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 Objavljeno: 18 Jan 2019 08:49 Naslov sporočila: The Firemen of the Baltimore Ravens The year was 1992. |
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The NFL had announced that two new franchises would be added to the league as expansion clubs. Numerous cities put their name in the hat Womens Denzel Ward Jersey , but the list was whittled down to five possibilities: Charlotte, St. Louis, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Memphis. St. Louis once had the Rams and Baltimore the Colts, while Jacksonville and Memphis each had several franchises in other pro football leagues. The front runners initially were Baltimore, St. Louis and Charlotte. Richardson Sports headed the Charlotte group which was eventually awarded the first team in October of 1993. Baltimore had a trio of ownership groups and was the most likely to get the second franchise. A $200 million rent-free stadium was already approved along with the team name called the “Baltimore Bombers.” In an upset, the owners voted 26-2 to award the second expansion team to Jacksonville. That left the City of Baltimore still without an NFL club. In 1995, Art Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, was romanced by numerous leaders of Baltimore and with the allure of huge profits, he agreed to move the beloved Browns to Maryland. Fired was head coach Bill Belichick and his coaching staff. The Browns were getting ready to move to Baltimore but only had a partial workforce in place in their new city as the team relocated into the Colts’ old offices in Owings Mills, Maryland. The movers were local, and several were full-time firemen who worked a side job to make extra funds for their families. Initially, these men were hired as part-time employees until a full-time staff could be compiled. The Browns were soon renamed the “Ravens” after Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven. Today, the Ravens employ 16 firefighters – some of which are retired in that profession. These men do a long list of duties for the franchise. For one, they handle all of the team and fan mail. It is estimated that hundreds of pieces of mail arrive at every NFL team every day. A large percentage of that is to individual players with letters and memorabilia sent to those athletes. When Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers was the backup to Brett Favre, he once got a letter along with a football card of Favre. The letter asked Rodgers to get Favre to sign the card and return it since the fan could not get a response from Favre himself. Most teams provide shelves or cubbyholes in which fan mail is placed. It is up to each player to collect his mail. While most players take the mail home, some designate a third party to pick the mail up while others get their mail shipped to a location - usually their off-season home. Some players are good with their mail while others simply ignore it and place the boxes into a corner and never bother. Others wait until their bye-week to go through their mail while a good percentage simply postpone this duty until the season is concluded. Letters are only a percentage of the mail these firemen deal with. It is not uncommon for a player to get boxes which usually contain mini-helmets http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/jc-tretter-jersey , footballs and magazines asking players to autograph and return. Helping to keep supplies in their place is another duty. Anything from toilet paper to cups to bottled water to copy paper has to be placed in their respective spot. While at the facility, they also run the occasional errand if needed. Another duty of the firemen is the player’s laundry. Every game-used jersey, socks and pants along with towels are taken care of every week. Also on this list are the practice uniforms and workout clothes the players and coaches use every day. Each player and coach has their own laundry bag with their name on a tag. When something needs to be washed, they simply throw their bag into a daily laundry bin which is returned clean the following day in their locker. Any repairs to garments are also handled by the firemen who sew and stitch whatever needs to be done. While those duties appear to be work, one aspect of the firemen’s day with the Ravens certainly has to be fun. Whenever needed, these men help out in practice sessions. They assist with down markers, retrieve footballs and catch field goal attempts. They bring out practice pads and whatever other equipment is needed for that day’s practice. At least half a dozen firemen assist with each practice. Still another function that these firemen perform is with the team’s equipment. Before every game - home or away - they pack up the uniforms, shoes, shoulder pads, socks, uniform playing pads, helmets, chin straps, mouth guards, footballs and player equipment bags. All of this is packed into huge stack-able metal containers and then loaded onto trucks for either the stadium or the airport. At home game days, these same men help players get ready for the game with assistance with their pads and jerseys. Of course with a road game, these firemen help unload all of the equipment and begin a new set of laundry. Currently, the franchise has 16 firefighters on staff http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/joel-bitonio-jersey , five are retired while the other 11 are still full-time firemen. They usually work 24-hour shifts with 48-hours off until their next shift at the firehouse. This allows them some free time to help with the Ravens while making some extra money. And although they enjoy their time with their hometown NFL team, their focus is still fighting fires in the Baltimore metro area. Barry Shuck is a pro football historical writer and a member of the Professional Football Researcher’s Association. The joy shows on Marvin Lewis' face. The Bengals coach is back to doing what he loves 鈥?running a defense.Can his return to his football roots save his team from another ignominious season? Will the 16th-year head coach get burned out doing two demanding jobs? And can he really make much of a difference on a defense that's sapped by injuries and depending upon youth?Those questions will start to get answers on Sunday when the Bengals (5-4) play at Baltimore (4-5) , the place where Lewis led one of the NFL's greatest defenses to a Super Bowl title in the 2000 season."I've got it," Lewis said, with a reassuring smile.For the second straight season, the Bengals have plunged into a coaching makeover at midstream. They fired offensive coordinator Ken Zampese after an 0-2 start last season. The offense got better, but still finished last in the NFL as the Bengals failed to make the playoffs.This time, it's the other side of the ball getting a severe makeover in mid-November, with no margin for error in the AFC North. The Bengals need to win Sunday in Baltimore and then at home against Cleveland the following week to keep themselves in playoff position heading into December."Us and Baltimore at this point are where we need this win," receiver Tyler Boyd said. "It's a huge game to make or break a team."Sensing his team is running out of time, Lewis fired defensive coordinator Teryl Austin on Monday and brought back close friend Hue Jackson to help him run the defense. Few try to balance running a defense and coaching a team because of the exhausting workload during the week, let alone the challenges on game day."Again, there's a lot," Lewis acknowledged.For now, the 60-year-old coach seems energized by the role he's carved out for himself. He enjoyed preparing the week's defensive plan at home on Monday night, just like old times."It's fun, I'll tell you that," Lewis said. "It's exciting for me."Players are curious about how things will change on Sunday. So far www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com , Lewis has tried to focus on basics after players struggled to execute Austin's defense. He's also pulled out some plays from previous years and added them to the week's package.The best defensive coordinators are known for quickly adapting during games and finding ways to blunt whatever an offense throws at them. Nobody knows how Lewis will use the defensive plays differently on Sunday."I've never been under the reins of Marvin Lewis as a defensive coordinator, so it's going to be pretty interesting," defensive end Carlos Dunlap said. "He's not going to change the defense. It's just going to be called differently. He's going to put his twist on it."Lewis' defense in Baltimore was one of the best of all-time, allowing only 165 points 鈥?an NFL record 鈥?on its way to the Super Bowl title. The Bengals' defense is one of the worst of all time , on pace to give up a league record in yards. Cincinnati has allowed at least 500 yards in three straight games, a first in the Super Bowl era, and is coming off a 51-14 loss to the Saints.It's also severely depleted by injuries. Four linebackers 鈥?Vontaze Burfict, Preston Brown, Nick Vigil and Vincent Rey 鈥?are dealing with injuries, along with cornerbacks Darqueze Dennard and Dre Kirkpatrick.Jackson sat in the back of the defensive room while Lewis unveiled the defensive game plan on Wednesday with a PowerPoint presentation that included a font so small that some players had trouble reading it on the screen. Instead, the followed along on their iPads."We all just kind of squinted and tried to figure it out," linebacker Preston Brown said. "It was kind of funny."Why didn't anyone point out the problem?"If we'd won the past couple of games, we would have said something," Brown said. "But we've given up 500 yards. We're going to be quiet until we make a couple of plays."INJURY UPDATEBrown (knee) and Vigil (knee) were among seven players held out of practice in Thursday. Burfict (hip), Rey (groin), Dennard (shoulder) and Kirkpatrick (concussion) were limited. Running back Joe Mixon also was limited with a sore knee. Receiver A.J. Green will miss his second straight game with a toe injury. Custom Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys
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