| Baltimore Ravens | |||||
| Established 1996 Play in {{{stadium}}}, Baltimore, Maryland | |||||
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| League/Conference affiliations | |||||
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National Football League (1996–present)
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| Current uniform | |||||
| Team colors | Purple, Black, and Gold | ||||
| Mascot | Edgar, Allan, and Poe | ||||
| Personnel | |||||
| Owner(s): | Steve Bisciotti | ||||
| Team President | |||||
| General Manager | Ozzie Newsome | ||||
| Head Coach | John Harbaugh | ||||
| Team history | |||||
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| Championships | |||||
| League Championships (2)
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Conference Championships (2)
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Division Championships (4)
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| Home fields | |||||
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The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They are currently champions of the Northern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Ravens have won two Super Bowl titles, Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 against the New York Giants, and Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 against the San Francisco 49ers. The team was named after Maryland native Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven".
Team History
During the 1995 season, Art Modell, owner of the then-Cleveland Browns, decided to move the team to Baltimore. This created a controversy in Cleveland, that was settled with the NFL determining that the franchise could move, but the Browns name, color, and franchise records would remain with Cleveland. The team was, for all intents and purposes, an 'expansion team'.
Ted Marchibroda was hired as the first coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Marchibroda was well known for coaching the former Baltimore Team, the Colts.
Championships
The 2000 season saw the Ravens defense set a new NFL record in holding opposing teams to 165 total points. Inspired by linebacker Ray Lewis, who was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Baltimore won their last seven games of the regular season, finishing 12–4 as a wild-card team to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Ravens defeated the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans, and Oakland Raiders on their way to reach Super Bowl XXXV.
Baltimore then went to Tampa for Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants, cruising to a 34–7 win for their first championship in franchise history. The Ravens recorded four sacks, forced five turnovers, one of which was an interception returned for a touchdown by Duane Starks. Ray Lewis was named the Super Bowl MVP for his leadership, as the defense allowed only 152 yards and no points (New York's only points were from a kick-off touchdown return).
Logo controversy
Baltimore Ravens logo from 1996-1998
Bouchat's original sketch
The team's first helmet logo, used from 1996 through 1998, featured raven wings outspread from a shield displaying a letter B framed by the word Ravens overhead and a cross bottony underneath. The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict that the logo infringed on a copyright retained by Frederick E. Bouchat, an amateur artist and security guard in Maryland, but that he was entitled to only three dollars in damages from the NFL.
Bouchat had submitted his design to the Maryland Stadium Authority by fax after learning that Baltimore was to acquire an NFL team. He was not credited for the design when the logo was announced. Bouchat sued the team, claiming to be the designer of the emblem; representatives of the team asserted that the image had been designed independently. The court ruled in favor of Bouchat, noting that team owner Modell had access to Bouchat's work. Bouchat's fax had gone to John Moag, the Maryland Stadium Authority chairman, whose office was located in the same building as Modell's.[1] Bouchat ultimately was not awarded monetary compensation in the damages phase of the case.[2]
The Baltimore Sun ran a poll showing three designs for new helmet logos. Fans participating in the poll expressed a preference for a raven's head in profile over other designs. Art Modell announced that he would honor this preference but still wanted a letter B to appear somewhere in the design. The new Ravens logo featured a raven's head in profile with the letter superimposed. The secondary logo is a shield that honors Baltimore's history of heraldry. Alternating Calvert and Crossland emblems (seen also in the flag of Maryland and the flag of Baltimore) are interlocked with stylized letters B and R.
References
- ↑ FindLaw for Legal Professionals - Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code
- ↑ Bouchat v. Balt. Ravens Football Club, 346 F.3d 514, 519 (4th Cir. 2003), cert. denied 541 U.S. 1042 (2004) ("The damages trial was conducted over a period of six days, from July 17 to 24, 2002. On July 23, 2002, at the close of the evidence, the jury was asked to decide whether the Defendants had proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Non-Excluded Merchandise Revenues were attributable entirely to factors other than the Defendants' infringement of Bouchat's copyright. If the jury found that they were not, then it was charged to decide the percentage of the Non-Excluded Merchandise Revenues attributable to factors other than the infringement. After a full day of deliberations, the jury answered the first question in the affirmative, thereby denying Bouchat any monetary recovery.")