Before the NFL’s international matchup between the Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday—the first regular season game to ever be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—a reporter asked Lamar Jackson whether the Cowboys, America’s Team, would have the crowd in Rio.
Jackson smiled and said, “Yes, but this is America. That’s Brazil. So we’ll see.”
Brazil answered him in purple. The Ravens Flock—our grassroots hometown crew that built the fanbase long before the league ever did—showed up in force, including fans who flew in from all over the world.
I was inside the Maracanã with a camera, up in the stands with the fans, shooting the crowd of more than 72,000 as much as the game itself. For those three hours, everyone was on the edge of their seat. In true Rio spirit, the energy felt more like that of a Brazilian football match than an NFL game—the kind the Maracanã bowl was built for, with nonstop chanting, booing, and going at each other across the aisles.
Every Derrick Henry carry, the place erupted. Every time Jackson pulled it down and ran, it came apart. Baltimore would score, and you could feel the roar coming off the concrete in your chest. Then Dallas would answer, and the whole thing flipped again.
It continued until the last second. Dallas tied it 31-31 with seven seconds on the clock. Then, second-year Ravens kicker Tyler Loop lined up from 56 yards to secure the win. When it went through, the stadium detonated. Helmets off, the guys stormed the field to hype Loop up.
And then, the off-the-field moment I keep coming back to: Jackson ran into the tunnel and hugged the Maracanã’s own staff. The stadium workers standing back there doing their jobs—every single one of them. Then, he ran back out to the crowd.
As you can see in my shots below, Ravens Brazil did not just show up for The Flock. They were The Flock.
