Fun Ravens Facts You May Not Know

[EdTheMythicalOne]

A post in another thread I made reminded me of this particular neat piece of Ravens history.

Did you know that there were only three players in the NFL that played for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts? Only two players played for the original Browns, The Baltimore Ravens, and the Indianapolis Colts. Those players are:

K: Matt Stover

DL: Dan Footman

DB: Raymond Walls

Stover and Footman were the guys to play for the original Browns team.

[berad]

Fun fact that a lot of people may know. To decide on the "Ravens" nickname, the Modells approached the Baltimore Sun to host a telephone poll with naming options of: Ravens, Americans, Marauders, Mustangs, and Railers.

The Ravens won the poll by a very large margin with Marauders and Americans finishing second and third, respectively.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/history/naming-baltimores-team.html

Later that year, the team unveiled it's colors and original jerseys and logos.

[JoeyFlex5]

1 minute ago, berad said:

Fun fact that a lot of people may know. To decide on the "Ravens" nickname, the Modells approached the Baltimore Sun to host a telephone poll with naming options of: Ravens, Americans, Marauders, Mustangs, and Railers.

The Ravens won the poll by a very large margin with Marauders and Americans finishing second and third, respectively.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/history/naming-baltimores-team.html

Later that year, the team unveiled it's colors and original jerseys and logos.

It's unbelievable that the Americans were 3rd. It doesn't even make sense for one city to have a team named the americans and quite frankly it sounds extremely corny, and I find it odd the NFL even approved of such a thing. 

 

Personally I wouldn't have minded any of those names aside from the americans. I'd like to know what any of those teams would have looked like.

[harfordravenfan]

2 minutes ago, berad said:

Fun fact that a lot of people may know. To decide on the "Ravens" nickname, the Modells approached the Baltimore Sun to host a telephone poll with naming options of: Ravens, Americans, Marauders, Mustangs, and Railers.

The Ravens won the poll by a very large margin with Marauders and Americans finishing second and third, respectively.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/history/naming-baltimores-team.html

Later that year, the team unveiled it's colors and original jerseys and logos.

This fact I remember (no clue who footman & walls are lol). But stover was $ under 40 yards

All the other potential names just didn't seem right

[berad]

4 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

It's unbelievable that the Americans were 3rd. It doesn't even make sense for one city to have a team named the americans and quite frankly it sounds extremely corny, and I find it odd the NFL even approved of such a thing. 

 

Personally I wouldn't have minded any of those names aside from the americans. I'd like to know what any of those teams would have looked like.

Yeah, Americans would have been cheesy. Similar to the "Patriots" although you can construe it for their revolutionary history, but many of the original colonies have that. Cheesy. The "Texans"? Psh.

2 minutes ago, harfordravenfan said:

This fact I remember (no clue who footman & walls are lol). But stover was $ under 40 yards

All the other potential names just didn't seem right

The "Railers" I guess were for the B&O railroad and the other tracks that ran in and around Baltimore. "Mustangs" is, of course, a call back to the equestrian traditions of the area - that would have made 3 NFL horse-related nicknames.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

8 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

It's unbelievable that the Americans were 3rd. It doesn't even make sense for one city to have a team named the americans and quite frankly it sounds extremely corny, and I find it odd the NFL even approved of such a thing. 

 

Personally I wouldn't have minded any of those names aside from the americans. I'd like to know what any of those teams would have looked like.

The Marauders might have looked a little something like this:

The Baltimore Bombers

Fun fact, that was one of the names proposed for the expansion franchise and the Bombers name was an homage to the B-26 Marauder which was designed and built in Baltimore.

The other fun fact? Another name being proposed was The Baltimore Block. An homage to of all things...the historic red light district of Baltimore. Gee, wonder why that one didn't fly?

[harfordravenfan]

1 minute ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

The Marauders might have looked a little something like this:

The Baltimore Bombers

Fun fact, that was one of the names proposed for the expansion franchise and the Bombers name was an homage to the B-26 Marauder which was designed and built in Baltimore.

The other fun fact? Another name being proposed was The Baltimore Block. An homage to of all things...the historic red light district of Baltimore. Gee, wonder why that one didn't fly?

That post put my mind in the gutter lol

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

That as well as being a Hall of Fame LT that Jonathan Ogden was the first Ravens non-skill position player ever to catch a TD?

Did you also know that Ogden is a perfect 2/2 with 2 TDs in his career?

Did you also know that Ogden was the VERY FIRST Ravens rookie to catch a TD pass? He beat KR/PR specialist Jermaine Lewis by one game. Ogden caught his in week 13, Jermaine Lewis caught his in week 14.

Edited July 28, 2016 by EdTheMythicalOne

[berad]

5 minutes ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

Did you know:

That as well as being a Hall of Fame LT that Jonathan Ogden was the first Ravens non-skill position player ever to catch a TD?

Did you also know that Ogden is a perfect 2/2 with 2 TDs in his career?

Did you also know that Ogden was the VERY FIRST Ravens rookie to catch a TD pass? He beat KR/PR specialist Jermaine Lewis by one game. Ogden caught his in week 13, Jermaine Lewis caught his in week 14.

That's awesome lol

[JoeyFlex5]

48 minutes ago, berad said:

Yeah, Americans would have been cheesy. Similar to the "Patriots" although you can construe it for their revolutionary history, but many of the original colonies have that. Cheesy. The "Texans"? Psh.

The "Railers" I guess were for the B&O railroad and the other tracks that ran in and around Baltimore. "Mustangs" is, of course, a call back to the equestrian traditions of the area - that would have made 3 NFL horse-related nicknames.

I like them all. Railers is definitely a solid tradition based name for Baltimore. Really blue collar too, I think the railers and Steelers rivalry may be a little more fun considering the extreme blue collar nature of both names. Mustangs would've been ok but I just think of gridirion gang and Meade high when I hear that lol

[JoeyFlex5]

1 hour ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

The Marauders might have looked a little something like this:

The Baltimore Bombers

Fun fact, that was one of the names proposed for the expansion franchise and the Bombers name was an homage to the B-26 Marauder which was designed and built in Baltimore.

The other fun fact? Another name being proposed was The Baltimore Block. An homage to of all things...the historic red light district of Baltimore. Gee, wonder why that one didn't fly?

Blue and bronze is a unique color combo. I wish there was a way to see what the uniform and field.and everything would have looked like

 

Edit, found this gem: 

Edited July 28, 2016 by JoeyFlex5

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

1 hour ago, berad said:

 

The "Railers" I guess were for the B&O railroad and the other tracks that ran in and around Baltimore. "Mustangs" is, of course, a call back to the equestrian traditions of the area - that would have made 3 NFL horse-related nicknames.

 

Nah it was Railers bc the Moddell's loved doing lines of .... well you get the idea (joking).

My family voted for Railers.. and yes its bc of the B&O.

My whole family worked for the B&O at some point or another... with my grandparents meeting there and starting their romance (my grandmom was like an office assistant). My grandpa started the railroad museum in baltimore and donated most of the photography there. My uncle continued on the legacy and actually just retired from the biz last year.

When traveling with my grandpa, you would hear a train whistle or something, or that rumble of the tracks and he'd be like "huh, the 485 to Kennebunkport is about 4 minutes early..." He knew everything about every train, ever. That and he literally knew where every Dunkin Donuts was located on the east coast.

Yea - Railers seemed just fitting for us.

But, I like the Ravens. Fitting and its grown on me for sure.

Edited July 28, 2016 by BOLDnPurPnBlacK

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

30 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

Blue and bronze is a unique color combo. I wish there was a way to see what the uniform and field.and everything would have looked like

 

Edit, found this gem: 

links broken/

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

We've had 3 pairs of brothers on this team at one point or another (if theres more feel free to share)...

But both Jonathan Ogden and his brother Marques were Ravens.

The Ayanbadejo's were the only brotherly pair to feature extensively on the field.

And the Flacco's of course, with Joe's brother Mike getting a tryout as a TE.

[bMore Heathen]

1 hour ago, berad said:

Fun fact that a lot of people may know. To decide on the "Ravens" nickname, the Modells approached the Baltimore Sun to host a telephone poll with naming options of: Ravens, Americans, Marauders, Mustangs, and Railers.

The Ravens won the poll by a very large margin with Marauders and Americans finishing second and third, respectively.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/history/naming-baltimores-team.html

Later that year, the team unveiled it's colors and original jerseys and logos.

I remember that, and my Dad and I voted for the Ravens. It was awesome that an owner coming to a new city literally asked the fans for their input. Showed very early in the process that he wanted the city to make decisions like that. 

 

Remember the after the first draft and the logos and colors weren't decided yet? JO's rookie press confrence they just had the banner that said "Baltimore Ravens" in purple and black!!

[JoeyFlex5]

30 minutes ago, BOLDnPurPnBlacK said:

links broken/

Phone... I'll get it when I get on my laptop later on

[EdTheMythicalOne]

On 7/28/2016 at 5:28 PM, BOLDnPurPnBlacK said:

We've had 3 pairs of brothers on this team at one point or another (if theres more feel free to share)...

But both Jonathan Ogden and his brother Marques were Ravens.

The Ayanbadejo's were the only brotherly pair to feature extensively on the field.

And the Flacco's of course, with Joe's brother Mike getting a tryout as a TE.

The only other brother of another Raven that I can recall right now was Peter Boulware and Michael Boulware, but Michael never played for the Ravens.

Edited July 30, 2016 by EdTheMythicalOne

[K-Dog]

The Baltimore RAVENS.  The only pro sports team to be named after a work of literature. 

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

16 hours ago, K-Dog said:

The Baltimore RAVENS.  The only pro sports team to be named after a work of literature. 

Well, the Flyers are a homophone (sounds the same, means different right??? or is it called something else, i forget) for a piece a literature. Not a specific one, or famous.

But, fliers generally speaking are literature on an event or organization.

Oh and what we refer to NY's baseball team in my house... those "dang Yankees", is a work of literature and movie.

The New York Knicks, short for Knickerbockers which was an invented surname by the Dutch and became popularized in 1809 when Washington Irving penned his famous satire A History of New York under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. Because of the piece of literature it became a slang term to describe the Dutch Aristocracy famous for their long pipes and short pants (which is why the term is often attributed to a type of pants - knickers).... soon after it became a term to generally describe people from the area of NYC, and therefore became a popular name for sports clubs in the area.

I imagine the movie the Mighty Ducks was first a screen play, and therefore the Ducks of NHL fame are based on a work of literature, as Disney purchased the team and named them after said movie.

The Boston Bruins are also sourced from literature. Bruin is a Middle English word related to or describing the color brown. Again, the term became popularized by a series of Middle English tales that follow the sinister trickster, "Reynard the fox" and often featured "Bruin the Bear." Later it became synonymous with the word bear, and when the owner of the Boston NHL team was instructed to come up with a team name that included a swift, agile and powerful animal - he selected Bruin after a favorite character of his.

 

Thats all i got... not so directly tied to literature as the exact title, but several other sports team names tied to pieces of literature.

[sibelius]

more threads like this please. awesome info thanks all. 

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Not sure how many people would not know or at least guess this...but.

Did you know:

That Ray Lewis is not only the first Ravens rookie to record a sack, but also the first Ravens rookie to intercept a pass?

What you may not know:

Rookie Elliott Fortune recorded the second sack ever by a Ravens rookie...in the only season he ever played in the NFL. It was the very last game of the 1996 season.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

That ILB Mike Caldwell was the first Ravens player ever to return an INT for a TD and the first ever Ravens player to score a TD on defense?

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

That OLB Jamie Sharper was the first Raven to recover a fumble for a TD?

Did you know that it took until 2001 for the Ravens to accomplish this feat?

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

Ravens return ace Jermaine Lewis was an electric return man and returned numerous punts back for touchdowns. Did you know that he NEVER returned a kick off for a touchdown during the regular season.

Did you know the ONLY kick he ran back for a touchdown was in the first ever Superbowl win for the Ravens.

Did you know that his kick return touchdown came on the very next kick off after Giants return man Ron Dixon ran a kick back for a touchdown?

Did you know that Jermaine Lewis lost is baby boy only about a month before the superbowl and before he ran the kick back he rubbed his wrist bands that had "Geronimo Lewis, Rest In Peace" written on them. Geronimo being the name of his stillborn baby boy.

Did you know that that return for a score would be the last of Jermaine's career? He played three more seasons in the NFL, one with Houston and two with Jacksonville and he never returned another kick or punt for a score.

Edited July 29, 2016 by EdTheMythicalOne

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

That QB Kyle Boller holds the NFL record for tripping over his own two feet in dropping back from center, falling down, and then proceeding to fumble the football?

Actually I don't know if that is actually true or not because I don't know if anyone kept an official record of something like this. It certainly seems like it could be the case though and since my last post was a bit on the downer side I thought some levity was in order.

[edthehead]

did you know,

I enjoy this topic ,

many great did u know,

thanks u all

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

That the first original Raven pass for a touchdown to another original Raven occurred on the first week of the 2003 season.

Rookie QB Kyle Boller threw a TD pass to WR Travis Taylor.

Did you know that same duo would hook up again for the 3rd and 4th ever original Raven to original Raven TD hook up? That feat would happen in the same game in week 6 of 2003.

Did you know that those two touchdowns would be the last Travis Taylor would ever catch in a Ravens uniform, despite being a Raven in 2004?

The second original Raven to original Raven TD pass would occur in week 3 as Boller hooked up with TE Todd Heap.

The fifth such connection belongs to Boller and back up TE Terry Jones in week 7 of the season.

And the sixth occasion I thought I should mention just for the sake it involves a previous player mentioned in this thread. Yes, LT Jonathan Ogden caught a TD pass from Boller in week 9. This would also be the last TD Boller threw that season.

 

 

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Did you know:

To date the Ravens have 8 safeties in franchise history?

That DE Rob Burnett was the recorded the first safety in Ravens history in 1998?

Did you also know that MLB Ray Lewis was the first original Raven to record a safety...and that it occurred the very next season in 1999?

The third Safety belongs to Micheal McCrary in 2000.

Did you know it would take six more seasons before the Ravens would record another safety? It was the first time the Ravens would record more than one safety in a season. The fourth safety belongs to Adalius Thomas and the fifth one belongs to Ed Reed in 2006. Did you also know that Ed Reed would be the only defensive back to record a safety in Ravens history to date?

This next one is really special.

Did you know that the sixth and seventh safety in Ravens history belong to the same person? Did you know that this person would be the first rookie to ever record a safety in Ravens history? Did you know that this person would be the only player in Ravens history to record two safeties in the same season? Did you know that this player did not start a single game that season? Did you know that all of these honors belong to MLB Jameel McClain in the 2008 season?

Did you know it would take six more seasons for the Ravens to get their next safety?

In 2014 OLB Terrell Suggs recorded the eigth and most recent Safety in Ravens history. Did you also know he is also the oldest Raven to record a safety at age 32.

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by EdTheMythicalOne

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

On July 28, 2016 at 6:24 PM, EdTheMythicalOne said:

The only other brother of another Raven was Peter Boulware and Michael Boulware, but Michael never played for the Ravens.

Shannon and Sterling Sharpe. 

Arthur and Chandler Jones. 

Dawan and Laron Landry. 

There may be more, those are just ones off the head in 2 min. I stuck w/ brothers that both played for the Ravens for a reason. 

[EdTheMythicalOne]

4 minutes ago, BOLDnPurPnBlacK said:

Shannon and Sterling Sharpe. 

Arthur and Chandler Jones. 

Dawan and Laron Landry. 

There may be more, those are just ones off the head in 2 min. I stuck w/ brothers that both played for the Ravens for a reason. 

Ma'ake Kemoeatu and Chris Kemoeatu, who played for the Steelers of all teams. And there is a Did you know to go along with that....Did you know that Ma'ake donated a kidney to his younger brother Chris?

It does make sense to stick with brothers that played on the Ravens and it is a cool addition to the thread so thank you for adding it.