Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the Northern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). more...

Home
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Caps, Hats
Helmets
Jerseys
Jewelry & Watches
Keychains
Other Items
Shirts
Buffalo Bills
CFL
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Defunct Teams
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
Other NFL Items
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Diego Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Super Bowl
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Redskins
XFL

The Ravens have won one Super Bowl title, Super Bowl XXXV, in the 2000 season against the New York Giants.

Franchise history

See also: Cleveland Browns#1991-95: Bill Belichick and Modell's move

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.

In 1994 Baltimore's Canadian Football League team adopted the name "Baltimore CFL Colts", but later were forced by the N.F.L. to drop it and became known as the Baltimore Football Club (Baltimore F.C.). 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. This caught the attention of Modell.

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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org