This article details the history of the Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football team which plays in the National Football League. The Ravens were formed to fill in the void left by Baltimore's previous team, the Colts, who had controversially moved to Indianapolis. Ironically, the Ravens' formation necessitated the relocation of the Cleveland Browns' players and personnel, leaving Cleveland without a team until the Browns resumed operations as an expansion team three years later. Since then, the Ravens have usually featured a strong defense and have won two Super Bowl championships.
Origins
Ahead of the 1995 league expansion, eleven years after the Colts' controversial move to Indianapolis, the city of Baltimore expected to be granted an NFL franchise and put together its most attractive financial package. However, to make way for Jack Kent Cooke's ultimately unsuccessful plan to move the Washington Redskins to Laurel, Maryland, then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue convinced the league's team owners to pass over Baltimore. In 1995, the NFL Expansion Draft saw the creation of the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, franchises granted to smaller TV markets in Charlotte, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida respectively. In response to outrage in Baltimore, including then-governor William Donald Schaefer's threat to announce over the loudspeakers Tagliabue's exact location in Camden Yards any time he attended a Baltimore Orioles game, Tagliabue remarked, "Maybe (Baltimore) can open another museum with that money." Having failed to obtain a franchise via the expansion, the city, despite having "misgivings," turned to the possibility of obtaining an existing franchise, namely the Cleveland Browns, whose then-owner Art Modell was financially struggling and at odds with the city of Cleveland over needed improvements to the team's stadium.
On November 6, 1995, 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. Initially, the team was to be known as the "Baltimore Browns." The plan was for the "Baltimore Browns" to play at Memorial Stadium until a new stadium could be built. However, 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 a "new franchise," and an expansion team, the Ravens. The NFL teams approved the agreement on February 9, 1996.Morgan, Jon. Deal clears NFL path to Baltimore , The Baltimore Sun, February 9, 1996.
The Canadian Football League team, the Baltimore Stallions, had proved such a success and the fans showed up in droves to prove they deserved an NFL franchise. This caught the attention of Modell. Modell's decision to relocate cause hardship for the Stallions, as the team would win the 83rd Grey Cup two weeks later and realizing they could not compete with the incoming franchise, the team relocated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada and became the third incarnation of the Montreal Alouettes.
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 fired Bill Belichick and promptly 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. This in turn made Marchibroda the only man to serve as head coach of both Baltimore's NFL franchises. 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 name for the new franchise. Team management started with a list of 17 names from an original list of more than 100. 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 early part of his career in Baltimore, and is also buried there. The name was announced on March 29, 1996. Edgar Allan Poe also had distant relatives who played football for the Princeton Tigers in the 1880s through the early 1900s. These brothers were infamous players in the early days of American football.
When Modell moved to Baltimore, the team brought along players such as Anthony Pleasant, Vinny Testaverde, Michael Jackson, Matt Stover, Eric Turner and Rob Burnett.
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 Steve 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 Bisciotti's purchase of the majority stake in the club.
1996–1998: First years 1996: Inaugural season
The 1996 season was the inaugural season of the Baltimore Ravens, and the first time a regular season NFL game was hosted at Memorial Stadium in 13 years. They won their first game at home against the Oakland Raiders, but lost the next two against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Oilers. After their bye week, they beat the New Orleans Saints at home with a score of 17–10, but were not able to beat the New England Patriots in the following game. On October 13 they faced the former team in Baltimore, the Indianapolis Colts, but lost 26–21. Two weeks later they won against the St. Louis Rams in an overtime victory. They were not able to repeat this mostly for the remainder of the season, but managed to win against Pittsburgh in Week 14. They ended their season with a record of 4–12. Even though they did not have a winning season, quarterback Vinny Testaverde was voted into the Pro Bowl, and wide receivers Michael Jackson and Derrick Alexander surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark.
1997
In 1997 the team played their final season at Memorial Stadium. They lost their first game at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars by one point, then won the next three games against the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants and Tennessee Oilers. They then lost their next two games against the San Diego Chargers and their division rivals, the Steelers. After their bye week, they won only one out of the next four games, and lost one in overtime. On November 19 they played against the Philadelphia Eagles, holding them to a 10–10 tie. They lost their next two games, then won two, and ended the season with a home loss to the Bengals, ending with a record of 6–9–1, the lowest in the AFC Central Division. Peter Boulware, with 11.5 sacks, was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year.
1998: New stadium
Baltimore began the season by moving into their new stadium Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards (later named to PSINet Stadium, and as of 2003 named M&T Bank Stadium). Testaverde, who had left for the New York Jets, was replaced by Eric Zeier, and later, former Indianapolis Colt Jim Harbaugh . Defensive back 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 by Brian Billick, who had served as the offensive coordinator for the record setting offense of the Minnesota Vikings the season before.
1999–2007: Brian Billick era
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 1,000-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: First Super Bowl championship
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 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 3–1 record. Tony Banks began the 2000 season as the starting quarterback and was replaced by Trent Dilfer when the Ravens fell to 5–4, and failed to score an offensive touchdown the entire month of October. Coach Brian Billick announced that the change at quarterback would be for the rest of the season. The thousand yard rushing season by rookie running back Jamal Lewis combined with the stout Ravens defense kept 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 two 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. In their first ever playoff game, they dominated the Denver Broncos 21–3 in front of a then record-crowd of 69,638 at then called PSINet Stadium. In the divisional playoffs, 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. Shannon Sharpe's 96-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter, followed by an injury to Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, highlighted the Ravens' 16–3 victory.
Baltimore then went to Tampa for Super Bowl XXXV where they met the New York Giants, cruising to a 34–7 win for their first championship in franchise history. The Ravens recorded four sacks, 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), making the 2000 Ravens the third Super Bowl team whose defense did not allow an opponent's offensive score; 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 Baltimore Colts in 1958, 1959 and 1970, the USFL Stars in 1985 and the CFL Stallions in 1995.
2001