BALTIMORE RAVENS--THE NFL'S NEW BAD BOYS
Baltimore defensive tackle Tony Siragusa, "Until you play us, you can't really appreciate the depth of our wrath."
Ravens coach Brian Billick, “When you go in the lion's den, you don't tippy toe in — you carry a spear, you go in screaming like a banshee, you kick whatever doors in, and say, 'Where's the SOB?' If you go in any other way you're gonna lose.' The rest is Coors Light commercial history."
“When I look in the defensive meeting room and I see ‘Play like a Raven,’ Baltimore Ravens ... ‘We build bullies,' "that’s what I’m talking about. When I think of a Baltimore Raven, is we go in there, we take your lunch box. We take your sandwich. We take your juice box. We take your apple sauce. We take your spork and we break it. And we leave you with an empty lunch. That’s the Baltimore Raven way. That's the bully way. And that’s football.” ---Steve Smith Sr.
EMBRACING THE BULLY ROLE IS WHAT THE RAVENS DO WELL
by Rick Benson
Maybe it was the nationwide vilification that they were the stolen Cleveland Browns. Maybe it was the sham of the 1994 expansion derby that made it abundantly clear that the NFL didn’t really want pro football to return to Baltimore that caused it. Maybe it was some flamboyant personalities who relished being viewed as intimidating bullies. Maybe it was having the team’s best player embroiled in a double homicide investigation. Maybe, most likely, all of the above.
For the majority of their twenty-plus year history, the Baltimore Ravens had been viewed as the NFL’s Bad Boys; disliked by most everyone outside of the 410 area code. A team that plays with a chip on its shoulder. A team that is mostly known for dominating defense; so dominating that they were the only team in NFL history to yield no offensive points in a Super Bowl. It was in fact that Super Bowl XXXV championship team that cemented people’s universal dislike and what few remaining Baltimore football fans that felt queasy about how the city got back into the NFL were now all in with the purple and black. From losing their beloved Colts, Baltimore’s football redemption was near.
The Oakland Raiders had a long-standing reputation for being the outlaws of the NFL. Then, in the playoffs following the 2000 season, the torch passed and the Ravens became the bad boys of the new millennium. Then head coach Brian Billick helped set the tone for Baltimore’s brashness. He was outspoken and allowed his players to be as well. The opening round wild card game, the last time a wild card team would host an NFL playoff game, saw the Ravens dismantle the Denver Broncos 21-3 on New Year’s Eve of 2000. Amazingly, there were only ten penalties total called in the game because it seemed like there was pushing and shoving going on after every play
Broncos rookie of the year running back Mike Anderson, who rushed for over 1,500 yards in the regular season, was held to just 40 yards and Denver failed to reach the end zone in the playoffs for the first time in three decades. Former Bronco Shannon Sharpe caught a tipped pass and took it 58 yards to the house; giving Baltimore a 14-3 halftime lead as the Ravens sent notice that their domination tour had begun.
Next up was top-seeded Tennessee, whose only home loss was to the Ravens. In the late November loss, Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense pulverized Titans running back Eddie George so badly that cornerback Chris McCalister would later tell Sports Illustrated that George "folded up like a baby." Understandably, there was more bad blood and trash talk leading up to the playoff meeting. Prior to kickoff, the Titans fired a shot across the bow via their video scoreboard. The video showed locker room footage after the November game footage of Billick waving a copy of SI, which had Tennessee running back Eddie George on the cover with words proclaiming the Titans the league's best team. "Maybe that's true," Billick crowed on the screen, in reference to the headline, "but not today!"
As Tennessee fans showered them with boos, the Ravens just did what they normally do—they dominated; making Billick’s earlier recorded declaration true again. Baltimore scored 14 fourth quarter points to defeat Tennessee, 24-10, at Adelphia Coliseum to advance to the AFC Championship against the Raiders. Sharpe, who can trash-talk with the best of them, yelled to the crowd in the finals minutes of the game, “I own two homes! One in Baltimore and one in Tennessee! So, get out of here! I want you to leave! We own this home! This is my second home! No, no — I mean it — leave! You're being evicted!”
All that stood now between the Ravens and a Super Bowl trip were the Raiders. Time for some mano a mano. One of the lasting images from the game was Ravens defensive tackle Tony Siragusa corralling Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon and hitching up before smothering him with his 340 lb frame. Gannon had to leave the game with a shoulder injury and the mammoth they called “Goose” was later fined $10,000 for his added enthusiasm in sacking him. Much like their fallen quarterback, Oakland had the wind taken out of their sails as Baltimore crushed their hosts 16-3—holding the Raiders to just 24 yards rushing--- to secure their Super Bowl berth.
The Ravens defeated the New York Giants, 34-7, to capture their 1st World Championship in Super Bowl XXXV played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Ray Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP and only Ron Dixon’s 97- yard kick-off return for a TD averted a shutout against the Giants. The title of the Sports Illustrated cover read “Baltimore Bullies” and the Ravens coronation as the NFLs bad boys was complete.
Lewis didn’t get to reap all of the accolades normally bestowed to a Super Bowl MVP due to the controversial double homicide that occurred at a party during the previous year’s Super Bowl festivities. A fight broke out between Lewis and his companions and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two companions, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and 11 days later the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated-assault charges. A knife found at the scene did not have any fingerprints or DNA. Lewis subsequently testified that Oakley and Sweeting had bought knives earlier in Super Bowl week from a Sports Authority where Lewis had been signing autographs. Baker's blood was found inside of Lewis's limousine.
Two weeks into the trial Lewis's attorneys, Don Samuel and Ed Garland, negotiated a plea agreement with the District Attorney where the murder charges against Lewis were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against Oakley and Sweeting, and his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. Lewis admitted he gave a misleading statement to police on the morning after the killings (initially telling them that he was not at the scene). Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner sentenced Lewis to 12 months' probation. Eventually Lewis was able to rehabilitate his tarnished image; thanks largely due to his accepting Jesus Christ as his personal savior and his passionate sharing of the Gospel.
Meanwhile on the field, the Ravens continued their tough guy persona with a team that usually was among the league leaders in defense. The rivalry with their division foe Pittsburgh Steelers became the nastiest and most intense in the NFL. Lewis and later linebacker Terrell Suggs were the emotional leaders of the team that the NFL didn’t want but became one of the most successful, stable franchises in the league. And they’ll still steal your lunch.
“I saw Rich (Gannon’s) eyes roll back. He got every pound of my fat ass on him.” ---Tony Siragusa on his sack in the 2000 playoffs that separated Gannon’s shoulder.
“That a lot of dead weight. I equate that to a piano falling off the Chrysler Building and hitting someone.” --- Ravens defensive end Rob Burnett on Siragusa’s sack.
"I had a shot at him and I took it. He's the Raiders offense. If they don't have that guy, its like not having your backbone." ---Siragusa
"(The Ravens were) a displaced and disparaged franchise (that became a) model organization in the NFL that still proudly carries a chip on their shoulder." ---Jamison Hensley, Baltimore Sun