Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith, always direct, summed things up like this: “It sucks.” In frigid Buffalo on Sunday night, the third-seeded Ravens lost to the second-seeded Bills, 27-25, ending Baltimore’s season in a game the team had so many chances to win. Here are five takeaways from the brutal AFC divisional round defeat—something we’ve sadly seen before.

Mark Andrews needs a hug or something.
You hate to see it. Mark Andrews—Mr. Reliable, Lamar Jackson’s longtime “safety blanket,” the Ravens all-time leader in touchdown receptions, a guy who literally helped save a woman’s life earlier this year—was part of not one, but two crushing, game-changing plays that you could say cost the Ravens a win.

He dropped a potential game-tying pass on a two-point conversion after the Ravens completed an eight-play, 88-yard scoring drive with 1:44 left. And on the Ravens previous drive, which also looked like it could have ended in a (go-ahead) score, Andrews fumbled for the first time since 2019.

Social media almost immediately lit up with relentless harsh words and memes about the final play, in particular. So, yeah, suffice it to say, he could probably use a hug.

“There’s nobody that has more heart and cares more or fights more than Mark,” coach John Harbaugh said Sunday night. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews.”

The two-point play drop will go down in Baltimore sports lore for the wrong reasons (and remind people of another missed catch in the 2019 playoffs against Tennessee), though it wasn’t as simple of a grab as it may have looked. The pass wasn’t entirely on target, but we’ll spare you the video replay and CBS announcer Jim Nantz screaming: “The ball was dropped!”

As for the fumble, Andrews was punished for an extra effort when he could have just gone down to the turf. After catching a 16-yard pass from Lamar in the middle of the field, Andrews—who had five receptions for 61 yards in the game—tried to juke linebacker Terrel Bernard and Bernard punched the ball from Andrews’ left arm.

It was the Ravens’ third turnover of the night, and reminiscent of another gut-punch in last year’s AFC title game on wide receiver Zay Flowers. And it was uncharacteristic of Andrews, who had four drops all year. He had two in this game alone, plus the fumble.

Andrews didn’t talk to reporters after the game, but teammates spoke up for him. “Any other situation, Mark holds onto the ball,” fellow tight end Isaiah Likely said.

If only Lamar’s first half didn’t happen.
There was a first-quarter interception—an ugly floater in the face of a blitz that sailed above Rashod Bateman near the right sideline and was easily caught by Bills safety Taylor Rapp. “[It was] a B.S. interception,” Jackson said. “I saw it was man coverage. I just didn’t get my eyes on the safety. If I got my eyes on the safety, there wouldn’t been no interception.”

Then there was a second-quarter fumble, where Lamar simply dropped the ball under pressure after a bad snap from center Tyler Linderbaum. “I was trying to make something happen, tried to squeeze the ball, it slipped out of my hand,” Jackson said, and he lamented the decision. “[I needed to] just go down. It’s a playoff game.”

These were the kind of mistakes that Lamar more often made in previous years, when he didn’t put together 40-plus touchdowns and only four interceptions. Barely halfway into the second quarter of Sunday night’s game, he had two turnovers for the first time all season. The extra possessions tilted the game in Buffalo’s favor early and put the Ravens in an early hole. The second giveaway led to a Josh Allen quarterback sneak that gave the Bills a 14-7 lead.

It looked like “antsy” Lamar in the first half, but he appeared more poised for all of the second half, most notably connecting on five straight passes before the 24-yard touchdown strike to a sliding Likely in the front of the end zone to pull the Ravens within two points late. Jackson had 254 yards passing and 39 rushing. But potential late-game heroics wouldn’t have been necessary if he had played a cleaner first half. If that happened, the result might have been more like the Ravens’ comfortable 35-10 Week 4 win against Buffalo at home.

As much as you didn’t want to see the turnovers, neither did Lamar.
We hadn’t seen or heard him this mad after a game in a while. “Tonight, turnovers, we can’t have that s***. That’s why we lost the game,” he said in a postgame press conference. “We were moving the ball wonderfully. It’s hold on to the f***** ball. This s*** annoying. I’m tired of this s***.”

What does he feel like he needs to do to avoid this feeling again? “Protect the ball. If we protect the ball, we’re still on the field. I believe we’re driving down the field [and] putting up points…Protecting the ball. That’s the No. 1 priority, and we didn’t do it. Especially me. I’m the leader.”

As he spoke, he slapped the back of one of his hands into the palm of the other in frustration. “I got to protect the ball,” he said. “So, I’m hot.”

The defense gave the Ravens a chance.
Despite the turnovers, the Ravens were still within striking distance the entire game. That was thanks to their defense, which stopped the Bills quick on their first two drives of the second half and handed the offense the ball, down only 21-13. After that, Derrick Henry (84 yards on 16 carries) started to heat up, ripping off runs of 17 and 15 yards, and a five-yard touchdown that pulled the Ravens within two. They didn’t convert that two-point attempt, either, when a Lamar pass was tipped inside.

On the ensuing drive, the Ravens defense stepped up again, holding the Bills to a field goal that made it 24-19 early in the fourth quarter. Even after Andrews fumbled, the defense again kept the Bills out of the end zone, stopping Allen on a third-and-goal run to force another field goal and give the Ravens another chance to tie the game.

The Ravens held Allen to just 127 passing yards and allowed 273 total. In the meantime, the offense gained 416, but again…the three giveaways doomed them. The Ravens became the fourth team in NFL history to lose a playoff game without punting.

A Super Bowl remains elusive for Lamar and company.
The good news: The Ravens have reached the postseason in six of seven seasons since Jackson took over as starting quarterback in 2018. The bad news: For the third time during that span, the Ravens’ season ends two wins short of a Super Bowl appearance, and the Allen-led Bills have now beaten Baltimore twice in the AFC divisional round in games in subfreezing Buffalo four years apart.

But Jackson could very well win his third NFL MVP award when it is announced just before the Super Bowl in a few weeks. Voting was done before this game, meaning whatever the result between Allen and Lamar—the two frontrunners—on Sunday night wouldn’t matter. But another individual award is little solace for Lamar, who has been fixated on winning a Super Bowl from the moment the Ravens drafted him.

The closest he and the Ravens have gotten to the Super Bowl since then was last year’s AFC title game appearance in Baltimore against the eventual champion Chiefs, who will now host the Bills in this year’s AFC championship next weekend. The Ravens last played for—and won—an NFL title at the end of the 2012 season with Joe Flacco at QB.

“We’re right there,” said Jackson, whose playoff record is now 3-5 in seven seasons. “I’m tired of being right there.”

Perhaps the longest week in NFL history—which began on Thanksgiving Day when the Ravens were first supposed to play the Steelers and finally ended almost a week later when the teams actually faced each other for the 54th time—would have been a little bit longer had it not been for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

Television dictates a lot of sports decisions these days. After three postponements of the latest edition of what we consider pro football’s greatest rivalry—as the Ravens dealt with what became pro sports’ largest COVID outbreak of the pandemic thus far—executives at NBC finally said “enough” when the NFL wanted to play the game after the sun went down on Wednesday.

That was the night of the annual tree-lighting ceremony in New York City, right outside the NBC headquarters.

“We’re not moving that,” they said. “There is life outside of football, you know. Start your game earlier.”

And so the Ravens and Steelers kicked off—finally—around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in front of a handful of in-person spectators, mostly family members of Steelers’ players. It was 139 hours after originally planned, and a lot had happened in the meantime.

For those working from home or able to stream the broadcast from anywhere on their phone, the few hours of entertainment was a nice mid-week treat, just what the NFL wanted for itself and its television sponsors. For everyone involved in the action of the game itself, it was a kind of a mess. The play was ugly. The undefeated Steelers eked out a 19-14 win over the clearly overmatched and short-handed Ravens, who didn’t have a real practice all week and traveled to Pittsburgh on two different private planes the day before the game—the NFL edition of “social distancing”—while not knowing if the outbreak was truly contained.

They played without nine regular starters on Wednesday, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson and six other Pro Bowlers. Everyone on the Ravens sideline was wearing N95 masks for the first time all year, after a maskless and contact-tracing deviceless team staff member reportedly sparked the outbreak that ultimately put 20 players on the team’s COVID-19 injured list more than a week earlier.

If anything, this story serves as a cautionary tale for how quickly the virus can spread. To wit: Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell, the reigning NFL Man of the Year who is appearing in television PSAs urging people to wear masks, was one of those who caught the virus. (The team has only publicly said it’s “punished” one staff member for causing all of the chaos, and didn’t name who, but multiple reports have said its head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders.)

The Ravens confirmed Jackson, the franchise quarterback, was COVID positive on Friday. Two days later, the Ravens had a players-only meeting where at least some said they didn’t want to play on Tuesday, given that they hadn’t had a proper practice at all in the last seven days because of the still-spreading virus among them. They went 10 days straight with at least one positive test through the day before the game.

Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman is worried that Lamar Jackson might talk too loud.

He’s worried that players and coaches from other teams—either watching live or on television replays—will clearly hear what signals the quarterback is yelling out at the line of scrimmage and find a pattern about what play follows, or which direction Jackson runs.

Think of how clear Peyton Manning’s famous “Omaha” call was on national television a few years back. Now put that situation in a mostly empty, cavernous football stadium. (Manning, the future Hall of Fame quarterback, revealed once he retired that the Nebraska city was an “indicator” word to his lineman that he’d changed a play, and gone to “Plan B”.)

Sensitive microphones can easily pick up language from players, coaches, or the sound of a sneeze, especially with no fans in the stands, which will be the case for at least the start of this Ravens season. It’s scheduled to begin next Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium against the Cleveland Browns.

“That’s one of the first things we started talking about,” Roman, the guy who picks the plays that Jackson calls in the huddle and the line of scrimmage, said this week, “how the communication is going to be a lot more evident, based on the fact that it’s not going to be nearly as loud. We’ll definitely mix some things up as we go.” He often holds his hand or play sheet over his goateed mouth so opponents can’t read his lips. A mask might do the job now.

(On a related note, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the other day, “Don’t they put that lip-sync thing out every year?” referring to the series of hilarious “Bad Lip Reading” videos that have linked nonsensical phrases to the movement of coaches’ mouths, “It’s going to kill that industry.”)

In the grand scheme of this most unusual and chaotic year, sign-stealing and code-breaking probably doesn’t rank high on the list of most people’s daily concerns.

As we work from home with kids hanging from our legs, and others struggle with the challenges of not working at all, we’re simply happy to even be talking and writing about sports, and that games are happening.

(And so are others, evidently. As we were researching something for this article, we noticed a Browns fan must have done some recent editing to M&T Bank Stadium’s Wikipedia page, labeling the Ravens stadium as “aka Baker Mayfield’s house” in the first line and picture caption. Can someone please change that?)

Football will be played, but like most everything else this year, it will be different. Because of the pandemic and government regulations, the Ravens home stadium—aside from the players on the field, coaches on the sidelines, and other team staff—will be empty on game days. Same goes for most road games, depending on the state and if policies change.

Fans know that the Ravens have a provocative in-stadium message during big points of a game. “Every decibel counts,” with a fake sound meter encouraging more. But the noise will literally be manually controlled this year. “It’s always great to have our fans there. They’re always energized,” linebacker Tyus Bowser said recently. “It’s going to be a different vibe.”

In fact, the NFL is reportedly requiring teams to play fake crowd noise to create some semblance of atmosphere (as well as background noise for entertainment and competitive reasons, like Roman said). And stadium staff will be allowed to play loud music until there’s 15 seconds left on the play clock.

In this new work-at-home (stadium) life, everyone who isn’t a player will be required to wear a mask on the sideline or anywhere else. Media interviews, typically done in person in or near the locker rooms, will be held over videoconference, like they have been the last month since training camp began in Owings Mills. Players will continue to be tested for COVID-19 every day. (They’re the most tested people in the country, it seems.) Reporters and team staff will spread out in the press box and capacity will be limited.

And, most notably, the Ravens recently said that cardboard cutouts of paying fans will sit in the purple seats at M&T Bank Stadium, which for the previous 22 years have been occupied by real humans. It’s a trend that other pro sports teams, from South Korean baseball organizations to the NBA bubble in Florida, have tried this year. If you ask us, it’s a brilliant idea.

For $45 if you’re a personal seat license (PSL) holder, or $55 if you’re not, your image can be one of the flat likenesses in the crowd on Sundays, and you can maybe catch the paper version of yourself in the stands while watching on TV. The team will tell you in which section of the stadium you should look. All proceeds from the cutout sales will benefit the Ravens’ COVID-19 relief efforts in the Baltimore area, and you can find more details about how to order yours here.

“Unfortunately, we can’t have fans at the game for the time being, so we wanted to give an opportunity for fans to feel like they were still there,” Deandra Duggans, the Ravens director of advertising and branding, said on the morning news the other day while showing a few examples of what the cutouts could look like.

Twenty-six of the NFL’s 32 teams have announced fanless plans, much like the Orioles have done this year. From a competitive standpoint, for the Ravens, it’s really a shame, given that Super Bowl hopes are very legitimate with Jackson, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, entering the prime years of his career. There should be plenty to cheer for. Originally, the team had plans to have 14,000 people in their roughly 71,000-person capacity stadium. Then the Ravens sent a revised proposal to the city and state with a cap of 7,500 fans at games, but that was shot down last week.

“That’s a bummer,” new Ravens defensive lineman Derek Wolfe said the day the decision was announced. “I’m more bummed out for the fans themselves, because they’re not going to get to [go]. Who knows? Maybe a couple of games in we might be able to start letting some fans in. Maybe by the end of the season, going to the playoffs, we’ve got a full packed stadium.”

We’re not going to blame anyone for being cautious, even with the idea of a crowd 10 percent of a normal one. So, dealing with the current reality, the Ravens have practiced at least three times in the last two weeks in an empty home stadium to get a sense of what the season will look and sound like.

On Wednesday, they practiced in the afternoon to mimic what the light will look like—mainly for Jackson and the wide receivers when they catch and throw, and for kick and punt returners when they look into the sky—during their 1 p.m. season opener against the Browns.

With no preseason games this August, the team ran through substitution patterns and game situations all with ambient noise blaring. After the first stadium practice, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, “It was louder than I thought it was going to be. [It was] probably similar to what you have in the stadium when the crowd is there at a normal level.”

That’s good news for his fourth-year assistant Roman, and Jackson, and anyone else who doesn’t want to worry about other teams hearing what they’re saying.

“It’s different,” Roman said, “but once that ball gets placed and the whistle blows, it’s football. And we have to get ready to play some good football.”

Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, who died Monday at 90, is best remembered as the architect of the Miami Dolphins and their undefeated 1972 season—still the only perfect year in NFL history.

But before Shula won in Miami, he’d burnished a legacy in Baltimore.

The Colts went 71-23-4 in their seven years under Shula. In their 1967 and 1968 campaigns, they lost just a single game each of those regular seasons. The Colts, however, did lose 27-0 to the Cleveland Browns in the 1964 NFL championship. And, of course, they were upset by the New York Jets in the 1969 Super Bowl after winning the NFL title, a game that ultimately forced the merger of the AFL and NFL, as well as Shula’s departure to Miami.

While no cause of death has been announced, the Miami Herald reports that a close associate said Shula was not ill at the time of his passing.

An Ohio native, Shula played seven years as a slow, but smart and hard-nosed defensive back in the NFL, including four for the Colts between 1953-1956 before beginning his coaching career. He was offered the Colts top coaching job at just 33 years old, becoming the youngest head coach in pro football. His reference? None other than Hall of Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti.

From Collision of Wills, Baltimore writer Jack Gilden’s 2018 book on the relationship between Shula and quarterback Johnny Unitas:

In 1963, Gino Marchetti, close to Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom, recommended that head coach Weeb Ewbank be fired from his post and that Don Shula be hired to replace him. Rosenbloom barely remembered Shula even though the granite-jawed young man played for the Colts himself for four seasons, calling all of the team’s defensive signals.
“You mean that guy who played here that wasn’t very good?” Rosenbloom asked Marchetti.

While his relationship with the veteran Unitas was often challenging, Shula was ready for the post. He won The Sporting News Coach of the Year honors in the 1964, his second season. He won it again in 1968 with the Colts. (In a twist of fate, it was Ewbank who directed the Jets to their upset of the Colts.)

“His two most memorable moments in football were losing to Joe Namath and the Jets in Super Bowl III, a painful and colossal upset, and beating the Redskins in Super Bowl VII to cap the undefeated season,” Gilden wrote on his Facebook page yesterday. “Those two games sum him up perfectly. He endured a great deal of humiliation to achieve the most storied accomplishments in his sport. Don Shula was one of the greatest men in the history of the game.”

In Miami, after his relationship with Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom soured following the loss to the Jets, Shula won back-to-back Super Bowls and eventually 347 games, the most in pro football history. The Dolphins offered Shula part ownership of the four-year-old franchise.

“After Super Bowl III, my relationship with Rosenbloom was not very pleasant,” Shula told The Sun in a 2008 interview. “I loved Baltimore—the people, the fans and everything that Colts football stood for. But Rosenbloom’s New York buddies never let him forget [the heavily favored Colts’ loss], and he never let me forget it.
“If we had won that game, and continued to win, I certainly wouldn’t have gone. I’d still be in Baltimore, eating crab cakes.”

Don Shula with Art Donovan during their playing days in Baltimore. (Courtesy of Debbie Donovan)

“With the 28th overall selection, the Baltimore Ravens select Patrick Queen, linebacker, Louisiana State University,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, live from his basement.

Around 11:45 p.m. Thursday, with the pick finally in, Ravens coach John Harbaugh air high-fived in the direction of the computer screen on his home office desk.

It was late. “A long, long day,” said Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, who was on the receiving end of Harbaugh’s video congratulations. And the nearly five previous hours were different from all of the other communal draft nights the Ravens’ braintrust has known. “We were together, sort of,” DeCosta said.

The Ravens and all NFL teams, popular as they are, are not immune pandemic-generated social-distancing rules, either. And so for the first-time ever, the league’s college draft—normally an in-person primetime spectacle held at some place like Radio City Music Hall and attended by thousands of passionate fans—went entirely virtual.

In essence, the traditional conference-style War Room at Ravens’ headquarters in Owings Mills was replaced by a home-office-themed internet-based Zoom Room. We saw Harbaugh sitting at his desk amid bright book-lined shelves, and DeCosta celebrating with his three children in his pink-ish wall-colored workspace.

It felt and looked like a fantasy football draft—where John Doe’s around the country analyze and choose players from their couches for fake teams and a little money—except this remote draft was real and the lifeblood of a billion-dollar pro football business.

Young twenty-somethings hearing their names called, like Charm City’s new (Patrick) Queen, have the potential to become household names and new millionaires. All the while, front-office guys such as DeCosta wore collared shirts and jackets, and ate good food (Jimmy’s Seafood, in his case) rather than gorging on cheap pizza and beer, while trusting encrypted league-mandated Microsoft Teams channels and their own custom team IT setups.

Thankfully, it all went off without a visible glitch—from the technology setup to the Ravens’ draft choice itself. DeCosta manned the Ravens’ battlestation from his cozy office, where a half dozen computer monitors displayed information, like the team’s draft board of names, arranged as if they were meetings on a Google calendar.

One by one, the blocks disappeared as the 27 other picks were made. But by the time it was the Ravens’ turn, they still nabbed one of their preferred targets. Queen, a 20-year-old, 6-foot, 230-pound quick and versatile linebacker—who’s a good tackler, blitzer, and pass coverage option—was defensive MVP of LSU’s national championship-winning team in January.

“He plays like a Raven,” DeCosta said. “When you watch the tape, you notice him. He’s a great fit for our defense and a great fit for Baltimore. He was a need, but also the very best player on the board for us. When that happens it’s a great win for the organization.”

Quarterback Lamar Jackson commented from his place on Instagram shortly after the selection and took the analysis further, saying simply, “Ray Lewis, Jr.” Harbaugh noted Queen’s potential after starting just one year at LSU: “His best football is in front of him.”

It was even later, close to 1 a.m., when Queen joined reporters live in a video chat from his family’s living room in the small town of Ventress, Louisiana, where his family was celebrating (his dad, Dwayne, is a former college football player) and a dog barked.

“It was a long, long, long, long night,” Queen said to start, one upping DeCosta’s claim by a few “longs.” And as a few people offered congratulations to the new Raven before asking a question, he responded with a sincere “Thank you,” before answering each query.

On the inevitable comparison to Ray Lewis, a linebacker who the Ravens also selected at the end of the first round back in the day, Queen smiled. “The bar is set high,” he said.

On critics who might say he’s undersized for the rough world of the NFL, he said, “I’m so tired of hearing that,” and added that he’s proven people wrong everywhere from his small Louisiana high school to the big-time world of college football at LSU. “The tape shows.”

On what fans can expect from him, he said, “Ya’ll going to get the most energetic player from this draft, the most passionate, the most dominant, the most studious person that you can get. I bring a lot to the table.”

Those are more than enough reasons for an air high-five.

For instance, Queen is the first player from LSU the Ravens have ever drafted, perhaps because longtime Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome—who was also part of the Zoom Room—played at the University of Alabama, one of LSU’s rivals.

“He kept saying something, but we muted him,” DeCosta said sarcastically of Newsome before the pick was made. “He kept waving his hands then his video went out. That’s the thing with technology sometimes, it can be manipulated. Maybe it was the Russians, I don’t really know.”

To that point, the GM indicated he would have preferred that ESPN didn’t have a camera in his office recording everything he did, one of more than 100 live video feeds coordinated for the broadcast. “It’s a bit unsettling,” DeCosta said.

But, for one night, the whole mere occurrence—from Queen’s authentic answers and apparent skills, to the awkward musings of Goodell from his basement as he announced picks, to the office backgrounds of Harbaugh and DeCosta, and light-hearted jokes—was a welcome respite for pandemic life.

Yet hopefully it’s not needed in the long run. “I don’t think I’ll ever experience another draft like this,” DeCosta said, noting he had tell his kids to be quiet at times. “But I’ll never forget it.”

As if we all don’t have enough to worry about, Lamar Jackson just announced that he’s going to be on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2021.

That loud sound you just heard was Ravens fans around Baltimore collectively groaning, “Nooooooo!”

Some background: The concept of the so-called “Madden Curse” has been around for more than two decades. It started, innocuously enough, with San Francisco running back Garrison Hearst. Who? Exactly. A highly touted prospect, he played one spectacular season for the 49ers, appeared on the cover of Madden 1999, and suffered a hideous ankle break in the second round of the playoffs. He missed the next two seasons and, after returning from injury, had one more impressive season, but was never the same player again.

Still, that was a one-time thing. Hardly grounds for a curse, right? Until Barry Sanders appeared on the cover in 2000. How were Sanders’ stats that year? We’ll never know because he UNEXPECTEDLY RETIRED that season.

Okay, two is a coincidence, not a trend, which leads us to the Titans’ Eddie George. After an uncannily consistent career, he was honored with the Madden 2001 cover. His 2001 season was good, not great, and he uncharacteristically fumbled a pass in the fourth quarter against the Ravens (oh yeaaaaaah) in the playoffs, directly contributing to the Titans’ loss. He played four more seasons but once again, was never the same player again.

Yikes!
But here’s something to give Ravens fans hope. That one-two-three punch certainly started the Madden Curse off with a flourish—and it continued apace for several years, cursing the seasons of players like Mike Vick (Madden 2004—torn fibula), Donovan McNabb (Madden 2006—groin injury), Troy Polamalu (Madden 2010—torn MCL), and the Ravens own Ray Lewis (Madden 2005—not a single interception; Ravens didn’t make the playoffs).

All in all, more Madden cover boys have been cursed than not. But, luckily, we’re seeing a reverse of the trend. In 2018, Tom Brady reversed the curse, earning league MVP honors. (On the other hand, the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl that year. For any other team, a spectacular season. For the Pats, a bit of a bust.)

In 2016, Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was on the cover, yet finished the season with 1,450 receiving yards and was voted to his second consecutive Pro-Bowl.

And then there’s QB Patrick Mahomes, last year’s cover model. When the Kansas City Chiefs’ prodigy got injured in the seventh game of the season, it seemed like the curse had struck again. But he came back only three games later and went on to lead the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win.

Here’s the thing about athletes: Many are superstitious. But the best ones are super cocky, too. If there is a curse, they’re convinced they’ll be the one to break it.

As Jackson himself told reporters: “I’m not worried about a curse. Patrick Mahomes was on the cover and he won MVP [of the Super Bowl], so I would want that curse. I hope that’s a curse!”

University of Maryland sophomore Jalen Smith, the 19-year-old former Mount St. Joseph’s star, typed out a message yesterday in an attempt to process the shocking news he’d just learned.

March Madness, the whole thing, cancelled.

It is, and the feeling applies to a lot of us at this point.

As novel coronavirus fears and prevention measures sweep the country, the NCAA—the national governing body of college athletics—made the unprecedented move on Thursday to cancel the 68-team men’s basketball tournament as part of a decision to end competitions in all spring sports.

It’s the first time in the 80-year history of the bracket-busting tournament that it won’t be played—and the news came quick. On Wednesday, it was announced March Madness games would be played without fans, which was weird enough to think about.

A day later, hundreds of thousands of college kids like Smith were digesting a sudden end to their seasons, and their entire playing careers, in some cases, like Terps senior captain Anthony Cowan, Jr. And Smith, too. He might test the NBA waters and enter the draft.

Business as usual in the U.S. is suspended for the time being. Many government officials have taken measures to limit public gatherings in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19—for which there’s no vaccine and specifically impacts those over the age of 60 and those with underlying medical conditions.

That goes for events like weddings, court trials, conferences, and schools. After the Big Ten conference cancelled the rest of its spring seasons earlier on Thursday, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon released a statement saying that “the health and safety of our student athletes and entire program is paramount. This is an unprecedented situation that is much bigger than basketball.”

It sure is. In the local sports world alone, Orioles opening day, as directed by Major League Baseball, has been pushed back for at least two weeks. Spring training games in Florida have been cancelled, though the team will still practice and continue precautions they began last week.

And the postseason hopes of teams from colleges like Maryland, Loyola, Johns Hopkins, Towson and many others are now over before players even took the field. Same goes in the ranks of public schools throughout the state, which will be closed for at least the next two weeks.

Mancini has tumor removed; Awaits test results

Meanwhile, all the coronavirus news has overshadowed another big piece of news with the Orioles this week.

Trey Mancini, the team’s most established figure and a fan-favorite, had surgery yesterday to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. He expects lab results back next week, and there’s no timetable for a recovery yet. He left the team last week after a colonoscopy revealed the tumor.

Mancini, 27, shared his thanks with everyone who sent messages and notes of encouragement. “The outpouring of love and support I have received has made an extremely tough week so much better,” he said. “I have the best family, friends, fans, and teammates imaginable.”

Yanda retires from the Ravens

Finally, longtime Ravens offensive lineman and potential future Hall-of-Famer Marshal Yanda formally announced his retirement—and look, his buddy Joe Flacco returned to Owings Mills for the press conference at the Ravens practice facility…

The Ravens have already announced that Yanda will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor at M&T Bank Stadium. Until then, we’ll remember the scene of the grizzled, sweaty, and frustrated 13-year-pro in the Ravens’ locker room after their shocking early playoff exit against the Tennessee Titans in January. That showed the type of person he is.

Yanda was adamant at calling out Titans rookie defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons for allegedly spitting in Yanda’s face during the game. “I just want to put him on notice in the media,” Yanda said. “I’ve never done this in my career, but I just wanted to let you know there’s a right way and a wrong way to play football, and that guy did not do it the right way today.”

Turns out the notice was a parting gift.

In the wake of the news of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, as well as seven other passengers Sunday, shock and sadness have reverberated throughout the sports world and beyond. As the nation grieves the legendary Los Angeles Laker and his aspiring WNBA star daughter, “GiGi,” people are undoubtedly hugging their loved ones a bit tighter, and reexamining what it means to truly live life to the fullest.

Many have taken to social media to mourn the devastating loss, including several athletes, celebrities, and community leaders from Maryland. Here are some of their reactions:

I idolize Kobe. I always looked up to him. He was the reason I was a Lakers fan. And just knowing that we lost that type of legend and that type of leadership in this community, in this world, it hurts a lot.” —University of Maryland Terrapins forward Jalen Smith to 247 Sports.

This was supposed to be a coronation of sorts. You could easily see it: Lamar Jackson gliding across the pristine green turf and throwing a few touchdown passes in front of a keyed up, sold-out crowd. Those fancy LED lights atop M&T Bank Stadium would flick on and off in celebration, Justin Tucker would do some new kind of dance after a field goal, and in general we’d see what we saw all year. “The Revolution,” as the hype video put it this week.

When all was said and done a few hours later, we’d see more video clips with talk of a Super Bowl run, more Big Truss references, more smiles.

Instead, what happened on Saturday, January 11, 2020—a day that anyone wearing purple will want to remove from their memory—was more like a bad dream.

It was said in many ways and analogies afterward, but linebacker Matthew Judon put it best, speaking to a group of reporters in an otherwise empty locker room a half hour past midnight. “You don’t expect to get into a car crash,” he said, “until you get into a car crash.”

Indeed, what had been a spectacular Ravens season jolted to a hard stop, ending with a shocking, deflating 28-12 loss to the visiting Tennessee Titans—the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs. In a performance unfortunately reminiscent of his first playoff appearance last year as a rookie (we incorrectly thought that loss was dead, buried, and gone), Jackson threw two interceptions and fumbled once—though he also totaled 365 passing and 143 rushing yards.

And the Ravens—this super-exciting, super-likable, super-good edition that brought us joy, Marie Kondo-style—fell behind early, a rare occurrence. They failed to convert on a pair of usually aggressive 4th-down-and-short tries. And despite running twice as many offensive plays at their opponent, the team watched the Titans play “winning football,” as Ravens coach John Harbaugh said—when odds-makers and everyone around town expected the opposite to happen.

In the locker room, you could hear an echoey noise coming from the showers where players clean up. A few in there were yelling afterward, one in particular about the sudden offseason and next season’s training camp that’s months away.

Meanwhile, others struggled to explain the performance with equal parts befuddlement and candor. “Is this really happening?” cornerback Marlon Humphrey recalled thinking as the game clock ticked to zero, while also saying, “I think this team’s identity right now is get in the playoffs and choke. That is just the hard truth.” (Asked about the comment a day later on Sunday, he said he stands by it.)

That might be a bit harsh. One smelly dud of a game where a team has big expectations to win does not make a full identity—and this is the first such playoff game for this era of Ravens. This wasn’t exactly like their pre-Revolution loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last playoffs when Jackson couldn’t hit water throwing a football from a boat. Nonetheless, losses like these—in which “we got our ass whipped,” as running back Mark Ingram said—do leave scars.

You hope this isn’t the start of a “best team to never win a [fill in a blank]” discussion or “best player never to win a [fill in the blank]” discussion when it comes to the super-likable Jackson in particular. But dubious narratives are downright impossible to shake until you, well, win whatever is missing. And the questions already started flowing in Jackson’s direction as soon as 15 minutes after the game ended Saturday night.

At age 23, he’s now 19-2 as a starting quarterback in two pro seasons, and 0-2 in the playoffs with a 63.2 postseason quarterback rating (out of a 158.3 maximum). To his credit, dear Lamar, still wearing his game pants, along with a pair of Nike flip-flops and a gray Baltimore dri-fit t-shirt, stood at the podium in a humid interview room and answered more than a dozen questions in front of 11 television cameras and about 50 reporters. He said he made too many mistakes, promised to work harder, and come back stronger next season.

If last season indicated to the quarterback that he needed to work on his passing mechanics, the jolting end to this year may suggest: “I need to improve on everything,” he said. “Whether it’s running, throwing the ball, pocket poise, everything.”

One reporter asked the question of the day for fans, whether it will be painful to hear people talking about him not winning a playoff game over the next year. “I don’t really care about what they say,” Jackson said. “This is my second year in the league. Many people [aren’t] able to bring it to the playoffs. We’re just going to keep going, like I said, [and] get ready for next year.”

The thing is, nobody wanted to be talking about next year so soon. Big Truss meant Big Goals. Not just the final image of a few players, like backup quarterback Robert Griffin III and tight end Hayden Hurst, tossing equipment into the crowd after a stunning playoff loss at home as the conference’s top seed.

Judon, as he did late Saturday, didn’t want to be talking in the locker room about if he would stay with the team or not. Neither did defensive tackle Michael Pierce. Both, whose contracts expire in May, said they want to return. Tackle Ronnie Stanley would rather have not been exchanging goodbyes with rookie center Patrick Mekari and suggesting they meet up in California in the offseason. (Related, Mekari said, “We could have won this game. We should have won this game.”)

And for sure, a few minutes earlier in a largely silent locker room, nobody wanted to hear Harbaugh tell everyone to be at the team’s facility in Owings Mills at around 10 a.m. Sunday for a meeting and to clean out their lockers—instead of maybe an announcement of a day off from practice as a playoff push continued. And I certainly didn’t want to see “Flacco” trending on Twitter after getting back to the press box from post-game interviews in the locker room.

Jackson, typically active on social media, was notably quiet until late Sunday morning, when he shared a message of support from a fan on Instagram. It was almost the same response as last year when he told us, “It’s all good,” in a look ahead to what was a better-than-good second season for him. We wrote then that he was clearly the Ravens’ future. That’s still the case.

But this time, this loss sounded harder to stomach. “I don’t know how difficult it’s going to be or how long it’s going to be in my mind,” Jackson said. “I hate losing. I really do. We’ve just got to move on.”

In other words, if Saturday night was a car crash, now comes the damage assessment.

On an April weekday morning near the end of his senior year of high school, Daniel Stern stood behind a podium in a crowded, wood-paneled Annapolis courtroom, wearing a gray suit and a purple shirt-and-tie combination as he emphatically pleaded his case. The skinny, super-articulate, high-achieving kid from suburban Baltimore wasn’t in trouble; far from it. Representing a fictional state prosecuting team from the private Park School in Pikesville, the then-18-year-old was delivering the closing argument in the championship of the 2012 Maryland state mock trial competition.

The case: State of Maryland vs. Drew Hunter, an imagined coach of a girls’ high school soccer team who, Stern argued to a panel of three adult judges, caused three players to suffer heat exhaustion during a hot, late morning practice in August. “One of them is still in the hospital!” he said, making the situation sound as real as possible. This coach, Stern said with the flair of a seasoned trial lawyer twice his age, should be found guilty of reckless endangerment and child abuse.

“This is a case about a coach who made bad decision, after bad decision, after bad decision,” Stern told the court, while laying out the facts of the case: Players were instructed to run in sprints in 104 degree heat, in a practice that lasted more than two hours, and the coach was slow to react when players collapsed. “We’ve proven it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The performance was convincing, room-owning, and vintage Daniel. He’d been the closer since freshman year. “He’s a very intense guy and he’s very passionate about whatever it is he’s doing,” says Tony Asdourian, one of Stern’s former teachers at the Park School and an assistant coach on that mock trial team. “That was true very much that day.” (The 13-member team won its second straight state title.)

Stern couldn’t have known it then, as a high school whiz kid a few months from graduation and bound for Yale University, where he’d lead two national championship mock trial teams, but the words he spoke—bad decision, after bad decision—are almost comically fitting given what Stern is doing nearly eight years later. He’s not a lawyer, but he is paid to use his analytical and lawyerly abilities, in sports. And in his hometown no less—in a job ensuring that Ravens coach John Harbaugh has all the information necessary to make good decisions during football games.

At age 25, the Baltimore kid in his fourth year working for the team of his youth. He joined the Ravens immediately after he graduated from Yale in 2016 with a degree in cognitive science, a major that can essentially prepare you for many professions. Today, Stern’s official title is football analyst, and he’s part of a handful of staffers in the Ravens’ analytics department led by director of football research Scott Cohen. (The Orioles aren’t the only number-friendly pro sports team in town.)

Stern’s title leaves room for interpretation, but in the context of this spectacular Ravens season—after beating the Steelers yesterday, they’re now 14-2 and remain the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl as the playoffs begin—the scope of his largely unheralded contributions has emerged more visibly.

During every game, the boy wonder sits in a chair right next to Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman in the weather-proof coaches’ level of the stadium. And like a play caller, Stern wears team-issued apparel and one of those big black Bose headsets with a direct line of communication down to the field to Harbaugh. The head coach always makes the final decisions, but Stern notably has Harbaugh’s ear, quickly and clearly relaying “the numbers”— the so-called win probabilities and risk-reward ratios of certain situations.

For years, Harbaugh has had a staffer in the booth in this role. At first, it was Matt Weiss, who is now the team’s running backs’ coach. Stern took over the job this season, and what he does informs some of Harbaugh’s key game-management decisions—including whether to go for it on fourth down, which has become one of the calling cards of this Lamar Jackson-led, “Big Truss”-infused team.

A fourth-down try, for instance, if it fails, gives the opposing team great field position of their own, and NFL coaches have traditionally hesitated to take the risk or make it simply on gut feel. But with careful, deliberate planning done throughout the week, very specific data provided by Stern on-the-fly on game day, and players like Jackson making things easier and also giving their own input, (As in, “Hell yeah, coach! Let’s go for it,” before a fourth-and-2 earlier this year against the Seattle Seahawks), the Ravens have noticeably bucked the conservative nature of their competition.

They’ve converted 17 of 24 fourth-down chances this season, a league-high 70-percent rate. (This shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. In the summer, the team hired a quantitative analyst, 2017 Skidmore College graduate Derrick Yam, after he wrote a paper of the benefits of going for it on fourth down.) That means more time on offense with a chance to score points, and more “truss” in the locker room.

Given the paranoid nature of pro football coaching staffs who don’t want to give away any trade secrets, Stern isn’t being made available for interviews now to talk more about his job, or how he’s ascended the Ravens coaches’ pecking order. But the kid who for 13 years attended the tiny kindergarten-through-12th grade Park School—just a short drive from the Ravens practice facility in Owings Mills—did speak enough about the nitty-gritty, calculus-style of his work responsibilities for an article earlier this year by Sheil Kapadia of the subscription sports website, The Athletic.

The story essentially blew Stern’s cover. Here’s an excerpt:

The Ravens, like other teams, have built their own analytical model for fourth-down decision-making that accounts for a number of factors—factors that they prefer not to share publicly. There are two numbers to weigh with every decision. One is win probability—a percentage that reflects the team’s chances of winning based on the various options at any given time in the game. The other number is a break-even success probability. The model comes up with an estimate of how likely the team is to convert the fourth down. Part of the decision then comes down to how high that number has to be to justify going for it.

“It might be that there’s a decision that because we’re up by 14 points already, the decision that we make doesn’t change our win probability very much because we’re really likely to win the game no matter what,” explains Stern. “But in that moment we know that we would only need like a 15-percent chance of getting it to justify going for it. It doesn’t change our win probability that much in the game. It’s just the risk/reward calculus. So there’s situations like that, too.

“Or maybe there’s one where the win probability is really big, but it’s only because it’s a tight decision in a critical moment in the game. Like late fourth quarter, we could have a really tight decision where on average we’re gonna get it 55-percent of the time, we think, and to justify going for it we need to get it at least 50-percent of the time. So that’s a really tight difference. We would need to be very confident in our estimate of how likely we are to get it in order for that decision to be the correct decision. So it’s a really tight decision compared to one where the break-even is 20 percent and the probability of getting it is 50 percent”

Like we said, whiz kid. Here’s a little more:

What makes it easier, according to Stern, is that Harbaugh is familiar with concepts like win probability and expected points added (EPA). He wants to know the actual numbers in his headset during the game as he’s making decisions.

“We talk about all the different scenarios, and he basically gives me a percentage,” says Harbaugh. “So what’s the added win percentage of going for it? He’ll give it to me like one, two, three, four, five, six, up to whatever. Then you just decide if you want to do it. It’s not strictly based (on the numbers). I listen to it. If he starts telling me 3 and 4 percent, I get really interested. If it’s 1 or 2 percent, I’m still interested—especially if it’s short, if I think we can get it.”

Says Stern, “I just remind him during the game that this is what we were planning to do. If something’s changed, then he’ll argue back. You’ve just gotta be ready for him to push back, like, ‘You really think we should?’ Or ‘I don’t want to do that.’ I don’t take offense to that during a game at all. He’s the head coach so he’s gonna make the decision that he thinks is best.”

None of this shocks those that have known Stern since he was a kid. According to one Baltimore magazine staffer whose child was friends with Stern, he used to send his own text messages to set up playdates—in second grade—and once administered an I.Q. test to the child during one of them.

Asdourian, who, more recently, taught Stern calculus and is Park School’s math department co-chair, says, “He’s really just an extraordinary person. It’s impressive to see his mind at work. In class, he could pick up the subtleties of the chain rule or the fundamental theorem of calculus very quickly. In mock trial, he had this amazing ability to summarize everything that has happened in the case and give us a five-minute summary that would end up often being highly persuasive to the judges. He was always incredibly verbally facile and intelligent, and had wonderful instincts.”

The kid in Harbaugh’s headset graduated magna cum laude (with distinction for us lay people) from Yale, where in addition to co-captaining the university’s mock trial team to the top spot in the country, he worked as a student assistant for the Yale football team, as a sports broadcaster and producer for the school’s athletics department, and wrote for the student newspaper.

“He’s one of those people who talks about something like it’s pie-in-the-sky, but at the same time, it isn’t,” Asdourian says. “He would say, ‘I think one day I’d really like to work for a football team, like the Ravens.’ Some kids would say that and you’d go, ‘Well, I hope that works out.’ And when he would say it, he was intense enough and smart enough that you sort of go, ‘Huh, I wonder if he’ll actually pull that off?’”

We now have the verdict.

Just over a week ago, as the Baltimore Ravens were set to kick off against the New York Jets—and just before a photorealistic raven was set to fly and caw its way across M&T Bank Stadium—Greg Harvey was feeling anxious.

The morsel of an idea that he manifested with his team at The Famous Group and the Ravens this past July was about to be realized. And with its successful execution—and subsequent virality—came a new frontier in mixed-reality technology.

While those actually in the stadium saw it on the RavensVision Jumbotron screen, it felt even more lifelike for those watching on their phone or tablet, unaware that it was a stadium activation.

But the process from inception to execution didn’t come without plenty of tests and rehearsals up to a few hours before the game. And the streaking Ravens doing their part to raise the stakes in a primetime Thursday night game only heightened the proceedings.

“I was so nervous,” says Harvey, the CEO and executive creative director of The Famous Group, based in Culver City, California that describes itself as a fan experience company. “I was about to black out when the bird went live.”

Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch. It went so well, in fact, that the team used different variations of the virtual bird nine times throughout the night in which the team clinched the AFC North and Lamar Jackson broke the single-season rushing record for a quarterback. Comparisons to Game of Thrones, a show that brands itself around the same dark and brooding motifs as the Ravens, were abound, as the Internet tried to decipher what it was seeing.

“The Ravens are not afraid to try something new,” says Andrew Isaacson, The Famous Group’s executive vice president. “The game’s circumstances were just a nice happenstance—it had nothing to do with the performance on the field.”

The video took off on social media—it got picked up across ESPN’s platforms and programs as well as Bleacher Report.

“We weren’t sure how impactful it would be in the stadium,” says Jay O’Brien, the Ravens’ vice president of broadcasting and gameday entertainment. “Fans didn’t really know what they saw—but they wanted to see it again.”

The Famous Group and the Ravens have a longstanding partnership, having worked together to design more essential gameday screen graphics such as third down prompts and first down celebrations. But in order to attempt something of this magnitude, O’Brien, along with his partner on the project, Brad Downs—the Ravens’ vice president of marketing—had to be open to failure. Both have been with the Ravens for more than a decade, dedicating themselves to the team’s game day experience.

“We are committed to trying new things and working with new technology,” O’Brien says.

Mixed reality is centered around a virtual object interacting with a physical space. Building the animation that became the raven—it doesn’t have a name, though all those involved took to calling its first appearance “The Summoning”—was a nimble one. The Famous Group commissioned a company to do a laser scan of M&T Bank Stadium to determine which parts of the field would work best for the bird to land. From there, it got technical, with different software engineers and sound designers working from scratch to form what became the finished product.

Once the model was complete, the collective team got to work to ensure that things would go smoothly. A camera operator needed to be coached on where to point to follow along on the field with what, to a naked eye, would look like nothing. Isaacson and the Ravens were in the stadium control room at midnight the night before the game making final tweaks, even blacking out the RavensVision video board to shield from any potential cell phone cameras.

After a last few pregame rehearsals hours before the game, there was nothing left to do but wait and see. Once it was over, the burden of months of pent-up nervous energy and long nights was immediately lifted. And if you’re wondering if the bird will return for a Ravens playoff run, O’Brien and Downs are mum on the subject—content for now to bask in a successful flight.

“We’ve experienced a lot of exciting moments with the Ravens,” O’Brien says. “But the control room excitement after the raven flew right before kickoff was up there with C.J. Mosley’s interception to win the AFC North in 2018. So many people in that room had spent so much time to make that moment impactful for the fans. There was cheering like we had won something on the field. It was a special night.”

If you’re a Ravens fanatic and a last-minute holiday shopper, boy do we have some good news for you. The Official Ravens Shop has opened a pop-up location for just ten days in The Shops at Canton Crossing. From December 19-28, you’ll be able to stock up on the season’s latest fan gear (yes–highly-coveted, exclusive Lamar Jackson jerseys included), just in time for the NFL playoffs. But, you better act fast. Though the shop has the largest selection of merchandise fans can buy in-person, opening day lines were wrapped around the store.

“In addition to items fans will expect to see, we’ll have exclusive items that we usually only make available on gameday,” senior director of retail Chris Inouye told the official Ravens News Blog. “We’ll have everything they need to show their Ravens pride or find great gifts during the holiday season.”

If you’re already overwhelmed, don’t worry, we’ve scoured the shop for the hottest items we think you’ll love. Take a sneak peak at five of our favorite products.

Youth Lamar Jackson jersey ($50).

Full size official football ($25).

Men’s coat ($99).

Poe mascot statue ($26).

Women’s light-up v-neck sweater($80).

Getting a straight answer out of constantly comical Ravens running back Mark Ingram can be a tough task. Just ask his teammates, or listen to him banter to anyone at practice or before a game, or talk in the locker room afterward. But there is so often truth in his now well-known brand of irreverent humor.

“I feel like people say that when you’re 30, I guess you’re like dead or something,” Ingram told reporters this week, alluding to his upcoming milestone birthday on Saturday‚ and the reputation for running backs of his age to break down physically due to the violent nature of pro football and his position. “But I think my best football is still ahead of me.”

The way this season is going, the Ravens don’t need a lot more. Maybe just a few more games of Ingram being himself. At 5-foot-9, 215-pounds, he is a proverbial battering-ram inside runner on the field. And he’s also perpetually positive—an internet meme-inspiring “heart of the team,” between the lines and everywhere else, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson says.

“When you guys see on TV is what you get throughout the days, behind the scenes,” Jackson says. “That’s Mark, and we love it.”

You could see the camaraderie building in snippets earlier this season, for instance when Jackson shared a video on his Instagram story of Ingram dancing wildly in the locker room at its practice facility in Owings Mills, with a caption suggesting that Jackson had no idea what was going on.

He and Ingram have a brotherly relationship, as in maybe older brother is the crazy-yet-wise one. It started in the preseason when they shared a flight up from Florida to Baltimore. Jackson, the 22-year-old coming back for his second season here and first as full-fledged starting QB, and Ingram arriving for his first in any capacity after signing a three-year, $15 million free-agent contract following nine seasons with the New Orleans Saints.

Like Jackson, Ingram is a former Heisman Trophy winner. He won college football’s top individual honor as sophomore in 2009 at the University of Alabama. (Here’s our obligatory mention that RGIII once won the award, too).

But unlike Jackson, who has emerged a bonafide nationwide sports star in his second pro season and can’t keep his own branded apparel stocked quick enough, Ingram has almost a full decade of relatively under-appreciated NFL experience in him. In his world that means a lot of tread on his running back tires, 1,515 carries for 6,970 yards and 60 touchdowns, and 252 receptions to be precise—as well as a lot of jokes, chatter, passion, and good vibes in the locker room.

Ingram’s former quarterback and future Hall-of-Famer, Drew Brees, in 2017 said he was the “heart and soul” of the Saints, too.

“I just try to be myself,” Ingram said Wednesday, in an unusually business-like interview session. “Love all my teammates, love all my coaches, be the best person I can be. Treat them with respect, treat them with love, and just work my butt off. That means the most to me, when my quarterback and my other teammates say that about me. That’s what I do it for.”

Most notably, Ingram is, of course, the main character in the origin story of “Big Truss,” the Ravens’ unofficial and totally appropriate child-like mantra for this breakout and now Super Bowl-dreaming season.

It goes like this: Jackson, since last year, has been saying “Truss,” as in trust (your teammates, coaches, whoever; like “I got you.”) It’s a purposely misspelled and misspoken variation of the powerful noun, cited with originating in Pompano Beach, Florida, where Jackson is from.

This season, Ingram added the “big” emphasis on the idea, seemingly off the top of his head. “Because everything Mark does is big,” says wide receiver Willie Snead, who also played with Ingram for three seasons in New Orleans. The saying most famously went public in Ingram’s Jackson-for-MVP “hype man” rant after the Ravens convincing win over the Houston Texans a month ago, and it’s now internet meme-worthy and essentially Bawlmerese.

So it goes with this eminently likable team, now with an 12-2 record, the title of “Kings of the AFC North” already locked up ahead of Sunday’s game against the divisional foe Cleveland Browns—the last team to beat the Ravens way back in Week 4. That seems like eons ago.

The Ravens have since captivated a sports-watching nation with 10 straight wins and a great blend of veterans like Ingram, kicker Justin Tucker (also 30, and not dead) and offensive lineman Marshal Yanda, 35, who’s happy he was cajoled out of retiring. Plus more than a half dozen first-or second-year starters who have rallied around their fast, friendly and now beloved quarterback Jackson.

This week, a league-high 12 Ravens, including Ingram, were named to the Pro Bowl, a best-in-class showcase for NFL players held the week before the Super Bowl.

For his part, Ingram arrived in Baltimore in March as a relatively unheralded free-agent after the Saints decided to hand the starting running back role to talented rookie Alvin Kamara. (That “turn 30 and they think you’re dead” comment does have truth to it.) But plenty of others still knew about Ingram’s effective ability on the field. Less about his character off it.

For all the bluster and funny-man schtick, there’s a serious, grounded side to Ingram. Back when he was a freshman in college in 2008, his father Mark Sr., who played 10 seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty on money laundering and fraud charges. He decided not to turn himself in to officials on time because he wanted to watch his son play for Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, so he got two years added on to his jail sentence, and didn’t get out until 2015.

In a nod to that part of his story, this week Ingram and Snead led 25 elementary school kids with an incarcerated parent on a $125 holiday shopping spree at Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Glen Burnie, an event paid for through Ingram’s charitable foundation.

This sort of thing played into the glowing recommendation Snead, who arrived here two years ago, gave the Ravens’ front office this offseason—telling them that Ingram was the type of player with a strong makeup that could help make the team a legitimate championship contender.

“He’s everything we hoped for,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I didn’t know his personality as much. I didn’t really know how boisterous he was and how outgoing he was… It’s really been fun to be around. He really gets it. He knows how to treat people, knows how to practice. He plays with great passion and great energy, [and he’s] very physical. You’ve seen him. You know what I’m talking about there.”

Because while the pro football locker room is unique in some ways, it’s very familiar in others. Like any workplace, there’s a variety of personalities. The quiet, the outgoing, the serious, the person you know nothing about, the person who you know too much about. Ingram is a proverbial “glue guy”—someone who is good at their job and has a fun time doing it. That’s some people seem to get more than others.

In other words, get yourself or your organization a hype man, agent, general life supporter, and a positive influence like Jackson and the Ravens have in Ingram, and your chances of success go up. There’s an example of why every week.

Perhaps you missed it late last Thursday night, after the end of the Ravens’ blowout win against the New York Jets (we know people had to work the next morning), when Ingram literally stole the post-game show from NFL on Fox sideline reporter and Dancing With the Stars co-host, Erin Andrews.

Ingram was standing next to Jackson on the field. They were both just interviewed, and Ingram had just reminded Jackson about when exactly he broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for an NFL quarterback. “Someone suggested I should give you the mic, and ask a question. Do you want to go ahead?” Andrews told Ingram.

Ingram again showed what he’s all about—about what being the heart of a team really means—with a Saturday Night Live-ish skit on national television. He asked Jackson a mock interview questions about winning the division, while using a variety of nicknames. “Freaky L, aka Action Jackson, aka Era8Apparel… How it feel, tell me how it feel L Freaky?” he said. Jackson, of course, played the straight-man and went along with it, saying there’s more to accomplish. “So you’re saying the story is unwritten? Book unfinished?” Ingram said.

“That was awesome,” Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Buck said.

“Give me the mic and let me interview some people,” Ingram said from behind the podium this week, talking to reporters. “I like it. It’s pretty cool. Y’all be careful. I’m coming.”

There’s some truth in that too.

“Lamar Jackson Be Like…” is a thing now.

Yeah, everything in that funny video is accurate.

Simply by being himself—fast, elusive, earnest, humble, just the right amount self-critical, and, oh yes, he can throw, too—the Ravens’ second-year quarterback has organically spread his influence, boyish charm, and one-of-a-kind brand of football to the masses. “I play Lamar Jackson ball,” he said a few weeks ago. And nothing more needed to be said.

Jackson’s 22-year-old personality is infectious. His quick, authentic, and direct one-or-two-line responses in press conferences are tailor made for social media. His play is awe-inspiring.

And he’s much more than fast. He and his head coach’s burgeoning bromance is everything we want. Here’s John Harbaugh wearing a Jackson-branded sweatshirt at practice this week. And his teammates’ support for him is rare. See running back Mark Ingram as Lamar-for-MVP hype man.

Every time we look for something new to say about the Ravens quarterback, we see that so many others have discovered what we already know. There’s so many reasons to love Lamar Jackson. Right now, he’s in full star turn mode, across America and beyond—way beyond.

Just this week, Pope Francis—yes that Pope Francis—hopped aboard the Jackson bandwagon. During a visit to Rome on Tuesday, representatives from the Archdiocese of Baltimore gave the worldwide leader of the Catholic Church a purple No. 8 jersey—autographed by Jackson and his head coach. And the Pope appeared pleased.

A day earlier, on Cyber Monday, the biggest shopping day of the year, Jackson’s merchandise outsold that of every other athlete, in any sport, on the industry-leading website Fanatics—an official vendor of licensed sports apparel from the major pro leagues and college ranks.

And Jackson has broken several rushing records for a QB already. He has completed 66.5 percent of his passes (just a few tenths more than, coincidentally, his old friend Joe Flacco, now with the Denver Broncos). He has thrown 25 touchdowns and only five interceptions—currently leading all NFL players in votes for the Pro Bowl. That’s the annual “Best Of” event the league holds every year in Hawaii.

If all goes as planned, Jackson won’t be there. The Pro Bowl is held the week before the Super Bowl, and the Las Vegas oddsmakers—following the Ravens’ eighth straight win on Sunday that improved their record to 10-2—have made our hometown team the betting favorite to win it all. (In other words, prepare for a potential trip to Miami in February.)

To top off Jackson’s skyrocketing popularity, he is the favorite to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award, something no Raven—not even Ray Lewis or Ed Reed—has ever done.

In some ways, this breakout season shouldn’t be surprising. Anyone who paid close attention last year knew who Jackson was already. “He’s very comfortable with who he is,” Harbaugh said. “You like being around people like that.”

And Jackson didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, though every other NFL team passed on him in the draft before Ozzie Newsome made Jackson the 32nd overall pick with the final draft-day phone call of his tenure as general manager.

It’s easy to forget that Jackson won the Heisman Trophy—awarded to college football’s best player—while at the University of Louisville. It’s easy to forget that he’s always been this fast. Watch his high school highlights from his days growing up in Florida, and know that he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds at the end of his final year of college.

And my, how quickly have a lot of people discarded the memory of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Flacco, whom Jackson unseated as the starter with the first opportunity he got about midway through last season. Jackson is 16-3 as a starting quarterback since.

This is special stuff. These ascension stories come around about as infrequently as a meteor shower. (Come to think of it, who’s faster: Jackson or a shooting star?) And we should all soak up the charm of it for a few reasons: Winning is always fun, but the Ravens are making it look easy (it’s not) with a unique brand of Jackson-led offense. What”s more, there’s a deeper meaning in play.

As we noted almost a year ago, Baltimore’s population is 64-percent black, at last U.S. census count. Football is America’s most-watched sport. To have a promising, young black player at quarterback, the team’s most prominent position, is a big deal here—and in the NFL.

For so long, black quarterbacks were unfairly typecast as unable to manage the complexities of a deep playbook or a passing offense. The needle is moving ever so slightly on that, but we still have a long way to go. Here’s a drinking game: Take a shot every time you hear a national broadcaster call Jackson a “running quarterback.” They should drop the qualifier. And he’s not a running back who can throw, either.

There’s a big reason Jackson jabbed critics and said, “Not bad for a running back,” after he threw for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in the Ravens first game of the year. Put it to bed: Jackson is a quarterback—period. Maybe one that the league is not used to seeing, but one that the Ravens coaching staff put its faith in and built a unique run-option, efficient passing offense around.

Harbaugh pointed that out—on the sideline of a recent game, no less. This authentic sideline moment that you’ve probably seen by now was caught by the Ravens’ video staff, and it should go into the NFL’s social media Hall-of-Fame.

Thankfully, someone who works for the Ravens posted this clip without clearance from Harbaugh or the team’s public relations head, “because they know we would’ve both said no,” Harbaugh told ESPN, not wanting to attract attention to what are typically private conversations. But the scene, now seen by millions, brings to life the power of a likeable leader, or two.

The truth is that the same reason that you or I—or kids in this city or neighborhoods around the country we’ve never heard of—love Lamar is the same his reason his teammates and coaches do. It’s why an actual running back, Ingram, can step to a podium before reporters after a game, with Jackson standing off to the side, and shower the quarterback with compliments that go viral: “The MVP front-runner. If anyone got something to say about that, then come see me…Lamar Jackson, in the flesh.”

As always, we’re happy to see him.

Whether you’re a new recruit or a diehard fan, there’s no escaping the Ravens hype that washes Charm City in a wave of purple as the NFL season gets underway. Less than a week away from the home opener, the Ravens Flock is hungry for some big wins—and we’re hungry for big specials at some Baltimore’s best restaurants, bars, and tailgates. (With all eyes on Lamar Jackson, try not to get distracted by delicious wings and discounted kegs.) Grab your Ravens gear, gather your squad, and check out these game day deals you won’t want to miss.

Drinks for Days

Fish Head Cantina: Serving up drink specials including $2.50 Natty Bohs, $4 craft drafts, and $5 Crushes, Fish Head Cantina has a lot to offer Ravens fans. Swing by the stylish tiki bar for drink deals, live music—oh, and did we mention the entire game day menu is 25 percent off? Whether you’re loading up on nachos or sushi, this is a can’t miss for foodie fans. 4802 Benson Ave, 410-247-2474.

Grotto Pizza: For fans who love the Ravens and also pizza, Grotto Pizza has the best of both worlds. Grotto’s game day menu features $6 personal pizzas and chili dogs, as well as $7 loaded nachos. And don’t worry—they’ve got drinks covered, too, with $4 Coors Light big beers all day. Plus, if you’re feeling lucky, you can play the Pig Skin Pick ‘Em for a chance to win a $500 Amex gift card. 7075 Minstrel Way, Columbia, 443-583-8200.

Italian Disco: As if delicious pizza and burgers weren’t enough to entice you, Italian Disco celebrates Ravens games with $10 domestic beer pitchers and $8 pizzas or orders of wings. Do some game-day bird watching on any of this chic Harbor East hangout’s flat screens, enjoy the throwback disco vibes, and dig in. 1006 Fleet St., 410-605-0444.

Lee’s Pint & Shell: Lee’s Pint & Shell opened up to its Canton neighborhood about three years ago after a major rebranding, and it’s been packed practically every day since. Game days are no different, except you might notice a higher-than-usual number of patrons decked out in purple. For the Ravens flock, Lee’s serves up $2 Miller Lites and $4 Jack Daniels shots and cocktails, as well as $4 Ravens Bombs (you’ll have to stop for yourself to find out what’s in a Ravens Bomb—we don’t want to spoil the surprise). 2844 Hudson St., 410-327-2883.

Mt. Washington Tavern: If you’re looking for a lunch spot that rewards Ravens pride before game day, look no further than Mt. Washington Tavern’s Purple Fridays. Come for lunch specials, including the Blackjack Burger or the Black and Purple Salad, and stay for the drink deals like $2 Narragansett lager cans, $4 Old Hilltop drafts, and $6 Tito’s vodka drinks. While you’re at it, try your hand at a final scorecard prediction for a chance to win a $25 tavern gift certificate. 5700 Newbury St., 410-367-6903.

Pratt Street Ale House: Just a short walk from the stadium, Pratt Street Ale House offers Ravens fans a taste of local brews, with $5 pints from Oliver Brewing Co. The game-day fixture also highlights $5 glasses of wine and a selection of $3 beers to enjoy before, during, and after the game. Plus, satisfy your hankering for wings with 10 for $12, 20 for $23, and 30 for $34. 206 West Pratt St., 410-244-8900.

Sports Bar Scene

Donna’s Tavern: Between the $1 Naturday cans, $2 Bud Lite drafts, and $3 Pinnacle grape bombs, and free shooters after every Ravens touchdown, Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk can keep you busy on a game day budget. And don’t worry, they won’t let you go hungry—take advantage of delicious deals like an $8 crab pretzel. 6607 Pine Ave, Dundalk, 410-633-6677.

Game: Located just a stone’s throw away from M&T Bank Stadium, Game makes birdwatching easy with 25 flatscreens and six 100-inch projection screens. Traditionalists can stick to delicious wings, but go for the crab cakes if you fancy some local flavor. With $10 32-oz. drafts and Orange Crush buckets, and $20 domestic buckets, Game has plenty to offer dedicated sports fans. To show their appreciation, they’ll cover your first round after the game. 1400 Warner St., 410-385-0100.

The Greene Turtle: If you like apps, the Greene Turtle in Fells Point is the place for you, with a range of $5 and $7 appetizers on game day, as well as burger specials starting at $6. And if that’s not enough to float your boat, throw in a bucket of five Bud Lights for $13 or a pitcher for $9. Grab your Ravens gear, get your squad together, and stop by this beloved hangout to turn the Greene Turtle purple. If you’re not around Fells Point, all Greene Turtle locations will offer their own NFL game day deals. 277 South Broadway, 410-342-4222.

Looney’s Pub: With an extensive game day menu, you’ll want to head back to Looney’s Pub again and again to try the different combo specials, like the $17 dozen wings and domestic pitcher deal. If you’re just looking for food, don’t worry—get two footlong hot dogs for $10, or try the buffalo shrimp for $14. If drinks are more your speed, Looney’s has you covered with everything from $4 stadium cup drafts and $12 Orange Crush buckets to the $20 White Claw and Bud Light bucket. 2900 O’Donnell St., 410-675-9235.

Tailgate Checklist

Mother’s Grille: At some point this season, be sure to stop by the legendary Purple Patio tailgate that Mother’s Grille hosts before every Ravens home game. Just a few blocks from M&T Bank Stadium, Mother’s paints the outdoor parking lot to look like a football field—although you might not be able to see the details under a crush of purple-clad partygoers sipping $35 all-you-can-drink beers and Bloody Marys, watching the pregame on one of 65 TVs, or getting amped beneath the DJ booth. 1113 S. Charles St., 410-244-8686.

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood: If you’re a tailgate buff, you’ve got to try out Jimmy’s Famous Seafood’s self-proclaimed TailGOAT (that’s Greatest Of All Time) and decide for yourself whether it lives up to the name. At a new location just steps from the stadium, TailGOAT boasts an open bar with eight beer selections, a hand-crafted buffet, and live music to prove that the only season worth celebrating is football season. 333 West Ostend St., 410-633-4040.

Bmore Around Town: BMore Around Town stands as the pioneer of the #PurpleTailgate, organizing blowouts for home games and road trips for the most dedicated fans. This year, #PurpleTailgate patrons will enjoy an open bar with unlimited beer cans and Deep Eddy crushes, catering from All Y’all BBQ and Mother Shuckers oysters, and raffles to benefit the Kamryn Lambert Foundation. 152 West Ostend St., 443-865-5935.

Football season is here, and—potential injuries aside—we’re excited for everyone involved. The home opener against the Cardinals this Sunday marks the official start of a new era, of sorts, for the team.

Most notably, there’s a fresh face of the franchise. You’ve likely seen him on the purple-and-black Ravens-branded “Never Less” billboards, wearing jersey number 8. We’ll start this “What to Watch For” season preview with him.

Lamar Jackson and the Debut of the Ravens’ Revamped Offense

We don’t know exactly what it will look like, but we know it will be different. For the first time in a decade, someone other than Joe Flacco begins the season as the Ravens starting quarterback. The team has put its full faith in the 22-year-old Jackson, who went 7-2 as a starter on the fly as a rookie. The Ravens have reimagined their offense around the talents of the 2018 first-round draft pick and former Heisman Trophy winner, employing a healthy mix of running and passing from the freakishly fast QB. But will the plan work?

We saw glimpses last season and this preseason of what the new era could possibly look like—a few can-you-believe-that plays per game, both good and bad—but those games don’t really count. We’ll start to see the full potential, more of the playbook, and if the offseason work Jackson put in to improve his throwing makes a difference, starting Sunday.

“I just can’t wait to put on a show,” Jackson, the affable 22-year-old, said this week. He tends to do that.

This highlight reminds us of the big point you need to know about Jackson’s approach to playing quarterback: “If I am not passing, if I do decide to run, I am trying to score a touchdown or get a first down,” he said this preseason. “I am not trying to get two yards and get tackled. That’s not how I play. That’s not why I’m here.”

Enjoy the Fancy New Things at M&T Bank Stadium

There are now escalators–16 of them!–to the upper deck, as well as a field-level party suite and a self-serve and self-checkout beer market. And more high-definition video boards and fresh LED stadium lighting that the gameday staff can turn on and off as if they were parents waking up their sleepy kid for school. And new food options featuring a healthy amount of crab dip, like a Chesapeake Hot Dog. (Mmmm, repeat: All hot dogs should be Chesapeake Hot Dogs).

The amenities represent the completion of a three-year, $120 million renovation to M&T Bank Stadium aimed at attracting fans to watch games at the Ravens’ home venue in lieu of sitting on their couches or casually paying attention on their smartphones. To which we say, right on. Humans are meant to enjoy the outdoors and be around other people. Go have some fun.

Six Players To Talk About With the Big Football Fan at Your Tailgate

A lot of unfamiliar names fill the Ravens’ 53-man roster, the most notable being running back Mark Ingram and safety Earl Thomas (who signed a $55 million contract to come play here). When it comes to new additions, that’s the bare minimum you should know. Here are few more players to talk about if you find yourself in a football conversation with a well-versed fan:

Marquise Brown, wide receiver

Anyone who embraces the nickname “Hollywood” and wears a diamond chain of his own likeness will receive attention. The rookie from Oklahoma, a first-round pick, grew up in Hollywood, Florida, and he’s also got, forgive the pun, leading man skills. A 5-foot-9, 170-pounder who can run with the ball or go a long way to catch it in a small amount of time. “He’s electric,” sums up Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta.

Marlon Humphrey, cornerback

The trendy thing for media members to say right now is that, “Marlon Humphrey could be one of the top five cornerbacks in the league this year.” If true, that would be a big bonus for an also rebuilt Ravens defense. But even Humphrey, the third-year pro out of the University of Alabama who has arms for days to swat away opposing QB’s passes, doesn’t know if he’s worthy of great expectations. “It’s just hype,” he said. “There’s not really substance behind it.” Okay then.

Cyrus Jones, cornerback and punt returner

Gilman, represent! Jones, who attended and played at the Baltimore private school from 2008-2011, is now the Ravens’ top punt returner, special teams coach Chris Horton confirmed this week. He might return kickoffs, too. It’s comforting to have a homegrown guy on the team. Off the field, he enjoys rapping in his spare time.

Trace McSorley, backup quarterback

The rookie put together a series of quality performances this preseason (16-for-24 for 203 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles, 15-for-27 for 171 yards against the Redskins). I watched McSorley play in many games at my alma mater Penn State, and he was critical to the team’s success the last four years. “The kid is a winner,” has been said many times by many commentators, and it’s true.

McSorley led Briar Woods (Va.) High to three state championships and a 55-5 record in four years. And he won a program-best 31 games as QB at Penn State. It didn’t surprise me that he proved his wares this preseason when given the chance after Robert Griffin III was injured. If McSorley is called on to fill in for say, Jackson after he refuses to slide to protect himself and gets injured, the Ravens will lose some speed at the position, but they’ll be in good hands. McSorley is also a run-pass option.

Patrick Ricard, fullback and defensive tackle

The big guy (300 pounds) plays both offense and defense. It’s one thing to do that in high school, or even college, but it’s almost unheard of in professional football. That’s why people call him “Project Pat,” which doubles as a title for one of his off-the-field passions: Reviewing local restaurants.

Justice Hill, running back (and a fantasy football sleeper!)

For those looking to have a Raven or two on their fantasy football roster, we suggest rookie running back Justice Hill. Aside from having a perfect name for a television drama (for its title or a character, really), the 5-foot-10, 200-pound jitterbug, who played in college at Oklahoma State, impressed coaches and teammates immediately this preseason with his speed and power. Expect him play a good amount off the bench. “I think he’s the complete package,” says Ingram, the guy who will start at running back, “and I think he’s going to have a great career.”

Save the Date for These Must-Watch Games

About one big game every few weeks. That’s convenient.

Week 3: Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Sept. 22, 1 p.m.
A date a Super Bowl favorite and the only team to beat the Jackson-led Ravens in the regular season last year.

Week 5: Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 1 p.m.
The Rivalry: Part 51. The Steelers have won four of the last six meetings. Boo.

Week 9: New England Patriots at Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 3, 8:20 p.m.
Tom Brady. Bill Belichick. Fun. This is the scheduled Sunday night nationally-televised game of the week.

Week 12: Ravens at Los Angeles Rams, Monday, Nov. 25, 8:15 p.m.
A trip to play the defending NFC champions on Monday Night Football.

Week 17: Steelers at Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 29, 1 p.m.
A regular season-ending home game against the Steelers. What else could you ask for? Maybe temperatures at least above freezing, and a shot at the playoffs.

Harbs Says…

There are few head coaches in the NFL with more longevity than our dear John Harbaugh, now entering his 12th season on the job. Only the Patriots’ Belichick, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, and the New Orleans Saints’ Sean Payton have longer tenures with their teams.

We’re fortunate to have Harbaugh under contract in Baltimore through 2022, and to be treated to congenial and worthwhile NFL-required media availabilities all season long. The guy appreciates storytelling perhaps as much as he does a proper tackle.

Harbaugh, who often draws inspiration from the military, quoted a former Secretary of Defense in response to one question this week. “[It’s like the] Donald Rumsfeld quote from a few years back: You have to know what the unknowables are, and you can’t worry about them too much,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday. We don’t know how certain things are going to look or how guys are going to respond. We might have confidence. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. But that’s the beauty of it. That’s what’s exciting. That’s the drama.”

The Realistic Expectations for This Season

Let’s end with the nitty-gritty. How will the 2019 season turn out? Here’s one fan’s opinion: The defense will be above average, and the offense will be good, but probably experience growing pains and might even look overmatched against stronger opponents like the Patriots or Rams. But it should be clear by midseason what potential a Lamar Jackson-led offense has long term. Meanwhile, of course Justin Tucker will be great.

With a difficult schedule and so many new players on both sides of the ball (linebacker Matt Judon will now be the face of the defense), a 9-win, 7-loss season with a chance at a playoff appearance feels reasonable. But no one should start calling for owner Steve Bisciotti to fire Harbaugh or DeCosta even if the team finishes 8-8 or a little worse. It’ll still happen, though.

We’re spoiled. Just about every time Ravens kicker Justin Tucker trots onto the field, we expect to see him kick that little brown football through those bright yellow uprights. And usually, he does.

As Tucker enters his eighth pro season, he’s the most accurate kicker in NFL history, active or retired, booting pigskins through goalposts at a 90% rate. This preseason, he’s at it again, going 7-for-7 on field goal tries, including a 49-yarder in the Ravens’ 25-16 win Thursday night over the Philadelphia Eagles.

A few kicks in August don’t mean much, but, importantly, we know that while other isolated end-of-the-bench kickers often wilt in the big moment— as in when an entire stadium of crazed fans, and millions more on television, are waiting to see whether you’ll be a hero or a goat—Tucker seems immune to pressure, though he says he’s not.

Just this week, in a story that aired on HBO’s Real Sports Tucker said, “When I run out there on the field, I’m nervous, I’m scared.” Sure he is.

The salient point, as the Ravens are about to embark onto a season of transition (including quarterback Lamar Jackson now officially taking the reins as QB1 as well as many other new parts on offense and defense), is that the closest thing that exists to an automatic kicking machine resides here in Baltimore. That’s why, in one of his first orders of business when he officially took over as Ravens general manager at the start of the year, Eric DeCosta made Tucker the richest kicker in NFL history, signing him to a reported four-year, $23 million contract.

If you ask the gregarious, goofy, and multitalented Tucker, who will turn 30 in November and whom we profiled in 2014 for his kicking and, yes—who knew?—opera-singing ability (see: the Royal Farms commercials), it might not be his last big money deal here.

“I haven’t even hit my prime yet,” Tucker told reporters this week. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Wait one second, we’ll pick that up here. Hasn’t hit his prime yet?

This is a guy who, if he retired tomorrow, would probably be a Hall-of-Famer (especially rare for a kicker) and join the other Ravens greats in the Ring of Honor at M&T Bank Stadium. He’s the clutchest of clutch (games against Pittsburgh and Denver are front of mind) and as dependable as a water main break in winter. He hasn’t missed a field goal inside 50 yards since 2015. He has 13 game-winning kicks. Pro kicker wannabees come here in the preseason to get exposure to possibly play for another team and pick up a few tips, because they know no one is going to unseat Tucker from his position as Best Kicker Ever.

Plus, Tucker has endeared himself to the community by booting balls in places like Patterson Park and singing “Ave Maria” at a Catholic Charities benefit concert and later performing the same tune to win an NFL talent show. He donated the $50,000 prize to the Baltimore School of the Arts. It’s easy to forget Tucker was a rookie out of the University of Texas, an undrafted free agent during the Ravens’ Super Bowl winning season in 2012. It feels like he’s worn his No. 9 jersey for much longer (and as if Matt Stover never left).

So, we haven’t seen Tucker’s best yet? That’s a welcome bit of great news, and entirely realistic.

Unless you’re someone like Tom Brady and have the means to employ a personal wellness apparatus to keep you spry despite your 40-plus years, kicker is the position most likely to allow for longevity in the violent world of professional football.

Tucker made his “prime” comment during a series of questions that included a query about if he was looking to play as long as, say, 46-year-old Indianapolis Colts and former New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. (That would mean Tucker would play through the year 2035.) It sure sounded like he had similar intentions.

“He ain’t even hit his prime yet,” Tucker said of Vinatieri. “The guy is incredible. He’s one of my heroes in sports, in football. Any specialist who wants to get better, you have to watch the guys who have been doing it really, really well, or are currently doing it well, and who have done it well for a long time.”

Tucker’s already done that. And when he does miss, like during an extra-point try last season against the New Orleans Saints, it almost feels surreal. The fans always forgive him, but those rare misses serve as eye-popping provocations and gnawing reminders to him.

Case in point: Tucker keeps the very ball that he kicked wide right from 25 yards away—with the aid of a wind gust—in that one-point loss against the Saints on a shelf in his house, next to other commemorative balls he’s received during his career, like one for his franchise record 61-yarder against the Detroit Lions in 2013. He’s said it was as pivotal a moment in his career as any.

“I feel like I’m at a point in my career where it’s more important to take stock each and every day and appreciate every moment for what it’s worth,” Tucker said after Tuesday’s practice. “For me, that just means taking it one kick at a time. My goals for the season are as simple as coming out here and making whatever kicks I have lined up for me in practice. That might sound really elementary, but that is the truth. I just really try to take it one kick at a time.”

Because, hey, even the great ones can be expendable. Tucker spoke to reporters in Philadelphia on an afternoon when, in a meeting arranged by Ravens assistant special teams coach Randy Brown (who also, weirdly, is the former mayor of Evesham, New Jersey), U.S. women’s soccer national team member and Garden State native Carli Lloyd was present at the Ravens joint practice with the Eagles.

Tucker, a few others, and now at least 1.5 million on Twitter watched the two-time World Cup champ kick a 55-yard field goal, dead center, out of the hold of the Ravens’ punter Sam Koch, after she made a handful from shorter distances. The performance caused one Hall of Famer to say a team should seriously consider giving Lloyd a tryout now.

“It was impressive,” said Tucker, the authority on such matters. It was also a very Tucker-like thing to do.

Ed Reed said he didn’t want to take up too much time, but given his emotions and the occasion being what it was, he spent 36 minutes talking Saturday night during his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech.

The beloved former Ravens safety—who is known for 11 years in Baltimore, 61 interceptions in purple and black, a Super Bowl win, and so many other fun memories like record-setting touchdowns of 107 and 106 yards—admittedly wrote parts of his speech on-the-fly (actually, on-the-scene) while he sat on stage in Canton, Ohio, and listened to the other 2019 inductees deliver their own thoughts. Reed went sixth, and when it was his turn, he took his phone from the jacket pocket of the trademark gold blazer that football Hall-of-Famers are gifted, and started reading.

“This little light of mine,” Reed said. “I had to let it shine.”

Here are 10 more wise and entertaining anecdotes from Reed’s coronation as one of football’s all-time greats:

• One point that Reed clearly wanted to articulate was that the people you surround yourself with, and the decisions you make, matter. Reed, now 40, talked about how he grew up in a crime-infested (yeah, he said that word) part of New Orleans where he had the choice to get involved in the drug scene. “You quickly become the things you hang around. Your environment is key,” he said. “I made the choice not to hang around people who were selling drugs, or guys who weren’t going to school.”

• He told a story about a police officer in Shrewsbury, Louisiana—who encouraged Reed to follow the “right” path: “I had to mature real fast because of my environment—crime, drugs, police, all kinds of things going on,” Reed said. “We were always taught to run from the police, and dodge the police officers. [But] it wasn’t always bad police, like people think. I remember one time, I’m yelling back to my cousins because most of them were selling drugs or something. I was yelling that the police were coming and the officer heard me. He called me to his car and he said, ‘Come here young man, get in the back.’ I lost it. … He said, ‘I’m taking you home.’ I said, ‘Oh my god, don’t do that. Take me to jail.’ … Because my momma’s home. I can remember him saying, ‘I see you around here, playing sports. You don’t need to be hanging with those other kids and other guys, because you have something.'”

• Reed spoke much more about his parents, Ed Reed Sr. and Karen—as well as his siblings and other mentors—who allowed him to live during his junior and senior years at Destrehan High School at the home of the principal’s secretary. “I needed a different environment,” Reed said. Jeanne Hall took Reed “under her wing,” and helped him get the ACT standardized-test scores he needed to get into college. This is part of the reason why Reed has been so involved in charity work at Booker T. Washington Middle School in West Baltimore for the last two decades. Somewhat related, on parenting in general, Reed said: “Your job is to provide and nurture an environment for your child to grow up. Raise them to leave the house, not to stay. You don’t want kids at 30 and 40 years old putting their name on the milk.”

• There were other light-hearted moments, too, like when Reed acknowledged that the 2001 national championship team that he played on at the University of Miami wouldn’t beat any NFL teams like some observers said they could. In the same breath, he couldn’t help but take a backhanded swipe at two of the Ravens’ division opponents. “I would not disrespect this league, not even those Cincinnati Bengals, hold on, or the Cleveland Browns,” Reed said to laughter and a few boos in the crowd (he was in Ohio, after all), before pausing and saying, “I have the utmost respect for both of those organizations. I have 30 picks between them, too. Not my fault y’all change quarterbacks.”

• After saying, “There’s no place like BALTIMORE!” Reed accidentally thanked New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick (oops!) instead of his former head coach Brian Billick while acknowledging past and current members of the Ravens front office. It might’ve been a Freudian slip, as Reed has recently told Belichick he wants to be part of the Patriots coaching staff. In any case, current coach John Harbaugh’s reaction was completely appropriate…

• On showing up to Baltimore for his first public appearance as a rookie, wearing a throwback Cleveland Browns’ Jim Brown jersey, Reed said: “Baltimore booed me… I walk on stage and they’re like ‘Take it off! Take it off!’ I took it off and y’all loved me ever since. I loved it all. especially when I heard that “Reeeeeed!” in M&T Bank Stadium. What I wouldn’t give for one more interception.”

• On what he might be doing if he weren’t giving this speech: “I’d rather be smoking a cigar, just chillin’, taking my time.”

• On his bronze bust, which must be one of the best likenesses that will ever be displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: “I look just like the guy.”

• Reed also spoke about the recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, which happened just hours before the Hall of Fame ceremony: “In general, across this country, it’s something we really need to address. I ask America, what’s our standard?”

• And, finally, a few big-picture parting thoughts that he wanted to leave everyone with: “I never compared myself to any other player, and you shouldn’t compare yourself to anybody else or worry about the people who don’t like you,” Reed said. “Everyone has their own greatness, and you reach your own greatness [depending] on your environment and structure, the company you keep, and your attitude. There will be good and bad, right and wrong. Your reaction and choice—good or bad—has consequences that affect you and those around you. Help somebody. That’s what we’re supposed to. That’s what being human is about, leaving this place better than we got it.”

The gesture was small in the grand scheme of things, and a ceremonial and promotional stunt all wrapped into one: Lamar Jackson throwing out the first pitch at an Orioles game, on the eve of the start of Ravens’ training camp. But the mash-up did what it was supposed to do, and caused us to wonder about Baltimore’s 22-year-old quarterback of the present and future.

Maybe it was because of the charm of Jackson’s boyish mannerisms as he bounced around Camden Yards on his first trip to the stadium, wearing an Orioles jersey with his—and Cal’s, of course—number eight (“Legendary,” Jackson said in respect), while doing stuff like eating a Boog’s turkey sandwich and meeting guys like Trey Mancini and Chris Davis in the Orioles clubhouse.

Or maybe it was how Jackson, like a good student, appeared to quickly pick up the whole pitching concept. He took instructions from outfielder Dwight Smith, Jr. (lower your shoulder, this isn’t football; but use the threads on a baseball for grip like laces on a pigskin), and practiced a few throws in the batting cage beneath the stands while waiting out a 90-minute pregame rain delay on Wednesday night.

Finally, after the skies cleared around 8:30 p.m., Jackson, now the guy, trotted out toward the pitcher’s mound, and waved his arms to excite those of the announced 20,786 paying fans still in attendance. When it was time to throw, he pretended to shake off a few signs from Smith, his stand-in catcher, then cocked his right arm, and tossed a hard, fast strike. It was just what everyone, we presume, wanted to see.

Jackson flexed and smiled as he walked from the field. “I loved it,” he said. “I had to show up and show out.” The outcome was exactly what he wanted, too, which was to not embarrass himself throwing a baseball—like rapper 50 Cent once did. (Just a bit outside!)

Cue the jokes about the Orioles needing a pitcher. . .

But O’s manager Brandon Hyde said he’d first try out Jackson somewhere else, like centerfield, shortstop, or second base given his speed and baseball teams’ premium on strength at those “up the middle” positions.

Jackson agreed. “Probably,” he said about playing centerfield, when he met with the media before the O’s played the Nationals, “but I’m a Ravens quarterback right now, so I’m good.”

Yes, he is. That might be the biggest takeaway of this week’s football-baseball crossover act. In just his second pro season, Jackson begins the year as the undisputed starting quarterback of his Ravens—the first time in a decade that anybody besides Joe Flacco can say that.

That’s why this Ravens QB—one who’s endearing, yet still maturing (aren’t we all?) and is as relatively unproven as a pro quarterback (yes, despite his 6-2 record as a rookie starter) as his skills are unconventional—was asked to come to Camden Yards in the first place thanks to our two pro sports teams getting along. And it’s why he stood in front of reporters and answered questions, covering a variety of topics and touching on his development as a billboard-status face of the franchise.

He addressed his disappointment with his Madden video game rating, 24th-best among NFL quarterbacks, and low on passing ability. But his speed and agility? No. 1. “I don’t make Madden,” he said. “It’s them.” He talked about how he’s spent the offseason (he worked out some, throwing footballs with Ravens backup quarterback Robert Griffin III and wide receivers like Willie Snead, which should be a positive signal to fans who want to see improvement there). On the Baltimore summer heat, he said being a Florida native is no solace. “I’m one of those people complaining I was sweating a lot,” he said. And he even discussed how he prefers to top his hot dog.

Because in addition to Jackson’s pregame appearance reminding us that Ravens training camp starts next week, National Hot Dog Day was observed at Orioles Park on this night, too. In a season of many fantastic fan giveaways, the O’s had one of their best, offering ketchup, mustard, and relish t-shirts—a creative nod to the famous and kid-friendly between-innings hot dog scoreboard race.

“I don’t really eat mustard,” Jackson said about his preference, “so ketchup and relish. I go from there. Pretty standard.” Like we said, charming.

Standing before a group of reporters after one of the Ravens’ offseason practices yesterday, Hayden Hurst laughed and briefly looked to the sky when he heard the question. Any update on “the one that got away?”

“Haven’t heard anything back,” said the 25-year-old tight end, who will begin his second pro season this fall. Then the guy known as “Thor,” for obvious size and red-haired reasons, shrugged his big shoulders, part of a body to which he’s added 20 pounds of muscle the last few months. “Unfortunately, that’s the way of the road.”

He was referring of course to the seemingly innocuous but eventually viral tweet he thumbed last Sunday:

It’s a message that, if you or I shared it, would likely have traveled only as far as our close friends’ phones, and elicited a few jokes. For Hurst, that happened, too, but being an NFL player in a media world obsessed with clicks, his “missed connection” on a flight from his hometown of Jacksonville to Baltimore on Spirit Airlines (man of the people!) also attracted more attention than he ever imagined. The story ended up in places as far away as Good Morning America and Fox News.

A dropped ball, the headlines read. Teammates, current and former (like Terrell Suggs), ribbed him: “Shoot your shot,” they said. Strangers on the internet sent an assortment of funny memes, and others questioned the situation: “Hold on . . . NFL [player] can’t catch up with tall brunette . . . did the Ravens sign the wrong person?”

Hurst playfully responded with some details (he was busy taking a picture with a fan near a security line at BWI), as did the guy who asked for the picture. “Relax,” Hurst wrote back, summing up his reaction to the reaction.

In reality, he’s got bigger fish to fry.

For one, the reason Hurst was on a plane to Baltimore in the first place was to get here for the Ravens’ organized team activities (OTAs in NFL parlance), 10 days of voluntary practices. One of the Ravens’ two first-round picks last spring (along with quarterback Lamar Jackson), Hurst is fired up to kick off what he hopes is a rebound year from a season derailed by a stress fracture in his foot at the end of training camp last August.

He finished last season with 13 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown—stuff any person on the street would dream about doing. But it wasn’t the kind of production Hurst was looking for as a highly-touted rookie. The added weight he’s put on is intended to protect his body, so injuries like the one he sustained last season (which required a metal screw be surgically inserted in his foot) don’t happen.

“I’m kind of on a mission this year,” he said Thursday. “I’ve got a lot to prove.”

And, moreover—and unfortunately what none of the stories about his tweet said—Hurst is continuing to do great work off the field with the start of charitable foundation in his name, which focuses on helping teens with their mental health.

Hurst, as we documented last year, has struggled with anxiety and depression, like millions of Americans. And, given his platform, he’s resolved to speak openly about his experiences, to help others who might not know how to seek help or even be aware of their problems.

“In sports, you hear, ‘We have to be tough men, we can’t talk about mental health.’ Or ‘If you seek help, it’s weakness.’” Hurst told Baltimore last season. “I think that’s a load of crap now. It’s incredible that it affects so many people, and in so many different ways. It needs to be talked about.”

The Hayden Hurst Family Foundation, which officially launched in April, held a charity golf tournament this month to raise money to fund the 81 therapy sessions (Hurst’s jersey number) it will provide to 20 local student-athletes through the Better Tomorrow’s Start Today organization.

Hurst and his mother, Cathy, who runs the foundation, visited three Baltimore schools—St. Frances Academy, Poly, and Coppin State University—and one in Hagerstown to speak, take questions, and provide forms for mental health services.

“We’re trying to help kids realize it’s OK to say you’re not OK,” Cathy said. “I’m glad to see that the foundation is starting to get some traction, and people are really excited to hear that Hayden is not just a football player. He really cares.”

That’s really the moral of this whole story, tweet included. Pro football players are people, too.

There are still two days, six rounds, and 222 more picks to be made in this year’s NFL Draft—and you can’t fairly grade how any team does until years from now, after the college kids selected pan out like Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed or flop, so to speak in pro football terms, like Kyle Boller.

But through the first night of what’s really an annual nationally televised administrative spectacle, it’s hard to say that the Ravens haven’t already won.

And not just because of the promise and skills that new general manager Eric DeCosta’s first ever pick—speedy 5-foot-10, 170-pound Oklahoma wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, selected 25th overall in last night’s first round—brings to the roster.

Brown feels like a valuable addition, and at least Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson agrees, given the child-like joy in his live reaction on social media last night, close to 11 p.m. (In the video, “Hollywood,” refers to the rookie’s nickname, and where he grew up, 40 miles from where Jackson did in Boynton Beach, Florida. You’ll also hear a mention of Brown’s diamond neck chain, which actually features a likeness of himself.)

That’s all charming and makes us want to be 21 years old again—and have a few million dollars headed our way—but just wait for the real heart-warming stuff to come when it’s the Ravens turn to make headlines again the next two days.

Some time tonight, when they’re ready to make their third-round pick, Westminster native Miles Taylor will step onto the stage in Nashville and announce the team’s selection. Taylor was born with cerebral palsy and went viral a few months ago for a video of him deadlifting 200 pounds. Among other reactions, Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed Taylor his “new hero.”

Taylor, 24, recently visited the Ravens headquarters in Owings Mills with his personal trainer, a high school friend who got him into lifting. He impressed coaches and players in the workout room, learned he’d be part of the draft festivities, and shared his story with the team’s public relations group. It’s worth a watch.

“Cerebral palsy doesn’t define who I am,” Taylor said. “I just want to be a better version of myself. It’s so cool to be able to inspire people.”

If that’s not enough motivation to catch some of the draft broadcast, maybe this is. On Saturday afternoon at the Ravens’ Draft Fest at the Inner Harbor, with players like Jackson and Ravens second-year tight end Hayden Hurst on hand, superfan Mo Gaba, who was born blind and at age 13 is fighting cancer for the fourth time, will become the first person to read off an NFL Draft selection from a Braille card.

Gaba is from Glen Burnie and has attended Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital for multiple rounds of chemo and surgeries. He’s been a fixture on local sports-talk radio in recent years, and struck up a unique relationship with an Anne Arundel County police officer that works in his school. It’s easy to love him.

This interview of the Orioles’ Trey Mancini interviewing him last year is precious. “Every day when I wake up in the morning, I always feel like I’m going to achieve something that’s pretty cool,” Gaba said then, sitting in his wheelchair on the field at Camden Yards. “I just think positive.”

Coach John Harbaugh surprised the kid live on the radio earlier this week to say he’d be reading the Ravens fourth-round pick, No. 123 overall, to the nation . . .

After all that, there’s not much left to say. Except for a few more names to be announced, along with Ravens hats to be put on draftees, and future contracts to be signed. Because, for now, the Ravens certainly have inspiration covered for us all.

Excuse us for feeling like the Ravens and Orioles are colluding on some master plan to make us learn as many new names and storylines as possible before they begin their 2019 seasons. It’s hard to keep up with all the changes.

This week alone: Terrell Suggs gone, to Arizona (here he is in Cardinal red—weird); Eric Weddle signed with a team in Los Angeles; C.J. Mosley, he of the cathartic playoff-berth sealing interception and a four-time Pro Bowler, is now the richest inside linebacker in the NFL, with the New York Jets; Joe Flacco was officially traded to Denver; and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith said he’s headed to Green Bay. There’s no telling how many hours the Ravens’ social media staff spent posting nostalgic thank you tributes to the departed.

Meanwhile, former Orioles captain Adam Jones signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks (are there good crabs in the southwest or something?)—he got a video tribute, too—and first-year O’s manager Brandon Hyde named Alex Cobb the team’s Opening Day starter.

And we haven’t even talked about the big additions to town: safety Earl Thomas and running back Mark Ingram, whom the Ravens signed at the start of the NFL’s free agency period and whom the team will introduce at a press conference in Owings Mills on Friday morning.

It’s always difficult to say goodbye to familiar and respected sports heroes—which we’ve done a lot of the last few months (see Buck Showalter, Flacco, and Jones). But change also creates opportunities, and fresh starts. Two-plus months into this year, that’s the story of Baltimore’s biggest teams. The question now is what comes of the all the new?

Well, for starters, the Ravens’ addition of Thomas, who has been widely regarded as one of the league’s best safeties but missed most of last season with a broken leg, seems fitting for a franchise that will see Ed Reed inducted to the Hall of Fame this August at that position. Thomas was the leader of the Seattle Seahawks’ legendary “Legion of Boom” a few years ago.

A pairing with fellow safety Tony Jefferson has already led a few observers to create equal parts patriotic and funny “Thomas Jefferson” references to the twosome.

The continued changing-of-the-quarterback guard will get the most attention, though. The Ravens thanked Flacco for the memories after the trade was made official, and he in turn thanked them.

At around the same time, second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been handed the keys to the offense, posted to his Instagram account a self-recorded video of him driving 105 miles per hour on a highway, apparently without wearing a seatbelt.

The video ended up on TMZ, and Jackson apologized for the “bad decision,” and said he “will set a better example going forward.” Jackson is 22 years old, and we’ve praised him before for his authenticity, but clearly has some growing up to do.

He deleted the troublesome video from his account, but left public his thoughts on all the free agency moves, which also don’t seem to sit right.

The only thing that would have made this week more interesting is if former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell chose to sign with the Ravens instead of the Jets, which he was reportedly close to doing.

We’re also close to the O’s first game of the year, now less than two weeks away against the Yankees in New York. Cobb, who was 5-15 with a 4.90 earned run average in 28 starts for the Orioles last season, is now apparently the O’s best pitcher.

That might not sound promising, but we’ll take our chances with something new.

The reported trade of Joe Flacco to the Denver Broncos—which won’t become official until next month, per NFL rules—shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Ravens made it clear they were moving on from the oft-maligned, Super Bowl-winning quarterback several times over the last few months.

But the news of Flacco’s impending departure does deliver a sense of finality for an era that started 11 years ago and saw ups, downs, the streakiest of flawless playoff performances in 2012 en route to a championship, followed by a much debated monster contract, and all the questions and discussion about Joe Cool’s unassuming demeanor along the way.

The last few years haven’t been great on the field for the now 34-year-old— he was 24-27 as a starter the last four seasons, and he faced several different injuries. The last of those, a hip injury suffered against the hated Steelers (it seems appropriate Flacco’s final game as a Raven came against Pittsburgh), coupled with rookie Lamar Jackson’s electric play in his place, put the strong-armed Flacco out of a job in Baltimore for good.

Maybe Flacco was never elite, as a nation of football fans and local sports-talk radio callers loved to publicly ponder, but Flacco sure does leave a lasting legacy behind that’s comparable to those of other heroes in Baltimore sports history.

Flacco, the New Jersey native and University of Delaware alum with a last name perfectly suited for the Baltimorese dialect, is the best quarterback to ever play for the Ravens franchise. Replicas of his No. 5 jersey hang in closets, restaurants, and bars everywhere. He might not have done things exactly the way you (or Ray Lewis) would have liked, but he gave years of Ravens teams what was needed, a steady presence and dose of understated class at arguably the most important position in pro sports, even as so much changed around him. It’s a career that, in all likelihood, will become more appreciated as the years go on.

Right now, it feels weird to imagine Flacco wearing an orange and blue Broncos uniform. (Though you don’t even have to imagine it; here’s a Photoshopped look.) But, pending a retirement or a catastrophic preseason injury, that’s what we’ll see for real next year. The Ravens, under new general manager Eric DeCosta, have agreed to trade Flacco to Denver for a fourth-round draft pick.

You won’t hear any public comments from Ravens coaches or players about the move until it becomes official on March 13. For now, we’re left with Flacco’s thoughts before he left the Ravens locker room for the final time — “I love the people of Baltimore,” he said. “I can’t imagine a better 11 years.” — and other reaction, like from safety Tony Jefferson, who acknowledged Flacco on Wednesday after the trade reports broke:

Ah, Denver. The site of the “Miracle at Mile High,” the beautiful, cathartic 70-yard touchdown heave from Flacco to wide receiver Jacoby Jones in the final minute of the 2012 divisional round playoff game that was the most astounding of all the moments of the Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII winning season, and probably of Flacco’s entire Ravens career. It’s a “where were you when?” sort of thing.

There were plenty of other memories, like various rivalry games with the Steelers, and for every cool touchdown pass a seemingly comical scramble, or fumble, around a collapsing pocket. Or when he sauntered into the end zone with a rare touchdown run. Or wore an ugly fu man chu on his face. Or graciously paused to sign autographs or take photos around town (as he did one evening with my wife and dog after dinner; lineman Marshal Yanda was the photographer.)

But that was Joe Flacco. He was who he was, and is who he is. This isn’t an obituary, after all, but it is the end of Flacco’s football time here. (Well, at least Joe’s. His brother, Tom, still has one season of eligibility left as the quarterback at Towson.)

Onward the NFL goes. Flacco, a father of five, will relocate across the country, get paid $18.5 million, and become the source of polarizing debate for another city, while the Baltimore sports scene will move on to the Lamar Jackson era. Flacco himself officially ushered that in with his gracious acquiescence to the 21-year-old (“It’s out of my hands,” he said)—and with his part in the decision to stay on the bench of the Ravens’ wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Fans chanted for Flacco to enter the game then, and how could they not? This was a guy who gave this city a whole lot, including a championship and plenty of classic, quirky local commercials—featuring corny jokes and looks ranging from boyish crew cut in a Pizza Hut jersey (Flacco’s Favorite!) to manly makeover and talking to kids while hawking banking services.

We’ll miss those spots, of course, but Flacco will be back this way someday, when his name and number are affixed to a concrete façade at M&T Bank Stadium, alongside all the other Ravens greats like Lewis, Ed Reed, and Jonathan Ogden. Because that’s the company that Flacco keeps.

There was a little less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, and the Los Angeles Chargers were already leading by 17 points and looking like they were about to score again, when Ravens coach John Harbaugh finally approached quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Joe Flacco on the sideline and broached the touchy subject that many others—like the pockets of 70,000-plus fans at a frenzied M&T Bank Stadium who had started to boo and hiss; and the television and radio announcers; and the social-media commenters—had already been discussing.

Who should be in at quarterback?

The polarizing question of the last month served as the central conflict in Sunday afternoon’s oftentimes frustrating and bizarre (how about those replay reviews?) wild-card game, the Ravens’ first playoff appearance in four years. For the first time since the electrifying and—as one Chargers player said Sunday, “ridiculously fast,”—21-year-old Jackson took over as starting quarterback from an injured Flacco in November, the Ravens looked downright bad. They struggled to create any offense, and they fell behind 23-3 in the second half before somehow rallying to have chance to tie the score with under a minute to go. By then, a lot of fans had left.

In a moment you might see this week on one of the NFL’s behind-the-scenes mic’d up segments (since five different cameramen were capturing the images and audio), the Ravens trailed 20-3 when Harbaugh crouched down in front of the Ravens’ QB duo as they sat beside each other on the bench. There they were, the former Super Bowl-winning hero who had been there, done that in the playoffs, wearing a winter hat; and Jackson, in a body-length black hooded coat, the youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL postseason game, who had -1 passing yards and was sailing the ball over and under receivers while dodging a flurry of defenders.

“I wanted to know what they thought,” Harbaugh told Baltimore. “We could have gone with Joe then.” Indeed, fans behind the Ravens bench and elsewhere in the stadium were calling for the switch. Twitter and text chats were abuzz with the topic. CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, mentioned the possibility of pulling Jackson at halftime, saying it’s hard to leave a former Super Bowl winner like Flacco on the bench in a game like this.

It was like a Greek drama and a Roman circus rolled into one three-hour, 17-minute story. The protagonist: Jackson. The dispatched, lightning-rod former starter: Flacco. The stage: a long-awaited home playoff game. But in reality, there wasn’t as much debate on the sideline as there was everywhere else.

Flacco, perhaps having already accepted his fate a long time ago or not wanting to get beat up by a ferocious defense, got out of the way, and told Harbaugh he should leave Jackson in. “Stay with what we’re doing,” he said.

“We made the decision with what was going to happen here weeks ago,” Flacco said in the locker room later. “I really wanted to see the guys turn it up a little bit and make a play.”

With that, the deed was done, and in some ways, the Ravens’ quarterback situation was made clearer than it’s ever been since the Ravens drafted Jackson out of Louisville last April. “Lamar is our quarterback going forward, no question about that,” Harbaugh said afterward.

Flacco essentially and gracefully closed the door on his own career in Baltimore. And, in what was probably the worst game of his young NFL career, Jackson’s position in the Ravens’ quarterback hierarchy was somehow solidified. “He’s the future,” Ravens safety Eric Weddle said of Jackson, who went 6-2 as a starter this year. “He’s going to be a great one.”

Maybe a weight lifted from Jackson’s shoulder pads after the sideline chat, because he threw his first touchdown pass of the day to Michael Crabtree on the Ravens’ next drive, then threw another to him to pull the Ravens’ within 23-17 with two minutes left. They got possession back with 28 seconds left. But, on the first play of a possible game-tying drive, Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu slapped the ball from Jackson’s right hand and his teammate Melvin Ingram III recovered the fumble. It was a fitting ending to what was, at many times, an ugly game, lowlighted by Jackson’s three lost fumbles and even a Justin Tucker missed field goal (what?!).

“There were a lot of things we could have done, I could have done, to put us in a better situation,” Jackson said. “We have to move on now, get ready for next year.”

Ah, yes, next year. No sense in stalling the discussion about it. Now we await news regarding a possible contract extension for Harbaugh, whose job Jackson might have saved. Will Terrell Suggs be back? “I would like to be a Raven for life,” he said. There’s also the matter of the eventual whereabouts of Flacco, who is owed $25 million next year. (The bet here is Washington.)

Harbaugh spoke wistfully of his now former starting QB, with whom he arrived with in Baltimore 11 years ago, and he also talked as if Flacco was headed elsewhere. That would either be by trade, or if the Ravens simply cut the 33-year-old father of five in the offseason. “Joe can still play,” Harbaugh said. “A lot of teams are going to want Joe. . . . I’ll be in Joe’s corner, wherever he’s at, unless we play him.”

Speaking to reporters in what was very likely his last media appearance in the M&T’s home locker room, Flacco said about his future plans, “It’s not really up to me. We’ll see what happens,” and he also reflected on his time here.

“I love the people of Baltimore,” Flacco said. “I can’t imagine a better 11 years. Just how many different life changes I went through and how much we won here. I’m not from too far up the road. People around here are a lot like the people I grew up with. It’s definitely a group of fans and a community that I loved to be around.”

After fielding a final question, he closed with “See you guys.” We sure will, somewhere.

About 10 minutes later, Jackson stood near the same spot in the corner of the locker room where Flacco held court, and spoke with a pair of team staffers for a few minutes. Then, in a quiet moment soon after, when someone asked about the tough day on the field, he acknowledged that truth, but then offered a few simple words that bode well for the future that everyone is so interested in: “It’s all good.”

The first impression was just about the same as the current impression. Back in August 2018, when we watched Lamar Jackson’s post-game interview following his stellar preseason debut at M&T Bank Stadium, there was this 21-year-old kid wearing a backpack, looking like he just got out of school, while also appearing completely comfortable delivering forthright answers to reporters’ questions.

“I was kind of lost,” Jackson said, very much a rookie, while describing his feelings about leading the Ravens out of the tunnel and onto the field, as he did in his first game in Baltimore that night, even with incumbent quarterback Joe Flacco starting the game.

More than one year and a playoff run later, having unseated Flacco amid a meteoric rise to stardom as quick as one of Jackson’s sprints downfield, Jackson’s personality, honesty, and sometimes unintentionally funny one- and two-liners to the media are even more endearing.

Like, when someone asked if he felt any different about showing up to work after last year’s cathartic regular-season finale that advanced the Ravens to the playoffs, after C.J. Mosley’s late-game interception? “I changed my clothes,” Jackson said, eliciting laughter. “That’s about it. Everything else in the same.”

He’s likeable. By being himself on and off the field—fast and dynamic, fun and authentic—Jackson had won over a postseason-starved fanbase, teammates, and coaches, all before he turned 22. “That’s what you appreciate about him,” coach John Harbaugh said this last season. “He’s not trying to prove to anybody that he’s this or that or the other. He’s very comfortable with who he is. You like being around people like that.”

We’ll take it one step further. Here’s seven reasons why it’s so easy to love Jackson right now:

He’s led the Ravens to the playoffs.

Let’s just start with the obvious. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if the Ravens missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. Jackson is the single most important factor in why fortunes turned.

Yes, you’ll hear a lot about the Ravens’ great defense, and their ball-control scheme, or other players, but all of that would not have been highlighted or given a chance to thrive had Jackson not excelled when given the chance after Flacco’s hip injury last November.

There is no more critical position in the NFL than quarterback, and Jackson’s has emerged as a bonafide game-changer—with speed, poise, improvisation and, yes, tell the world—LAMAR JACKSON CAN THROW!

He shares.

He’s quiet and private in some ways—for instance, you probably haven’t heard Jackson talk about how his father died in a car accident when Jackson was just 8 years old, and how that happened on the same day his great-grandmother died from cancer—but he’s very outgoing and public in other respects.

If you want a good look at who Jackson really is, just follow his social media accounts. He’s an open book, as authentic as they come, just like your little brother or cousin that Instagrams their daily activities. Except almost 1 million people follow new_era8.

And his social media performance of late has rivaled his play on the field. As in…

He’ll take a picture with you, take one for himself, then post them both.

I still can’t figure out the logistics of this picture. He might have asked whoever took it to send it to him, which is great. But the point is Jackson seems to have embraced his newfound celebrity in Baltimore just fine.

“I just love it here,” Jackson said. “Anywhere I go, people notice it’s me, stuff like that. Even when I first came out of college, when I first got drafted, whenever I go out, people always came up to me, this and that, ‘Lamar!’ They want to take pictures and stuff, so it’s pretty cool to have that going on. People don’t hate me here, so I love it.”

He’s a creative writer, and an appreciative neighbor.

Jackson went all “this is your captain speaking,” with beautiful and inspiring metaphors in a New Year’s social media post that made us want to start tailgating.

That came after he thanked his neighbors for the appreciation:

His mom was his agent heading into the NFL draft.

This confused and concerned some NFL teams, but didn’t put off the Ravens.

Jackson’s bond with his mom, Felicia Jones, is as strong as they come. She is his immediate family and most prominent champion. At the start of Jackson’s freshman season at the University of Louisville, the team had plenty of quarterback options on the roster, but needed a punt returner. Jackson’s athleticism made him an attractive option, and someone on the staff asked him to go return a punt one day at practice. When Jackson’s mom found out, she called the head coach, Bobby Petrino.

According to Sports Illustrated, she said, “Punt returner doesn’t look like quarterback,” and “reminded them all of the promise Petrino had made to her and her son while sitting on a couch in their South Florida home. Jackson never went back for a punt return in practice again.”

Similarly, when teams wanted her son to play wide receiver, which happened often, Jackson always said no. Be it when he was playing in high school, or being recruited to play in college, or the pros, many coaches or observers have suggested Jackson go play another position like wide receiver. His throwing accuracy was the culprit. At every step, NFL included, the coaches ultimately adjusted to him. He won the Heisman Trophy at Louisville as college football’s top player in 2016, the Ravens drafted him at the end of the first round, and he’s already about to make NFL history.

He’ll be the youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL playoff game.

At age 21 Jackson set a league record, and have the chance to for another: as the youngest starting QB to ever start in a playoff game.

Not that he’d admit that stat is a big deal. “I was 21 all year, so this is another game for me,” he said.

He’s reflective of the city.

This might be the elephant in the room. We’re not one to insert discussion about race where it might not belong, but you can’t deny a few things here. Baltimore’s population is 64-percent black, at last U.S. census count. Football is America’s most-watched sport. To have a promising, young black player at quarterback, the team’s most prominent position, is a big deal here.

Jackson’s presence as a headliner—it’s been 11 years since the Ravens last had a black starting quarterback—has to be a welcome sign for the majority of the city, especially its youth. Once asked about seeing kids wear his No. 8 jersey, Jackson said, “I love it. I might buy my own jersey and wear it. I might join them.”

You can’t make this stuff up, and it’s why we’ve quickly learned to love Lamar.

Our hearts are still racing from last week’s Ravens game against the Cleveland Browns—in which linebacker C.J. Mosley clinched a playoff run with a critical interception in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. (Sorry not sorry, Steelers.) This Sunday, our AFC North Champions are taking on the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card game at M&T Bank Stadium—and Baltimore is ready to party.

Whether you’re hoping to post up at a tailgate or gather with other die-hards at a neighborhood bar, there are plenty of purple parties to celebrate the Ravens’ first playoff run in years. Here’s where to head before kickoff:

101 Baltimore: If you’re planning to catch the game on South Charles Street in Federal Hill, this neighborhood hangout will be offering plenty of drink deals. Cheer on the birds while downing $5 Chambongs (6-oz. Champagne shooters), $6 Orange Crushes, $7 glasses of red and white wine, and $15 domestic buckets. Just next door, sister-spot Banditos Bar & Kitchen will highlight $5 32-oz. Modelo, Shocktop, and Bud Light beers, as well as $18 Corona buckets. 1118 S. Charles St. 443-682-9480

Alexander’s Tavern: Spend your Sunday at this Fells Point staple, which will offer a game-day menu in conjunction with its regular bottomless brunch deals. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., sip all-you-can-drink Bloody Marys, mimosas, and screwdrivers for $15 while also enjoying half-priced nachos and tots. Other football specials include $2 New Amsterdam half shots, $3 22-oz. Bud Light drafts, $5 Baltimore bombs, and free shooters for every Ravens touchdown. (Sister bar Huck’s American Craft will have similar specials.) 710 S. Broadway. 410-522-0000

Bmore Around Town Purple Tailgate: Super Bowl champion Jamal Lewis will be pregaming at this bash thrown by the tailgating experts at Bmore Around Town. Make your way to Stadium Square on West Ostend Street to get down to live music by DJ Crome while enjoying open bar access for three hours before the game. The $40 admission fee also includes shucked oysters, a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, life-sized games, and raffles to benefit the Kamryn Lambert Foundation. A barbecue buffet will highlight brisket, smoked turkey, pulled pork, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, French fries, and all the fixins’. 701 W. Ostend St. $40-45 443-865-5935

Donna’s Tavern: Dundalk locals flock to this neighborhood hangout for its epic football parties, which feature raffles, giveaways, and free shooters for every Ravens touchdown. Noteworthy playoff specials will include $4 grape bombs, $6 burgers, $9 crab pretzels, $10 crab cake sandwiches, and $12 Budweiser buckets. 6607 Pine Ave., Dundalk. 410-633-6677

Don’t Know Tavern: Belly up to the bar at this South Baltimore spot to watch the game alongside other purple fanatics. Don’t Know will offer $3 Miller Lite drafts, or—if you’re drinking with a crew—go in on $14 Miller Lite Buckets, $15 Miller Lite towers, or $20 Blue Moon towers. 1453 Light St. 410-539-0231

Frazier’s on the Avenue: Nothing screams Baltimore pride like gathering with other fans at this Hampden institution. Grab a seat at the bar to crack open $2.50 cans of Natty Boh while chowing down on discounted appetizers all afternoon. Snack specials will include $5 tots, onion rings, nachos, soft pretzels, and taco flatbreads. 919 W. 36th St. 410-662-4914

Jimmy’s King in the North Playoff Tailgate: Throw on a jersey and get hyped for this lively pregame hosted by Jimmy’s Famous Seafood. Held outside of the future home of Hammerjacks on Russell Street, the tailgate will feature music spun by DJ Buddha, as well as familiar ’90s covers by local rockers Here’s to the Night. The $45 price of admission also includes a premium open bar, bottomless beer, lawn games, a photo booth, and a full buffet. Football fare to look out for includes pit beef, cream of crab soup, Italian sausage, homemade meatballs, and crabby chicken cheesesteaks. 1300 Russell St. $45. 410-314-6968

Lee’s Pint & Shell: This Canton hangout will host a free, one-hour open bar after the game if the Ravens win. The only catch? You have to show up to Lee’s (in your purple gear, of course) before kickoff. No matter the outcome, the bar will feature buck-a-shuck oysters, $3 Natty Boh drafts, $3 Blue Moon drafts, $5 Smirnoff grape bombs, and $5 Smirnoff Crushes during the game. 2844 Hudson St. 410-327-2883

Minnow: Make the most of your Sunday Funday with an all-day happy hour at this seafood-centric spot in South Baltimore. For the playoff game, Minnow will be featuring half-priced small plates and drink specials from 1-7 p.m. in the bar. 2 E. Wells St. 443-759-6537

Miss Shirley’s: This comfort food staple is paying homage to Eric Weddle’s ice cream sundae ritual with “Weddle’s Playoff Pancakes”—a tall stack buried beneath plenty of sweet toppings. Starting this Purple Friday, all three locations will offer the Ravens-inspired flapjacks topped with blackberries, white chocolate chips, purple whipped cream, purple cream cheese icing, powdered sugar, and black and purple sugar sprinkles. You can also add a scoop of Taharka Bros. ice cream for good measure. The Ravens pancakes will be on the menu throughout the entire playoff run. Multiple locations including 513 W. Cold Spring Lane. 410-889-5272

Mother’s Grille: We can only imagine how spirited the Purple Patio at this Federal Hill mainstay is going to be this weekend. Equipped with satellite bars, flat screens, and plenty of Ravens decor, the outdoor venue is a go-to party spot for home games. As always, Mother’s is offering fans a $35 all-you-can-drink deal for three hours beginning at 9 a.m. 1113 S. Charles St. 410-244-8686

Ottobar: This Remington rock club is gearing up for another one of its Ravens ragers in the bar upstairs. Be sure to bring a dish to share for the potluck party, which also features discounted drinks, beer buckets, and plenty of giant screens for bird watching. 2549 N. Howard St. 410-662-0069

Pratt Street Ale House: Located just a football’s throw away from the stadiums, this game-day destination is always down to cheer on the birds. In honor of the playoff run, the Ale House is offering $3 domestic bottles, $4 Oliver Brewing Company pints, and $5 house wine and rail drinks throughout the day. 206 W. Pratt St. 410-244-8900

Well, it all comes down to this.

As wild a regular season as they come—complete with a changing of the guard at quarterback, a frisky head coach on the hot seat, and a turnaround from a three-game losing streak to a playoff run—comes to an end on Sunday, when the Ravens host the Cleveland Browns.

It’s the biggest game at M&T Bank Stadium since, um, this time last year when the Ravens also had a chance to make the playoffs. And while pockets of empty seats were visible that day and on many days this season, players are hoping for a packed stadium Sunday, with so much riding on the game’s result.

The idea, of course, is for the Ravens to keep playing in the playoffs, something they haven’t done in three years. With a win, they will. With a loss, things can get crazy and the Ravens could miss the playoffs altogether. With that, here are five things to know before you watch Sunday’s game.

Win and in. Lose and who knows.
There are 96 different possible playoff scenarios (yes, 96!) in play for the Ravens, including being ranked as a high as No. 2 in the AFC, getting a bye and hosting a playoff game, to sitting at home and watching the playoffs next week like you and me.

The simple one is if the Ravens win they play again, but there’s also one where the Steelers win the division instead, and keep the Ravens out of the postseason. This video about it all would make John Urschel proud.

This could be Joe Flacco’s last home game as a Raven.
With a loss, or even a win in a less-than-ideal scenario, this might be the last time to see Joe Flacco in a purple No. 5 jersey, even if it’s merely on the sideline or for a ceremonial goodbye towards the end of the game. Unless of course the Ravens think he’s worth $23 million per year to be a backup QB, or they renegotiate his contract this offseason. Otherwise, odds are Flacco plays elsewhere next season, like . . . the Redskins.

What’s the deal with Hot Seat Harbaugh?
In the middle of the season, head coach John Harbaugh was reportedly on his way out of town. (And we wrote about enjoying the testy public tone of Hot Seat Harbaugh around this time.) But then Lamar Jackson took over at quarterback, and the Ravens’ fortunes turned around. That brought us to last Friday, when the Ravens released a one-sentence statement at 7 p.m., the night before their game against the Chargers, saying that the team will work with Harbaugh to negotiate a new contract, which expires after 2019. It’s the type of end-of-week media release usually sent when someone is getting fired, not supported.

“I think it’s a non-story,” Harbaugh said this week. “We’re just trying to win football games. We’ve kept it simple, kept it about football. Everybody is on a one-year deal. You’re on a one-week deal, as far as I’m concerned, in this league, players and coaches.”

Reading between the lines, this all looks like negotiating tactics. The Ravens either want Harbaugh back, or least want it to look like they do, and want to work out a new contract with the coach before he heads into a lame-duck year next year. The question is, does Harbaugh want to do the same thing? Not many NFL head coaches survive big-time quarterback changes but to his credit, Harbaugh has fully embraced the change from Flacco to Jackson, so he’s in a great position to do whatever he wants to do.

Moral of the story: Oftentimes everyone is always looking for the “next thing,” the next coach, or the next QB, without enjoying the present. This is a week to enjoy the present.

With a win, Eric Weddle is buying us all “Victory Breakfast.”
Speaking of contracts, Eric Weddle’s is pretty great. With a playoff appearance, combined with a Pro Bowl selection, which the veteran safety has already earned, Weddle will get an extra $1 million sent to his bank account.

That’s more than enough to buy a few “Victory Breakfasts,” as he’s enjoyed the last few weeks. Extra Reese’s, please.

Anything is better than last year.
In case you forgot what happened last New Year’s Eve . . .

Five years ago, long before he became what he is today—a rookie tight end with the Baltimore Ravens—Hayden Hurst stood alone on the elevated dirt of a pitcher’s mound in Bradenton, FL, the center of attention, as a 6-foot-5 hard-throwing major league pitching prospect making his first-ever spring training start.

The anxiety began in warmups. His thoughts raced. Who was watching him today? What would they think about him? The Pittsburgh Pirates had paid him a $400,000 signing bonus. How disappointed would they be if he didn’t live up to expectations?

Hurst’s heart pounded. His right hand trembled. His stomach was queasy. He felt blood rushing from his arms and legs. And his palm dripped an inordinate amount of sweat onto the baseball in his grip. Then he tried throwing it across home plate, 60 feet away.

Nerves rattling more than he ever felt before, Hurst walked all five batters he faced and threw two wild pitches in one terrifying inning. And that was just the beginning.

“It happened all the time, for three years. I was having panic attacks,” Hurst says. “I wanted nothing to do with being out there. I wanted to get away. I wanted to escape.”

Like he’d done as a high school star, Hurst just kept throwing hard, listening to his coaches, and hoping it would change—that what he’d always known how to do since he was an eighth-grader on the varsity team, to throw hard strikes (as a freshman he threw 90 miles per hour and was the winning pitcher in the state title game), would suddenly come back. That the dreaded yips, as the sudden loss of a skill is often called in sports, would disappear. But they never did.

Hurst’s thoughts of pitching in the major leagues quickly unraveled. That game, Hurst’s first professional start as a 19-year-old, was his last.

For the next two years, unbeknownst to even his family, any time he stepped near a mound, Hurst’s mind went haywire. But he attempted to fight through it, like he was trained to do as a young, tough, strong athlete in and around the private Bolles School in Jacksonville. He masked the type of anguish he really felt.

“Everything’s fine,” he told his parents when they called to ask how things were going. These were physical issues, he said. He believed that, too, even though the anxiety from the pitcher’s mound had begun to translate into depression off the field. By the spring of 2014, Hurst’s preferred way to spend a day was in the dark watching television inside his dorm room, avoiding people.

Then, one day in a practice game, Hurst unintentionally hit an Orioles’ prospect, coincidentally, in the helmet with a 94 mile-per-hour fastball, a pitch hard enough to knock the batter unconscious. That made everything worse. Hurst had totally lost control. Of his fastball. Of his mind. Of his body. And, with no exaggeration or hyperbole, his life.

“It’s such a darkness that comes over you,” Hurst says of the depression he sunk into, his baseball dreams disappearing with no alternative outcome in sight. “You don’t want to go anywhere or do anything, and you don’t ever think you’re going to get out of it. It’s the worst feeling in the world, and I don’t wish it upon anybody.”

Hurst’s pitching coach with the Pirates, former major leaguer Scott Elarton, phoned Hurst’s dad, Jerry: “You need to come see your son.”

“He didn’t want to disappoint us,” his mom, Cathy says. “He didn’t want to feel like a failure, so he internalized everything. We were shocked at how far down he’d gotten.”

Sitting across from Hurst at an outdoor patio table overlooking the practice field at the Ravens’ training facility, it’s clear that brighter times have now arrived. He appears more imposing than he does on television, where he runs alongside athletic giants of his similar 6-foot-5, 245-pound size.

When he’s on the football field, with a red beard and a long mane of ginger shoulder-length hair that protrudes from the back of his purple and black helmet, paired with mammoth muscular arms, Hurst is downright Viking-like. He certainly doesn’t fit Hollywood’s stereotypical description of a person who has struggled with his or her mental health.

But that’s really the point—of why he’s here on a sun-splashed afternoon in Owings Mills, calmly describing the painful details of his history with anxiety and depression, and why it’s so important for him to talk about it—instead of addressing more trivial locker room topics like curl routes, blocking assignments, or next Sunday’s game.

“In sports, you hear, ‘We have to be tough men, we can’t talk about mental health.’ Or ‘If you seek help, it’s weakness.’” Hurst says, wearing his purple number 81 jersey, his elbows on the lunch table making straight eye contact. “I think that’s a load of crap now. It’s incredible that it affects so many people, and in so many different ways. It needs to be talked about.”

So he’s talking. Hurst wants other people to learn from his story, to help rip the stigma off mental health treatment, to encourage teenagers, young adults, or anyone else to find some hope and support in his tale. He was a teenage, multi-sport, all-star athlete. “He was always the big-name guy, the big pitcher,” says his friend and former high school teammate, the Orioles’ D.J. Stewart.

Hurst felt pressure, then confusion, fright, and hopelessness, when everything he worked for slipped away. Then he found awareness, of what anxiety and depression really is, and make a choice to triumph, by finally accepting what was tearing him up inside and ditching a professional baseball career to head to college at almost 22 years old with the idea of starting over as a football player.

Just months after the official end of Hurst’s baseball flameout—when, at the start of his third year of spring training, he walked off the mound after hitting the fence with yet another pitch in a practice session and sobbed in the clubhouse, he walked on the football team at the University of South Carolina.

And after just three years there, two as a starter, Hurst became one of the top collegiate tight ends in the nation. He joined the Ravens in April when they selected him in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, seven picks before quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Hurst may still be making his name on the field—he missed the first four games of the season with a foot injury and, as the second tight end on the Ravens’ depth chart, his stats for the year are 10 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. His best game came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Sunday, when he caught three passes for 20 yards, and screamed and pumped his fists after one of them. He’s not a superstar (yet), but as a more mature and hardened 25-year-old rookie, he’s already embraced the visibility and platform that comes with having an NFL roster spot of any kind.

In September, Hurst launched The Hayden Hurst Family Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to help adolescents in Baltimore, as well as Columbia, SC, where Hurst went to college, and Jacksonville, his hometown, deal with mental health struggles. His mom has retired from a 30-plus-year sales career to help run the foundation.

Approximately one in five adults in the United States experiences mental illness in a given year, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. And one in five children ages 13 to 18 have or will have a serious mental illness, with 75 percent of all cases beginning by age 24.

Yet a stigma about addressing mental health in public, or private, remains, especially in the testosterone-inundated world of pro sports. “When I was going through it, I didn’t think that I would have ever talked about it,” Hurst says. But add his name to growing list of elite athletes that are speaking out, doing their part to soften the taboo, and shed some light on why and how to seek help.

Former Ravens players Steve Smith and Jamal Lewis, basketball’s Kevin Love and DeMar Derozan, and hockey goalie Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders have all shared their stories. Like Love, Hurst wrote a first-person account of his struggles in The Players’ Tribune. It’s titled “The Things You Can Control.” And he’s talked about it in articles for BaltimoreRavens.com and Bleacher Report. Other high-profile athletes like former world No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic are more private, but have cited their mental health as reasons for stepping away from their respective games.

“You never really know what someone else is going through,” Hurst says, “Even my own family.”

It wasn’t until almost two years into his pro baseball nightmare that Hurst honestly spoke to his family, first his father, about his real struggles—and that he then learned of theirs.

His father, a former Jacksonville University baseball player, still suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, that also began when he was in his 20s. “My dad told me his history, how he saw therapists, and how it helped him,” Hurst says. “My sister as well. I had no idea she had seen therapists all throughout high school.”

There were tragedies, too. Hurst’s uncle, Dennis, was an alcoholic and committed suicide. So did his cousin, D.J. Hurst. Both struggled with anxiety and depression. Becoming aware of the family history—some research suggests a majority of mental health disorders are inheritable, but they can be caused by other circumstances, too—was one of the first steps for Hurst to start addressing his own struggles.

“When I was younger, I didn’t really notice it. I thought it was just nerves,” Hurst says. “The older I got, I could see some things in myself, and some signs in my dad, but we really didn’t talk about it until I started going through it, where we felt like we could relate and we could talk about it.”

In Florida, as Hurst tried to figure out what was wrong with him, he visited eight different doctors and made more than 70 different appointments, spending thousands of dollars.

He didn’t really like talk therapy, but it helped. “I didn’t want to admit that I was weak,” Hurst says. “But the biggest thing is just talking to people, getting it out there, and addressing the issue.” He tried anything in addition, though, even hypnotism. That didn’t work, nor did another technique called tapping—on his forehead to unlock his mind.

A psychiatrist that the Pirates recommended diagnosed Hurst with attention deficit disorder, and recommended he take Prozac. Hurst balked at medication, primarily because he thought antidepressants had contributed to his cousin’s suicide, though Hurst understands that antidepressants have helped other people.

The Pirates’ sports psychologist suggested that Hurst keep a journal as a way to express his emotions. Of all the suggestions for addressing his mental pain, that’s the one that worked most for him. He wrote every day for two and a half years, “just to get it out, kind of like I was talking to somebody,” he says.

A sampling: “I do not know why but I feel as though everything has gone to shit,” Hurst wrote in mid-June 2014. “I feel nervous and unable to focus. I can’t get remotely close to obtaining the badass in me. And I have been doing a poor job at separating it on and off the field. I am lost, losing faith, and searching for answers and stability in my life. This is getting hard to face each day and to be honest I feel like giving up. Why me? What have I done to deserve these 2 years of confirmed hell?”

Hurst signed himself up for a third and final year of spring training to try to make things right in his baseball life one more time, afraid of disappointing the organization and his family. He tried and tried until he finally gave up after yet another unsuccessful throwing session. He and Elarton cried when Hurst couldn’t even have a simple catch. He’d had enough.

In May 2014, he called the Pirates’ director of minor league operations Larry Broadway to tell him he was quitting. “Well, I hope there’s something you can stick to in your life,” Broadway said. The words stung.

By this time, Hurst had already started to seriously think about playing football. He bulked up by 20 pounds lifting weights in the Pirates weight room, and had already called one of his childhood friends, Perry Orth, who was the backup quarterback at the University of South Carolina, to ask him how things were going there, and float the idea of joining him.

Hurst played only one year of football in high school, as a junior at Bolles, before his mom told him he should really decide between baseball and football, in case he got hurt in the latter, which would have prevented him from pursuing the former. And baseball, after all, was what everyone told him he would make millions playing, his natural talent for throwing a 95 mile-per-hour fastball and all. It was an ambitious pivot.

“You’re crazy,” Cathy Hurst told her son when he said he wanted to head to college and try to play football. But it was what he wanted to do. She now reflects back on the turning point and says, “It gave him hope.”

“I knew that I wasn’t ready to stop dreaming,” Hurst wrote in The Players’ Tribune. “As long as there was the smallest chance that I could keep playing sports, that was enough.”

Given Hurst’s size and speed—he could run the 40-yard dash in about 4.55 seconds—Orth convinced South Carolina assistant coach Steve Spurrier Jr. to consider giving Hurst a chance, and he was offered a walk-on spot.

“I always had a feeling deep down that I was going to be really good at football,” Hurst says. “I got burned out from baseball, going through that for three years. And maybe having baseball taken away from me fueled my fire for football. It made me pretty determined. That’s kind of why I play the way that I do.”

At South Carolina, Hurst played wide receiver for a year before a new coaching staff led by Will Muschamp took over and moved Hurst to tight end. He put his natural athleticism to work right away, setting program single-season records for catches (48) and receiving yards (616) by a tight end, and was the first sophomore to be named a captain in team history.

“The fear and anxiety I’d at one point associated with pitching had been replaced by a sense of joy and freedom I experienced on the football field,” Hurst says. “I felt in my element again.”

After catching 44 passes for 559 yards as junior, with one year of college eligibility remaining, he declared for the NFL draft, and was considered one of the best prospects at his position. He was a captain again and a first-team All-SEC pick. Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, a college football TV analyst, even named Hurst his “Freak of the Week,”—a compliment—during the season.

On draft day, he hugged his mom and dad hard after Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome called, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Hurst’s name on television as the 25th overall selection. The millions he thought he’d always make in baseball now came from a football team, and he was happier. His four-year contract guarantees him $10 million.

“As awful as it was for those three years in baseball,” Hurst says. “I’m kind of thankful I went through it, because it made me stronger, that’s for sure.”

The foot injury, a stress fracture which occurred at the end of an impressive preseason, set Hurst back and he’s essentially blended in this year as part of a four-man tight end rotation, but just this week coach John Harbaugh spoke with optimism about Hurst’s future, and his three catches last Sunday.

“His confidence has been good all along, but he was chomping at the bit for an opportunity to prove it,” Harbaugh said. “He made a couple big, tough catches out there, and you could see it in his emotions [that] it mattered to him. Like, ‘Finally, I had a chance to show what I can do here!’ That’s just going to make him even more hungry to do more. That’s what you want to see as a coach.”

About three months ago, on a warm mid-September Monday night, an off day for the Ravens, Hurst stood inside on the basketball court at Towson University’s SECU Arena, looking up in the bleachers at close to 500 of the school’s athletes, not at all much younger than his 25 years.

He was there as part of an event put on by the “We’re All A Little Crazy” Global Health Mental Alliance, which has visited college campuses nationwide to raise awareness and break the stigma associated with talking about mental health. Hurst is one of many athletes and celebrities to serve as ambassadors.

“How do you work through your depression and anxiety now?” Darren Rovell, the former ESPN sports business reporter and the event’s moderator, asked Hurst as part of a question-and-answer session.

He leans on his family—The Core Four, they call themselves—of his parents and sister. And his dog helps, too, a Border Collie. Hurst also talked about his journal, the pages and pages he began writing at rock-bottom in Florida.

Afterward, students asked questions and Hurst fielded one from a Towson softball player.

“How do you find time to write in a journal?”

Hurst, on this night his Viking hair tied back in a bun, looked right at her.

“You make time,” he said. “For me, that’s my therapy.”

So is football.

Back at the Ravens’ training facility after a mid-week practice, Hurst explains that for as nervous, anxious, and panicked he was on the pitcher’s mound all those years ago, he’s just as excited to wear a helmet and pads and run out onto M&T Bank Stadium’s field.

“I never had an issue in football with it,” Hurst says. “It’s two separate sports. Baseball is slow. When you’re a pitcher, you have the ball in your hand and you control the flow of the game. For me, tight end is different, and football is such a different sport. You get to run around and hit people, catch a pass. I feel like I can take out my aggression out there.”

When he returned home to Jacksonville after quitting baseball, broken-hearted, gut-wrenched, and unsure exactly where he was headed, Hurst had one question: “Can I have that picture?”

He was looking at a painting that had been in the family for decades. A Phoenix, the mythical bird that symbolized rebirth and renewed youth. A friend of Hurst’s parents painted it when they were all in high school together. The Phoenix was their mascot.

“Absolutely,” his mom said, and the painting now hangs in Hurst’s house in Baltimore. He walks by it after every practice and game. The Phoenix, rising again.

“It’s a reminder of how strong he was,” Cathy Hurst says, “that he could pull himself out of the embers, and have this opportunity in a whole new life.”