So do you want to learn more about the Baltimore Ravens so when you watch the games with your friends you know what they’re talking about? You have come to the right place!
Technically, the Ravens are one of the newest teams in the NFL, having been established in 1996 when the owner of the Cleveland Browns wanted to move his team to Baltimore in 1996. There was some legal drama, and the end result was that the team moved to Baltimore but took on a new name. The end result was:
– players and contracts remained in Baltimore
– although the players were the same, it was technically a “new team”
– The Browns name stuck in Cleveland, and in 1999 they recruited new players and started playing again.
So in 1996, the Baltimore Ravens were the same players as the 1995 Cleveland Browns, just in a new city and with a new name. And in 1999, the Cleveland Browns started over with different players.
The Ravens’ name was chosen in reference to the poem “the Raven” by longtime Baltimore resident Edgar Allen Poe.
Despite technically being a new team in 1996, the Ravens had an established roster and in 2000 they won Super Bowl XXXV. Since then, they have made the playoffs 8 times and won the AFC North 3 times.
Despite a history of success, the Ravens have also had their share of problems. For example, in the 2002 season they lost several players due to salary cap issues (the amount they could pay their players was fixed). Obviously shocked by the loss of certain players, they ended season 7 and 9.
The next few years were marginal, sometimes ending the season with more losses than wins until 2006 when they established a best-of-13 win-3 team.
If you want to be in the know when the Ravens are being talked about, you should also be in the know about their great rivalries.
Perhaps the biggest rivalry (not just for the Ravens, but in the entire NFL) is between the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two cities are separated by a few hours by road, and the physical proximity makes the rivalry more “real”. Also, both teams are considered to be aggressive and physical, so when they play against each other, the action can be intense (compare that to a game between two teams with different styles of play, such as brute force versus strategic play). .
There is also a rivalry with the Indianapolis Colts, which used to be the Baltimore Colts. It’s the “old” Baltimore vs. the “new” Baltimore team.
As you may have guessed, there is also a rivalry with the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland fans don’t like that the Ravens moved out of Cleveland in 1996.
Soccer is exciting, but if you’re new to the game, it can be a bit difficult to remember what happened to which team. Now that you’ve read this, hopefully you have a little more knowledge about the Ravens and the world of football will make a little more sense to you (and understand why Colts and Ravens fans don’t like each other!) !).