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The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They are currently members of the Northern 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 2001 against the New York Giants.

The history of the Baltimore Ravens is unusual due to the unprecedented actions taken by the cities of Baltimore and Cleveland, Ohio, and the NFL in 1996. On November 6, 1995, then-Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to move the team to Baltimore, citing the inadequacy of Cleveland Stadium and the lack of a sufficient replacement along with his heavy debt. The decision triggered a flurry of legal activity that ended when representatives of Cleveland and the NFL reached a settlement on February 8, 1996. It stipulated that the Browns' name, colors, and history of the franchise were to remain in Cleveland. A reactivated Cleveland Browns team would then begin play in 1999, while the relocated club would technically and legally be a new expansion team, the Ravens.Morgan, Jon. Deal clears NFL path to Baltimore, The Baltimore Sun, February 9, 1996. The team's name comes from the famous poem, "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe, who spent the latter part of his life until his death in Baltimore.

For that reason, past records and Pro Football Hall of Fame players are attributed to the Browns and not to the Ravens. (For more information on the move, see Bill Belichick and Modell's move). However, some consider the Ravens and the pre-1995 Browns organization as one continuous entity, using terms like "The Modell organization" or "Art Modell's franchise" to denote it. Scocca, Tom. Welcome to the Big Time, Baltimore City Paper September 23, 1998.

Conversely, many Baltimore fans, who are still bitter about the Colts football team moving from Baltimore to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1984, along with many of the Colts' former players, view the pre-1984 Baltimore Colts organization and the Ravens as one continuous entity. In fact, the old Colts marching band became part of the Ravens organization. However, the NFL doesn't support this notion, as it recognizes the Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts as one franchise.

The Ravens conduct summer training camp at McDaniel College in Westminster.

Franchise history

After relocating his franchise, retaining the current contracts of former Browns players and personnel as per the agreement made by the city of Cleveland and the NFL, owner Art Modell hired Ted Marchibroda as head coach, who had previous experience with the Baltimore Colts during the 1970s and the Indianapolis Colts during the early 1990s. Ozzie Newsome, Cleveland's prolific tight end for many seasons, joined Modell in Baltimore as director of football operations. He was later promoted to Vice President/General Manager.

1996 Season

The NFL officially made its return to Baltimore after a 13-year hiatus on September 1, 1996, with a 19-14 Ravens win over the Oakland Raiders. That was one of the team's few highlights in their inaugural season. Despite 33 touchdown passes by Vinny Testaverde (second behind Brett Favre) - fourteen of them to Michael Jackson - the Ravens blew several leads through the season and finished 4-12.

1997 Season

Testaverde and the Ravens struggled in the 1997 season after starting off with an early winning streak. Peter Boulware, with 11.5 sacks, was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year, but the Ravens finished 6-9-1.

1998 Season

Baltimore continued to struggle in 1998, the first season in their new stadium (which at that time had no name, but was widely called Ravens Stadium). Testaverde, who had left for the New York Jets, was replaced with former Indianapolis Colt Jim Harbaugh, and later, Eric Zeier - neither of whom proved to be very effective. Cornerback Rod Woodson joined the team after a successful stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Priest Holmes started getting his first meaningful playing time of his career and ran for 1,000 yards, but the Ravens could only muster a 6-10 record.

After three consecutive losing seasons, Marchibroda was succeeded by Brian Billick, who had served as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings the season before.

1999 Season

In the 1999 season, with a newly renamed stadium, PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium), Baltimore showed a marked improvement. 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 1000-yard season. The Ravens struggled early, starting 3-6; but rattled off four consecutive wins to put themselves in playoff contention. A loss in the final week sent them home early with an 8-8 record.

2000 Season: Super Bowl Champions

Banks shared playing time in the 2,000 regular season with Trent Dilfer. Both players put up decent numbers (and a 1,300-yard rushing season by rookie Jamal Lewis helped too), but the defense became the team's hallmark, and bailed a struggling offense out in many instances through the season. Ray Lewis, who had been charged with murder in the offseason, was named Defensive Player of the Year. Two of his defensive teammates, Sam Adams and Rod Woodson, made the Pro Bowl. The season started strong, with a 5-1 start for Baltimore. But the team struggled through mid-season, at one point going four games without scoring an offensive touchdown. The team regrouped and won each of their last seven games, finishing 12-4 and in the playoffs for the first time.

Since the divisional rival Tennessee Titans had a record of 13-3, the Ravens had to play in the wild card round. They dominated the Denver Broncos 21-3 in their first game, their only playoff game in Baltimore. 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 rarely in doubt. Shannon Sharpe's 96-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter followed by an injury to Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon were the differences as the Ravens won easily, 16-3.

Baltimore then went to Tampa for Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants. The game was, once again, dominated by the Ravens. They 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 scoring was a Ron Dixon kickoff return for another touchdown, but the Ravens immediately countered with one by Jermaine Lewis. The Ravens became champions with a 34-7 win, becoming only the third wild card team to win a Super Bowl championship.

2001 Season

In 2001, the Ravens attempted to defend their title, but with a new quarterback: Elvis Grbac. An injury to Jamal Lewis and poor offensive performance stymied the team. After a 3-3 start the Ravens needed a win over 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 surprising Pittsburgh Steelers. Three interceptions by Grbac ended the Ravens' season, as they lost 27-10.

2002 Season

Baltimore ran into salary cap problems in 2002 and was forced to cut several players, including Sam Adams, Rod Woodson and Shannon Sharpe. The Ravens regrouped through the draft with picks like safety Ed Reed. Longtime backup QB Chris Redman took over behind center. The Ravens stayed somewhat competitive, before a December slide cost them a playoff spot with a 7-9 final record.

2003 Season

In 2003, the Ravens drafted their new quarterback, Kyle Boller, but he was injured midway through the season and was replaced by Anthony Wright. Jamal Lewis ran for 2,066 yards (including a record 295 yards in one game against the Cleveland Browns on September 14), easily tops in the NFL. 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.

In April 2003, Art Modell sold 49% of the team to Steve Bisciotti, a local businessman who had made his fortune in the temporary staffing field. After the 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.

2004 Season

The Ravens attempted to engineer a trade for Terrell Owens in the 2004 offseason, but the NFLPA filed a grievance with the NFL, claiming Terrell Owens should have been granted free agency. Just before a judge made a decision in the case, the NFL and NFLPA came to a settlement, which set up a 3 way trade between the Eagles, 49ers, and Ravens. Owens went to the Eagles, and the Ravens got back the pick they had traded to the 49ers, and were also granted a 6th round draft pick. Boller remained quarterback through the entire season. Ed Reed became a full-fledged star on defense, with nine interceptions. Baltimore remained in playoff contention the entire season, but a 2-4 slide in their last six games ultimately forced them out of the postseason with a 9-7 record.

2005 Season

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.

The 2005 season (the Ravens' 10th Anniversary season) began as the featured Sunday Night Football game televised by ESPN. This game against the Indianapolis Colts led the announcer to state, "What a wonderful way to begin the season, the game between the team that plays here now and the team which used to play here." The game's first half was a defensive slugfest, with the score at the half 3-0 Colts, but the second half saw the Ravens fall apart and starting QB Kyle Boller was lost to a foot injury (Colts 24, Ravens 7). In the 2nd week road opener versus historic rival Tennessee, backup QB Anthony Wright failed to spark the offense and the defense couldn't hold the Titans back, allowing the second straight loss (25-10). During the team's bye week, coach Billick tried to install the idea that after the bye, the season starts anew and they forget about their past losses. This strategy led the Ravens to a Week 4 Win against the Jets (13-3), but the Ravens fell apart against the Lions (35-17), setting a franchise record for penalties in a single game (21). The Ravens rebounded at home the next week against the Cleveland Browns, with a final score of 16-3. However, from Week 7 to Week 10, the Ravens would lose to the Chicago Bears (10-6), the Pittsburgh Steelers (20-19), the Cincinnati Bengals (21-9), and the Jacksonville Jaguars (30-3). The Ravens would get things working for them in a Week 11 rematch with the Steelers at home by winning 16-13 in OT, but in a week later, they would get season-swept by the Bengals 42-29. The Ravens would win a week later against the hapless Houston Texans 16-15, but they would lose a week later on the road against the Denver Broncos 12-10. Then, they Ravens played their final two home games under the prime time light. First, they man-handled the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night 48-3. Then, they destroyed any playoff chance that the Minnesota Vikings had by winning on Sunday Night 30-23. Despite the recent resurgence of Kyle Boller, they couldn't carry their momentum entirely. Despite leading the Browns 13-6 at halftime, they lost the lead in the 3rd Quarter and trailed for the rest of the game. They lost 20-16. The Ravens ended their season at 6-10. Despite having the same regular season record as the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens were technically third in the AFC North, since they beat the Browns on Division Records. In the AFC North, the Ravens were 2-4, while the Browns were 1-5.

2006 season

In the 2006 NFL Draft, the Ravens used their first pick (acquired from the Browns) on DT Haloti Ngata from Oregon University. Then, they used their next pick (acquired from the Giants) on C Chris Chester from Oklahoma University. The rest of their picks included Northwestern St. CB David Pittman, Oregon WR Demetrius Williams, Colorado TE Quinn Sypniewski, Nebraska P Sam Koch, Wyoming CB Derrick Martin, and Syracuse DE Ryan LaCasse.

In the 2006 offseason, the Baltimore Ravens were in negotiations to try to obtain Steve McNair from the Tennessee Titans. On Sunday, April 30th, 2006, the Titans allowed McNair to speak with the Ravens and on May 1st, 2006, the Baltimore Sun stated that the Baltimore Ravens had been waiting for Steve McNair to be released by the Titans since it was the free agency period. However, the Titans would hold onto McNair until the week before training camp in late July if the Ravens were unable to come up with a satisfactory trade offer for McNair, according to a league source. Rumor was that the Titans have less than $500,000 in salary cap room and if they didn't release McNair, they would've be unable to sign their draft picks. The Ravens wanted to obtain McNair as soon as possible so they can teach McNair the Ravens' offensive system. It was reported that the Ravens recognized that it would take weeks to come up with a solution. On Sunday, talks fell apart between the Ravens and the Titans when the Ravens reportedly offered a fifth-round pick and the Titans want a fourth-round pick. A source stated that initial negotiations between the Ravens and McNair's agent were "very productive." The Baltimore Sun speculated that the Ravens would offer a fourth-round pick, because one pick could be coming from the NFL, since the Ravens lost nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu, running back Chester Taylor, and defensive end Tony Weaver to free agency. The Ravens stated that they would be in the best position to receive at least one compensatory pick in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. The Ravens' cornerback, Samari Rolle, who played with the Titans and McNair for seven seasons, stated to the Baltimore Sun that he will "warmly welcome" McNair. The Baltimore Sun quotes Rolle as stating: "In the players' minds, mind, this would put us over the top." By the Ravens attempting to add McNair, Rolle said the franchise sends a message to the players. "I think it lets you know that everyone around here is serious about winning," he said. "The time is now for us. We've We got a veteran-laden team and we're not getting any younger." He also predicts that the Ravens will receive a "reinvigorated McNair" and that if the Titans do release him, he will contact McNair and "actively recruit him to the Ravens." (Source: Titans appear in no hurry to complete McNair pass - Tennessee could afford to keep quarterback until July - May 1, 2006, 8:50 p.m. EDT - From the Baltimore Sun.)

McNair and the Ravens agreed to an $11 million signing bonus on May 5, 2006.

On June 7, 2006, the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans agreed to trade a 4th round pick in the 2007 draft for Steve McNair, pending a physical.

Logo controversy

From 1996-1998, the team originally used a logo that featured raven wings flanking a shield with the letter "B". However, the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the logo infringed on the copyright rights of Frederick E. Bouchat, a Maryland amateur artist and security guard.

Bouchat sued the Ravens, claiming that he was the first one to design the "B" shield shortly after the team announced their intentions to move to Baltimore. The team defended themselves claiming that the logo was made independently. But the court ruled in favor of Bouchat, stating that team owner Modell had access to Bouchat's work: Bouchat had faxed a copy of his design to then-chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority John Moag, who shared the same office building as Modell. *

As a result of the lawsuit, a new logo was designed, featuring a purple and black raven's head in profile, with the letter "B" superimposed in metallic gold and white.

Uniforms

Despite the logo controversy, the Ravens' uniform design has essentially remained the same since the team was established in 1996. It consists of black helmets, white pants, metallic gold trim, and either purple or white jerseys. Purple "talons" rise up from the facemask up the center of the helmet.

In 2004, the team introduced an alternate uniform design featuring black jerseys and black pants. It has been worn for select prime-time national game broadcasts.

Season-by-season records

Totals 83 83 1 (including NFL playoffs)

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 not to be forgotten players who played for the Baltimore Colts, see Indianapolis Colts.

Pro Football Hall of Famers

None

Retired numbers

The Ravens have not yet honored any player by retiring his jersey.

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: *

Other notable alumni

Head Coaches

Current Staff

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens | National Football League teams | 1996 establishments

Baltimore Ravens | Baltimore Ravens | Ravens de Baltimore | Baltimore Ravens | בולטימור רייבנס | Baltimore Ravens | ボルチモア・レイブンズ | Baltimore Ravens | Baltimore Ravens

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Baltimore Ravens".

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