Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the AFC North Division of 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.

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, including past records and the attribution of its Pro Football Hall of Fame players. A reactivated Cleveland Browns team would then begin play in 1999, while Modell's relocated club would technically and legally be an expansion team, the Ravens. Still, 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.
Baltimore's professional football history, both during the NFL Baltimore Colts era and post-1983, had captured Art Modell's attention. In 1994 Baltimore's Canadian Football League team adopted the name "Baltimore CFL Colts", but later were forced by the NFL to drop it. Although legally titled the Baltimore Football Club (Baltimore F.C.), the team was locally known as "the CFLs" or "CFLers". The team reached the championship game in its first season and won the Grey Cup in its second season as the Baltimore Stallions. The team proved a success and the fans showed up in droves to show a great appetite for professional football in Baltimore. Before the Stallions, Baltimore's only USFL team,the Baltimore Stars, won the last USFL Championship game in 1985.
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, who had previous experience with the Baltimore Colts during the 1970s and the Indianapolis Colts during the early 1990s, as head coach. 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.
Focus groups, a telephone survey, and a fan contest were all held to help select a new name for Modell's relocated club. Starting with a list of over 100 possible names, the team's management reduced it to 17. From there, focus groups of a total of 200 Baltimore area residents reduced the list of names to six, and then a phone survey of 1000 people trimmed it down to three, Marauders, Americans, and Ravens. Finally, a fan contest drawing 33,288 voters picked "Ravens", a name that alludes to the famous poem, "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe, who spent the latter part of his life in Baltimore, and is also buried there.
The team's first season as the Ravens was the 1996 season, in which they played in Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium and finished with a 4-12 record. The 1997 Ravens started 3-1, and Peter Boulware was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year with 11.5 sacks, but the team finished 6-9-1. Baltimore then began the 1998 season by moving into their new stadium Raven Stadium (eventually the stadium would be called PSINet Stadium and later M&T Bank Stadium). Vinny Testaverde, who had left for the New York Jets, 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, but the Ravens finished with a 6-10 record.
After three consecutive losing seasons, Marchibroda was succeeded in 1999 by Brian Billick, who had served as the offensive coordinator for the record-setting offense of the Minnesota Vikings the season before. The 1999 season showed a marked improvement, as 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.

2000 season — Super Bowl champions
Banks shared playing time in the 2000 regular season with Trent Dilfer. Both players put up decent numbers (and a 1,364-yard rushing season by rookie Jamal Lewis helped too) but the defense, led by current Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, became the team's hallmark and bailed a struggling offense out in many instances through the season. Ray Lewis was named Defensive Player of the Year. Two of his defensive teammates, Sam Adams and Rod Woodson, made the Pro Bowl. Baltimore's season started strong with a 5-1 record. But the team struggled through mid-season, at one point going five consecutive games without scoring an offensive touchdown. In spite of the offensive drought, the team still managed 2 wins during that stretch. The team regrouped and won each of their last seven games, finishing 12-4 and making the playoffs for the first time. During the 2000 season, the Ravens defense broke two notable NFL records. They held opposing teams to 165 total points, surpassing the 1985 Chicago Bears mark of 198 points for a 16 game season as well as surpassing the 1986 Chicago Bears mark of 187 points for a 16 game season, which at that time was the current NFL record. 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. 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, 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 champioship 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 touchdown, followed by two kick return TDs, marked the quickest time in Super Bowl history that three touchdowns had been scored.

2001-2002
In 2001, the Ravens attempted to defend their title with a new quarterback, Elvis Grbac, but an injury to Jamal Lewis 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 in 2002 and was forced to cut 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
With all of the top quarterbacks in the 2003 draft gone, The Ravens would go on to use the 10th pick to select Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs. Still in need of a quarterback, however, they would later trade their 2nd round pick and their 2004 1st round pick to the New England Patriots for the 19th overall selection, which they would use to select Cal quarterback Kyle Bollr. The Patriots would use the Ravens' 2004 1st round selection to take defensive tackle Vince Wilfork.

2003-2005
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.
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 were not able to advance to the playoffs in 2004 and 2005. Boller remained the quarterback through the entire 2004 season. Ed Reed became a full-fledged star on defense, with nine interceptions. Reed was also named the league's defensive player of the year. He broke the NFL record for longest INT return, with a 106 yard return against the Cleveland Browns.
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 and William Iannaccone in the second 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 "Judgement 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.

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