74 Fun Facts About Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens' team name was inspired by a poem written by which author?

Edgar Allan Poe lived in Baltimore and is buried there, which is why a name from his poem The Raven meant something historically to the city.

The Ravens formed in 1996 when the owner of which NFL team moved his franchise to Baltimore?

The Cleveland Browns' name, colors and records stayed in Cleveland under the 1996 settlement, so the NFL officially counts the Ravens as an expansion team.

Which owner brought the franchise to Baltimore and kept a 1 percent stake after selling control in 2004?

Art Modell first sold Steve Bisciotti 49 percent with an option on the rest, which Bisciotti exercised to take control in 2004.

Majority owner Steve Bisciotti made his fortune by founding which staffing company at age 23?

Aerotek began in a basement office in 1983 and grew into Allegis Group, the parent of staffing brands such as TEKsystems.

Where did the Ravens play their home games during their first two seasons, 1996 and 1997?

Memorial Stadium had been the Baltimore Colts' home, so the Ravens' first game there ended the city's 12-season wait for NFL football.

Which company bought the original naming rights to the Ravens' stadium in 1999?

PSINet's name came down after the internet provider went bankrupt, and the stadium was plain Ravens Stadium until M&T Bank bought the rights in 2003.

Which annual college rivalry has M&T Bank Stadium hosted?

The Army–Navy Game has come to Baltimore's stadium several times, and in 2016 Army won there to beat Navy for the first time since 2001.

Who was the very first draft pick in Ravens history, taken 4th overall in 1996?

Jonathan Ogden was the front office's choice, even though the owner had wanted troubled Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips.

The Ravens' Hall of Fame left tackle won a 1996 NCAA indoor title in which track and field event?

Shot put mattered enough that he chose UCLA partly because the Bruins would let him keep competing in track and field.

The Ravens' second-ever draft pick, a future Hall of Fame linebacker, played college football at which school?

Miami (FL) sent him to Baltimore, and he later returned from a midseason torn triceps to win a title in his final game.

Which team did the Ravens beat 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV?

The New York Giants had won their NFC title game 41–0, yet their offense never scored in the Super Bowl, managing just 152 yards.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXV?

Ray Lewis won the award, but Disney's famous 'I'm going to Disney World!' ad went to his quarterback instead.

Super Bowl XXXV was played in which city?

Tampa's game ended Baltimore's long wait for another Super Bowl title, which had lasted since the Colts won Super Bowl V.

Which quarterback replaced Tony Banks as the Ravens' starter in 2000 and started Super Bowl XXXV?

Trent Dilfer won the title yet was not re-signed, and Baltimore defended its crown in 2001 with a different starting quarterback.

Which Raven answered a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown in Super Bowl XXXV with an 84-yard return of his own?

Jermaine Lewis's return came on the very next kickoff after the other team's only score, making it 24–7 and putting the game out of reach.

Who did the Ravens defeat 16-3 in the AFC Championship Game on the way to Super Bowl XXXV?

Oakland Raiders passer Rich Gannon was knocked out by a hit from Tony Siragusa, who was fined $10,000 for it.

Which team did the Ravens beat 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII?

San Francisco 49ers reached first down inside the Ravens' 10 late in the game, but Baltimore's defense kept them out of the end zone.

What stopped Super Bowl XLVII for 34 minutes?

A power outage was traced to a relay device that the utility had installed specifically to prevent power failures at the dome.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XLVII?

Joe Flacco then signed a six-year, $120.6 million deal that made him the NFL's highest-paid player, until Aaron Rodgers topped it weeks later.

Which school did the Ravens' 2008 first-round quarterback transfer to after starting his college career at Pitt?

Delaware cost him his own money at first, because Pitt refused to release him from his scholarship and he had to sit out a season.

Which quarterback started against the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII?

Colin Kaepernick took over after Alex Smith's midseason concussion and kept the job, though Smith ranked third in the NFL in passer rating.

Which Ravens receiver caught the 70-yard 'Mile High Miracle' touchdown in the 2012 playoffs?

Jacoby Jones's catch forced overtime, and rookie Justin Tucker won it 38–35 with a 47-yard field goal in the second extra period.

Who headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show?

Beyoncé performed her halftime set live, days after admitting she had sung along to a recorded track for the anthem at Obama's inauguration.

Which NFL team's special teams did the Ravens' 2008 head-coach hire run for nine seasons before Baltimore?

Philadelphia Eagles moved him to secondary coach for 2007, and within weeks of that season Baltimore made him a head coach.

Who replaced Brian Billick as Ravens head coach in 2008?

John Harbaugh got the job only after the Ravens' first choice, Jason Garrett, took a raise and a promotion to stay where he was.

Before the Ravens job in 1999, Brian Billick ran the offense of which record-setting team?

Minnesota Vikings scored a then-record 556 points under his offense, yet the 15–1 team lost the NFC title game to Atlanta in overtime.

Who was the Ravens' first head coach, hired for the inaugural 1996 season?

Ted Marchibroda had once turned the 2–12 Baltimore Colts into 10–4 division champions in his first season, 1975.

Who was hired in January 2026 as the fourth head coach in Ravens history?

Jesse Minter's only prior head-coaching game was Michigan's 2023 opener, a 30–3 win he ran while the Wolverines' head coach was suspended.

Which Ravens safety set the NFL record with a 107-yard interception return in 2008?

Ed Reed picked off a backup quarterback who had entered only because the starter was benched at halftime after throwing two interceptions.

Which cornerback ended his Hall of Fame career with the Ravens?

Deion Sanders had been retired for three years before Baltimore lured him back.

Which tight end won Super Bowl rings with both Denver and the Ravens?

Shannon Sharpe turned a short third-and-18 pass into a 96-yard touchdown in the 2000 AFC title game.

Which 2018 first-round QB besides Lamar Jackson won an MVP by 2025?

Josh Allen won it for 2024, though he finished high school with zero scholarship offers and started out at a junior college.

Lamar Jackson won the 2016 Heisman Trophy playing for which college?

At 19 years and 337 days he was the youngest Heisman winner ever.

In 2019 Lamar Jackson broke whose single-season rushing record for a quarterback?

Michael Vick's mark fell with two games left, and Lamar Jackson then sat out the finale because Baltimore had already clinched the AFC's top seed.

Which team beat Lamar Jackson in his first playoff start, in January 2019?

The Los Angeles Chargers won that wild-card rematch 23–17, just two weeks after the Ravens had beaten them 22–10 in Los Angeles.

The 2019 Ravens tied which 2007 team's Pro Bowler record?

The Dallas Cowboys' 13–3 team of 2007 also lost its first playoff game, just as the 14–2 Ravens would.

Which franchise's 1978 NFL team rushing record did the 2019 Ravens break?

New England Patriots set the old mark of 3,165 under coach Chuck Fairbanks, who left after that season to coach Colorado.

What did Justin Tucker's record 66-yard game-winning kick in 2021 bounce off?

The crossbar sent the ball up and over, capping a drive Lamar Jackson kept alive with a fourth-and-19 completion to Sammy Watkins.

Justin Tucker went undrafted in 2012 after a college career at which school?

Texas produced him, but with no Combine invite he posted an uncut video of ten straight field goals from 30 to 55 yards.

Which incumbent kicker did the Ravens release in 2012 after a rookie beat him out in preseason?

Billy Cundiff had pushed a 32-yard kick wide left in the final seconds of the AFC title game months earlier, a kick that would have forced overtime.

Which kicker scored all the Ravens' points in a five-game stretch without an offensive TD?

Matt Stover kicked a playoff game-winner in January 2009, yet Baltimore let him go that offseason.

Who is the Ravens' all-time leader in sacks?

Terrell Suggs left for Arizona in 2019, and Kansas City claimed him off waivers late that season on its way to winning Super Bowl LIV.

Peter Boulware, the 1997 Defensive Rookie of the Year, played his college football where?

Florida State's former pass rusher later ran for the Florida House, lost narrowly in 2008, and was appointed to the State Board of Education.

A 2003 Ravens back fell 39 yards short of whose single-season rushing record?

Eric Dickerson set that record for the Rams in 1984, yet three years later they traded him to Indianapolis in a blockbuster deal.

Which Hall of Fame tight end ran the Ravens' player personnel from 1996 and served as general manager until 2018?

Ozzie Newsome lost three AFC title games as a player without reaching a Super Bowl, then built two Super Bowl champions in Baltimore.

Who took over as Ravens general manager after the 2018 season?

Eric DeCosta turned down general manager interviews with other teams for years so he could stay in Baltimore.

Out of respect for which Baltimore Colts legend do the Ravens not issue the number 19?

Johnny Unitas cut all ties with the Colts after their move to Indianapolis and aligned himself with the Ravens instead, often watching from their sideline.

Which running back, remembered for 'The Fumble' against Denver, was the first Ravens Ring of Honor inductee?

Earnest Byner scored twice to help erase a 21–3 deficit in that game before a Denver defender stripped the ball near the goal line.

Which director made ESPN's 'The Band That Wouldn't Die' about the Colts' marching band?

Barry Levinson's film follows a volunteer band that kept marching after the Colts left in 1984 and later helped campaign for a new stadium.

In 2010, besides the Ravens, which NFL franchise was the only other one with a marching band?

Washington Commanders' band sat out 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic and the team's rebrand, then returned in 2022 as a smaller, paid ensemble.

Why did two retired Ravens mascots return in 2022?

An injury sidelined the main mascot for the season after he was carted off at halftime of a preseason game, so his two brothers came out of retirement.

In 2009 the costumed mascot was joined by two live ravens named Rise and what?

Conquer and his brother Rise were hand-raised by zoo staff from a young age and trained to appear at home games.

What replaced the Ravens' first helmet logo after a copyright loss?

Raven head in profile replaced it after a jury found the old logo infringed a sketch faxed in by security guard Frederick Bouchat, though that case awarded him no damages.

Which team is the Ravens' archrival?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are widely seen as Baltimore's fiercest rival, and they won the first three playoff meetings before the Ravens finally beat them in January 2015.

Before joining the AFC North in 2002, the Ravens played in which division?

AFC Central was broken up in 2002, when the NFL's expansion to 32 teams led the league to realign into eight four-team divisions.

Which Ravens running back was the 2003 NFL Offensive Player of the Year?

Jamal Lewis had missed all of 2001 after tearing his ACL in training camp, two seasons before his award-winning year.

Which team's preseason winning streak record did the Ravens break in 2021?

Lombardi's Packers lost the record to a Baltimore team whose players credited its roster depth, since the Ravens often rested their starters in exhibitions.

Which film dramatised the early life of Michael Oher, the Ravens' 2009 first-round pick?

The Blind Side made Oher's story famous, but in 2023 he alleged the Tuohys had made him a conservatee rather than adopting him, and a judge ended the arrangement.

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was diagnosed at age nine with which condition?

Type 1 diabetes didn't end the youth soccer star's sporting dreams, and Andrews now uses his NFL platform to encourage kids living with the disease.

Safety Kyle Hamilton, the Ravens' 2022 first-round pick, was born in which country?

Greece was one stop in his father's overseas basketball career, and Kyle was born on the island of Crete before the family moved on to Russia.

Cornerback Marlon Humphrey won a silver medal at the 2013 World Youth Championships in which event?

He planned to run track at Alabama too before deciding to focus on football.

Derrick Henry joined the Ravens in 2024 after eight seasons with which team?

With the Tennessee Titans, he ran for 195 yards in the 2019 playoffs to knock Baltimore out, 28–12.

Linebacker Roquan Smith was the first Butkus Award winner from which college?

Georgia landed him after he first committed to UCLA, then held back his letter of intent when UCLA's defensive coordinator was linked to the Falcons.

The Ravens' 2008-2025 head coach was college roommates at Miami (Ohio) with which future pro wrestler?

He also had his sister marry basketball coach Tom Crean, making the family a full coaching tree.

After being cut by the 49ers in 1977, future Ravens coach Brian Billick was a contestant on which TV show?

After Match Game, Billick returned to the 49ers who had cut him, this time as assistant director of public relations.

Before the NFL team existed, an earlier 'Baltimore Ravens' club founded in 1972 played which sport?

The football team bought the naming rights in the 1990s and the original club became the Maryland Ravens.

In which Maryland town is the Ravens' headquarters located?

Owings Mills also housed the Colts' training complex, where Mayflower moving vans loaded the team overnight in March 1984.

Which city beat Baltimore to a 1993 expansion franchise despite having withdrawn from contention that summer?

Jacksonville got the nod, and commissioner Paul Tagliabue later suggested Baltimore could build a museum with its stadium money instead.

Which Los Angeles Rams owner was open to moving her team to Baltimore before the Browns relocated?

The league instead steered the Rams to St. Louis, fuelling more talk that Tagliabue was diverting interest from Baltimore.

Which receiver tied for the NFL lead with 14 touchdown catches in the Ravens' first season?

Michael Jackson later served one term as mayor of his hometown, Tangipahoa, Louisiana, from 2009 to 2012.

Which quarterback started for the Ravens in 2001 as they tried to defend their Super Bowl title?

Elvis Grbac lasted one season before Baltimore released him for refusing the pay concessions it asked for.

Which quarterback led the 2006 Ravens to the AFC North title and a first-round playoff bye?

Steve McNair's Ravens then lost 15–6 at home to the Colts, who won with five field goals and no touchdowns.

Which offensive coordinator did the Ravens hire in January 2014 after Jim Caldwell left to coach the Lions?

Gary Kubiak stayed one season, then left to become Denver's head coach and won Super Bowl 50 in his first year there.

Which former Ravens defensive coordinator went on to become head coach of the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals?

Marvin Lewis nearly left in 2002 to coach the Buccaneers; the Ravens even threw a going-away gathering before that team's owners balked.