (9-0). They
lost 17-15, failing to make a single touchdown. Billy Cundiff was 5
for 6 tries, scoring the Ravens only points. He missed a back
breaking 30 yard, shaking Baltimore's trust in him. Joe Flacco
threw a last minute pick and after Ed Reed's fumble loss during the
punt return, Manning kneeled, making this another close victory for
the Colts, and another close loss for the Ravens, which had mutiple
games lossed that were decided from under 10 points. With this
loss, the Ravens record stand at 5-5, ranking third in the AFC
North Division.
Logo controversy
Baltimore Ravens logo from 1996-1998
Bouchat's original sketch
The team's first helmet logo, used from 1996 through 1998, featured
raven wings outspread from a shield displaying a letter
B
framed by the word
Ravens overhead and a
cross bottony underneath.
The US Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals
affirmed a jury verdict that the logo infringed on a copyright retained by Frederick E. Bouchat,
an amateur artist and security guard in Maryland.
Bouchat had submitted his design to the Maryland Stadium Authority
by fax after learning that Baltimore was to acquire an NFL team. He
was not credited for the design when the logo was announced.
Bouchat sued the team, claiming to be the designer of the emblem;
representatives of the team asserted that the image had been
designed independently. The court ruled in favor of Bouchat, noting
that team owner Modell had access to Bouchat's work. Bouchat's fax
had gone to John Moag, the Maryland Stadium Authority chairman,
whose office was located in the same building as Modell's. Bouchat
ultimately was awarded no monetary compensation, though, in the
damages phase of the case.
The
Baltimore Sun ran a poll
showing three designs for helmet logos. Fans participating in the
poll expressed a preference for a raven's head in profile over
other designs.
Art Modell announced that
he would honor this preference but still wanted a letter
B
to appear somewhere in the design. The new Ravens logo featured a
raven's head in profile with the letter superimposed. The secondary
logo is a shield that honors Baltimore's history of
heraldry. Alternating Calvert and Crossland emblems
(seen also in the
flag of Maryland
and the
flag of Baltimore) are
interlocked with stylized letters
B and
R.
Uniforms
Baltimore Ravens uniform
combination
The design of the Ravens uniform has remained essentially unchanged
since the team's inaugural season in 1996. Helmets are
black with
purple "talon"
stripes rising from the facemask to the crown. Players normally
wear purple jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road. In 1996
the team wore black pants with a single large white stripe for all
games. At home games the combination of black pants with purple
jersey made the Ravens the first NFL team to wear dark colors head
to calf. A number of NFL teams have since donned the look,
beginning with the all-black home uniform worn in three games by
the 2001
New Orleans
Saints.
In 1997 the Ravens opted for a more classic NFL look with white
pants sporting stripes in purple and black. The white pants were
worn with both home and road jerseys. The road uniform (white pants
with white jerseys) was worn by the Ravens in the 2000 Super
Bowl.
In the 2002 season the Ravens began the practice of wearing white
jerseys for the home opener and, occasionally, other early games in
the season that have a 1:00 kickoff. Since John Harbaugh became the
head coach in 2008, the Ravens have also worn their white jerseys
at home for preseason games.
In November 2004 the team introduced an alternate uniform design
featuring black jerseys and solid black pants with black socks. The
all-black uniform was first worn for a home game against the
Cleveland Browns, entitled "Black Sunday", that resulted in a
Ravens win. The uniform has since been worn for select prime-time
national game broadcasts and other games of significance.
The Ravens began wearing black pants again with the white jersey in
2008. On December 7, 2008, during a Sunday Night Football game
against the
Washington Redskins,
the Ravens introduced a new combination of black jersey with white
pants.
Season-by-season records
Players of note
Current roster
| Note: The following lists
players who officially played for the Ravens.
For other Hall of Famers, players whose numbers
were retired, and players who played for the Baltimore Colts, see
Indianapolis Colts. |
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Retired numbers
The Ravens have no retired numbers.
Ring of Honor
The Ravens have a "Ring of Honor" which is on permanent display
encircling the field of M&T Bank Stadium, including a sign with
the names and dates of play viewable from the seats. The ring
currently honors the following:
All-time first-round draft picks
The Baltimore Ravens had their first draft in 1996, where they
selected offensive lineman from UCLA and future 11-time Pro-Bowler
Jonathan Ogden. Along with their pick
in the next year's draft, this was the highest first-round draft
pick that the Ravens have had. They also selected
Ray Lewis with the 26th pick.
In both 1996 and 2000, the Ravens had two first-round draft picks.
However, in 2004 they had none. In their history, the Ravens have
drafted 3 offensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 2 wide receivers, 2
cornerbacks, 2 quarterbacks, a running back, tight end, safety, and
defensive tackle. The Ravens have 39 combined Pro-Bowl appearances
from their first-round draft picks.
Coaches of note
Head coaches
| # |
Name |
Term |
Regular season |
Playoffs |
Awards |
Reference |
| GC |
W |
L |
T |
W–L %The Win-Loss percentage is calculated using the
formula:
\frac{Wins+\frac{1}{2}Ties}{Games} |
GC |
W |
L |
| 1 |
Ted Marchibroda |
1996–1998 |
48 |
16 |
31 |
1 |
0.344 |
— |
— |
— |
|
|
| 2 |
Brian Billick |
1999–2007 |
144 |
80 |
64 |
0 |
0.556 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
|
|
| 3 |
John Harbaugh |
2008–Present |
21 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
0.667 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
Current staff
Radio and television
The
Ravens' flagship radio stations are
WIYY
, "98 Rock," and WBAL
1090 AM,
with Gerry Sandusky (WBAL-TV
Sports Anchor since 1988) as the play-by-play
announcer, with analysts Rob Burnett (Ravens DE 1996-2001) and
Stan White (Baltimore Colts
LB 1972-1979). The
Hearst-Argyle stations were in their first
season of game coverage, replacing longtime stations
WJFK/
WQSR.
As of the 2008
season, any Ravens preseason games not on national television are
seen on WBAL-TV in Baltimore and on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
throughout the region. Sandusky, Burnett and White are also
the television announcers. MASN also has extensive coverage of the
team throughout the season, including postgame reports and the
magazine show
Ravens Wired.
Ravens Wired, as well
as
Ravens Report and the regional preseason games, are
produced by the Ravens in-house production department,
RaveTV.
Ravens radio announcers
Notes and references
External links
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
