The story of how I came to be a Ravens fan starts, as many similar stories do, on a snowy January morning in 1984. That particular morning I awoke to find my father sitting on the end of the coffee table, watching the morning news with a lump in his throat. The picture on the screen showed a caravan of Mayflower moving vans leaving the Baltimore Colts training complex in Owings Mills. My father, on the verge of tears, explained that our football team was leaving Baltimore to play in Indianapolis. And just like that... our Colts were gone.
For two years, football was absent from my household. My father and grand-father would never root for the Redskins, or worse the Steelers, so they just stop-ped following football all together. It wasn't until my older brother John enlisted in the Navy, and reported to Recruit Training in Great Lakes, Illinois, that I started to hear about football again. This time though, the stories were different. The names had changed, instead of Bert Jones and Lydell Mitchell,, it was Jim McMahon and Walter Payton, instead of Bubba Smith and Mike Curtis, it was William "The Refridgerator" Perry and Mike Singletary. The year was 1985, and the Chicago Bears were bashing, and "Shuffling", their way to Super Bowl XX. Posting an im-pressive 15-1 regular season record, and two playoff shutouts, this team was led by the dominating 46 defense and the legs of Walter Payton. After crushing the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, their place in history was secure, and my interest in the NFL had been rekindled.
As most people know, being a Bears fan in the late 80's and early 90's could be a very thankless job. What was heiled as the next great dynasty collapsed in the years following the '85 season with the departure of Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan, the retirement of Walter Payton, and the firing of Head Coach Mike Ditka. Never- theless, with the lack of a hometown team, I followed the Bears every season. Still, I desperatley wished for a new Baltimore franchise, whomever it may be.
I watched the short-lived Baltimore Stars of the upstart professional league that collapsed after a handful of seasons. I bought a Baltimore Cardinals sweat shirt when that team courted Baltimore, only to move to Arizona. I watched with an-ticipation when the L.A. Rams teased Baltimore to get a better deal from L.A., only to move to St. Louis a few seasons later. I fumed when NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told Baltimore Investors interested in a NFL franchise, to use their money to "build a museum". I felt a loss all over again in 1994 when the strong bid by Baltimore investors to win the expansion Baltimore "Bombers" was rejected,
and teams were awarded to Jacksonville and Carolina. It seemed that the plot by Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke and commissioner Tagliabue would suceed, and we would doomed to never get another team.
Then, finally, I was driving in my car one morning in 1995, when I heard that the Cleveland Browns were considering a move to Baltimore. I dismissed this as another empty courtship, but secretly hoped this was it. As the weeks went by, it became clear that Owner Art Modell was very interested in Baltimore as a home for his team. When they finally arrived, I was over-joyed. I watched them practice in plain black and white jerseys, a team with no name. I voted in the poll to pick the name, and a few weeks later the name "Ravens" was unveiled. I watched the presentation of those original purple and black uniforms, with the "Flying B" helmet logo. I watched as they replaced the old seats in Memorial Stadium with new, purple, ones. I anxiously awaited their inaugural season and finally, in September of 1996, it happened. An unexpected 9 yard scamper by QB Vinny Testeverde resulted in the first Ravens touchdown on the way to a 19-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. The Ravens finished 4-12 that year, but somehow, that didn't matter. Football had come home...
...and a new Baltimore tradition was born. |
