Originally Posted by
The Excellector
More than any of season in Ravens history, we've heard players speak of the brotherhood they have in this team.
It leads me to think about the personalities that were rid of by the team, that didn't seem to fit into the brotherhood. While you have some guys like Heap, Gregg and Johnson whom you wished could have enjoyed this Super Bowl title, there were plenty of others who might not have fit into this mold. Whether they were brought in during Harbaugh's time or leftovers from the Billick era.
Derrick Mason showed a lot of toughness on the field, even playing through a separated shoulder. However, his personality was not a fit for Baltimore. He did some good things for the community, but few will forget his complaining about not getting enough passes thrown his way in 2006 (The 13-3 season) while going without a single complaint the following year (The 5-11 season where he caught all of the passes). Few will forget the attitude that Mason showed, verbally and on the field, when Anquan Boldin arrived and started gelling with Flacco on the field. Few will forget Mason grabbing Joe by the facemask on the sideline, after Joe was late with a couple of throws, in the same game that Mason dropped an easy TD pass on a slant over the middle and another potential TD pass when he stumbled out of his break on one of his known sideline routes.
Adalius Thomas continued the line of Ravens linebackers envious of Ray Lewis. He went to New England to brag about how humble they were, while sporting a cheap 'Humble Pie' t-shirt. Along the way, he forgot that Rex fit his tweener style into a system and gave him an identity, which he lost in New England. He's now out of the league.
Bart Scott was jealous of Ray Lewis, because he felt like Ray got the credit for tackles when Scott blew up the hole to make the tackles possible. At first, you thought that he would handle leaving with grace. However, the minute he signed with the Jets, you sensed that would be far from the case.
Leron McClain was allowed the opportunity to run the football, behind one of the best run blocking offensive lines in the league and best FB in the league, in the fourth quarter to close out games. Man, did he let it go to his head. From then on, he was only concerned with being a RB. This was one time where the players actually backed Harbaugh and Ozzie's decision publicly. Suggs welcomed Leach with opened arms, saying, "He's a FB, he wants to be a FB". Rice even began to say something along the same lines, but caught himself and tried to reword his statement.
Jared Gaither. Orlando Brown was so frustrated with Jared Gaither that he tried to kill him. Enough said.
Chris McAlister, whose exit was made easier with injuries. McAlister will always be one of my favorite Ravens, but he was a jerk.
Dag, when you think about it, there really have been so many players who had to get out of here, before this team could truly feel united.
