Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are the professional football team of Baltimore. Established in 1996, the team is one of 32 football teams playing in the National Football League, the most watched professional sports league in the United States. The team plays at M&T Bank Stadium located in downtown Baltimore, only a few blocks away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which is the home stadium of baseball's Baltimore Orioles. 

Basic Information

Team name: Baltimore Ravens

Team Colors: Purple, Black, Gold, White

Established: 1996 (From Cleveland Browns)

Owners: Steve Bisciotti (current), Arthur Modell (former)

Coaches: John Harbaugh (current), Brian Billick (former), Ted Marchibroda (former)

Stadium: M&T Bank Stadium (current), PSINet Stadium (same stadium, former name), Memorial Stadium (former)

Stadium address: 1101 Russell Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230

League: National Football League, AFC North (current), AFC Central (former)

History

Professional football in Baltimore dates back to 1953 when the Baltimore Colts were the hometown team. However, then owner Robert Irsay relocated the team from the city to Indianapolis, Indiana to become the Indianapolis Colts, a very controversial move that left many fans bitter towards the former team. Although many attempts were made over the years to bring another football team to Baltimore, it wasn't until the National Football League expanded in 1996 that the city would again have another professional franchise. Arthur Modell moved the Cleveland Browns from Cleveland, Ohio to Baltimore, and the franchise would become the Baltimore Ravens. Unlike the move with the Colts to Indianapolis, the city of Cleveland was given the Browns franchise back a few years later as a new team and would be allowed to keep the city's football history and team colors.

Since the franchise's establishment in 1996, the Baltimore Ravens have achieved great success over the past 19 years. The team has won two SuperBowl's, which are the championship games of the NFL. The first SuperBowl victory occurred during the 2000 season over the New York Giants, and the Ravens became the youngest franchise to win a SuperBowl after only their fifth year in existence. The team won its second SuperBowl during the 2012 season against the San Francisco 49ers. This SuperBowl was significant because it was the first time in SuperBowl history in which two brothers were coaching each of the teams competing against each other (John Harbaugh for the Ravens, Jim Harbaugh for the 49ers). The Ravens have qualified for the playoffs 10 times out of their 19 seasons.

M&T Bank Stadium

The Baltimore Ravens play at M&T Bank Stadium, located at 1101 Russell Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. The stadium was built in 1998 and was originally known as Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards. The company PSINet bought the naming rights to the stadium in 1999, and the stadium became named PSINet Stadium from then until 2002. M&T Bank would buy the naming rights for the stadium in 2003, and the stadium has been called PSINet Stadium since then.

During the Ravens' first 2 years in the league, the team played at Memorial Stadium during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Memorial Stadium was also the former home to the Baltimore Colts during their years in the city. However, the stadium eventually became to old to support large crowds for professional sports games, and the Ravens moved to their current stadium after the 1997 season.

Rivals

As the Ravens are part of the AFC North, all other teams within the division are considered rivals. However, the teams most famous rivalry is shared with the Pittsburgh Steelers. As both teams haven been within the same division since the Ravens' establishment, the teams have encountered each other numerous times in both the regular season and playoffs. The teams are known for having very intense, hard-hitting, trash-talking, and relatively close games. The rivalry is considered one of the best current rivalries in the NFL.

Other rivals of the Baltimore Ravens are the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. However, the rivalries with these two teams have been reltively diminished over the years since the NFL realigned divisions in 2002, and the Ravens moved into a separate division from the other two teams.

The New England Patriots have been a more recently created rival of the Ravens. The teams have met each other 4 times in the playoffs during the past 6 seasons. The games are often very close and are typically decided by one score. The Ravens also consider the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals rivals, as the Ravens share their division with these two teams.