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Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
:word
58 Reggie Givens LB 6'0 234 Penn State Stallions he did back up O.J.Brigance though :D
58 George Jamison LB 6'1 226 Cincinnati Stars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jamison after us played 12 years with the Lions and some at KC
Boulware is has to be. As you say Doom is not close to the resume here that Peter left behind, if we take his whole career, Boulware still edges him out 292 tackles vs 217 but when we consider that has been done as a Raven.....at one point of my life I was exactly Pi years old
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07-17-2015, 02:40 PM #230
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07-18-2015, 07:38 AM #231Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
So lemme guess on 57 ....
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07-18-2015, 11:14 AM #233
Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
NUMBER 57
If CJ Mosley signs a second contract with the Ravens, I predict he will eventually hang up his cleats as Baltimore's all-time #57. But we are not there yet.
Bart Scott was an undrafted free agent in 2002. The team was dismantled after the 2001 season following a failed bid at repeating as champions. The roster was stocked with youth, most of whom over-achieved, and none more so that Bart. He was a special teams contributor for three years before cracking his way into the starting lineup in 2005. He was part of the great 2006 defense, and contributed its signature play, as immortalized in HR's picture above. If there is one Ravens play that Ravens fans could watch on constant loop, that is it. Bart got a whopping 9.5 sacks in that wonderful 2006 year (a number he never came close to again) and rode his performance to Honolulu. He was a solid complement to Ray before bolting to join Rex and the Jets in 2009.
So is he a slam dunk at number 57? Not so fast. While Bart started for the Ravens for four years, center Ken Mendenhall spent an entire decade playing football in Baltimore. He joined the team in 1971, cracked the starting lineup in 1973, and started a franchise-record 118 consecutive games. (That record stands as a Baltimore Colts record; Peyton Manning since broke it for the other team.) An All-American at Oklahoma, Mendenhall anchored the Colts lines throughout the 70s until his retirement in 1980. The Colts line of the mid-70s was outstanding, both run-blocking for Lydell Mitchell, and pass-blocking for Bert Jones. And Mendenhall was at the heart of it all.
So this is actually a pretty close race. A four-year starter with one outstanding Pro Bowl season, or a steady anchor that started for eight seasons. Both players played on great teams; neither one earned a ring. It's a tough decision, and I have to go with... neither.
Our number 57 did not earn this honor between the lines. He only played a season for the Ravens, and then only as a special teamer on the 2000 Super Bowl winners. He does have a unique football accomplishment: he wore #57 winning a football championship for two different teams in two different leagues in the same city. (He was also a all-star linebacker for the Grey Cup winning CFL Stallions of 1995.) I imagine he is the only player ever to have done that.
But it is his impact off the field, his courageous battle with ALS, the inspiration he gives to the current Ravens each and every day, that earns OJ Brigance the title as Baltimore football's greatest #57. I realize some may disagree, so I'll provide a bit of rationale. As you know, I didn't start this list, I just picked up for ActualSpamBot (Still praying everything's okay, Spammy.) There is no official criteria. And if this thread was titled "Baltimore's Greatest Football Players" instead of "Baltimore Football's Greatest" I would have gone with one of the other guys (probably Mendenhall, based on longevity, but that's another conversation.) Given the title however, I decided today was an opportunity to take a broader look at what 'greatness' means. Long-lasting. Impactful. As big an 'impact' as Bart made on Ben, OJ makes a bigger one on a whole lot of people just by getting himself to Owings Mills every morning. If you don't believe me, watch this video and tell me what you think.
So flame on, but I'm sticking by my pick: #57, OJ Brigance."Chin up, chest out."
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Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
Flame on?
I was fame on ;)
57 Champion Stallions O.J.Brigance :)
57 Ron Crosby LB Baltimore Stars Champion
Ronald Crosby (born March 2, 1955) is a former American football linebacker who played six seasons in the National Football League with the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 1977 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University and attended South Allegheny Middle/Senior High School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.[1] Crosby was also a member of the Pittsburgh Maulers and Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League.
http://newsok.com/of-character-each-...rticle/5413722
held the Colts franchise record for consecutive starts with 115 games. That record lasted about 25 years until it was broken by Peyton Manning, then of the Indianapolis Colts.
After the Colts' 1980 season, he retired from professional football with the distinction of having "started 118 consecutive games for the Colts, beginning in the fourth game of 1973 and continuing through the last game of 1980. He could be the best Center to play in Baltimoreat one point of my life I was exactly Pi years old
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07-18-2015, 12:09 PM #235Pro Bowl Poster
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Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
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07-18-2015, 03:13 PM #236Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
Totally forgot OJ wore 57.
Much better pick. And I feel like an idiot for not remembering that.
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07-18-2015, 03:38 PM #237
Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
OJ for sure.
56 big ed?
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07-18-2015, 03:42 PM #238
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07-19-2015, 11:00 AM #239
Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
NUMBER 56
Since WrongBaldy brought it up, how good was Edgerton "Big Ed" Hartwell? A three-year starter with the Ravens, Ed became the poster boy for the litany of defenders who were successful role players with the Ravens, but faltered when they went elsewhere to be "The Guy." Ed was part of the 2002 youth movement, and stepped in next to Ray when the Ravens converted to a 3-4 scheme. He racked up 105 tackles in his first year as a starter for that overachieving team. He was clearly the best Raven to wear that number (over Josh Bynes and Tavares Gooden) and was probably the best MLB Ray partnered with in the 3-4 scheme after Bart Scott. (Which was actually in a 46 scheme.) But was he Baltimore's best 56?
Another 3-year starter played with the Colts from '70-'72, earning a ring in Super Bowl V. In addition to having a great football name, Ray May had a solid nine-year NFL career that started with the Steelers and ended with the Broncos. In between, he played his prime years in Baltimore, where his defenses pitched seven shutouts in three seasons. He was a co-captain of the '71 defense that was #2 in the NFL, and the third part of an outstanding linebacking corps that included Ted Hendricks and Mike Curtis. He paid the price with his body, as the 70-year-old's legs and hips are now completely shot.
Then there's Ed Simonini. Simonini was the Colts' leading tackler in the waning years, from '77-'80. Listed as 6'0 (he probably wasn't that tall) and 210 lbs (he probably did actually play linebacker in the NFL at 210 lbs.), Simonini came out of Texas A&M in the 3rd round of the '76 draft. From A Sun article:
Simonini's best game: a 31-26 defeat of New England in 1979 in which he saved the day on the final two plays. With the Patriots threatening, Simonini sacked quarterback Steve Grogan on a rollout at the 2. Then he batted down a pass by Grogan to end the game.
In trying to pick among these three, I have to go back to the original question: how good was Ed Hartwell? He flamed out in Atlanta, but that was largely due to injuries that limited him to 13 games in two seasons. He compiled some amazing numbers in 2002, but he was filling in for Ray (who missed 11 games that year) and playing in a Mike Nolan defense designed to funnel everything into his lap. I remember Ed as a sure tackler, but not an impact player. Injuries aside, the general consensus when he left for Atlanta was that he was more of a system product, and not a guy who can be the focal point of a defense.
I remember Simonini as overachiever, not an impact player. He wins the longevity award among the three, but not by much, and was the least talented player. So we're going to give this one to Ray May. He was a defensive captain, which says something about him, and his team achievements put him over the top. His was the best defense of the three, and he has something the other two don't: a Super Bowl ring. And in a race this close, that is a differentiator for #56, Ray May."Chin up, chest out."
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07-20-2015, 09:00 AM #240
Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.
NUMBER 55
This is one of those numbers where there is no suspense. But there were a few who wore it well enough to merit mention:
-- Jackie Burkett was a six-year Colt, who was largely a backup in the early 60s.
-- Barry Krauss was a first-round pick who had a very impressive 10 year career wearing the horseshoes. Unfortunately, he spent half of it wearing them in the wrong city.
--Jamie Sharper was a five-year starter and a key member of establishing the Ravens defensive tradition. He got one of the teams four picks in the SBXXXV victory, and he would be our pick here, except...
in 2003, the Ravens tried desperately to trade up in the draft to get Byron Leftwich to be their franchise quarterback. But due to some alleged shady telephone maneuverings, they got blocked out of that trade and ended up getting stuck with Kyle Boller. Well, that's not exactly true. They got stuck with Kyle Boller AND Terrell Suggs.
The NCAA's sack leader fell in the draft thanks to a poor 40 time. Brian Billick astutely pointed out that that would not be a problem unless they started lining up QBs 40 yards behind the line of scrimmage. And over the past dozen seasons, he has made many NFL QBs wish they had done just that.
Suggs came into the league as a rush specialist to spell a failing Peter Boulware, and took down the QB 12 times that year en-route to Defensive Rookie of the Year. His 106.5 sacks put him 24th all time. If he keeps up the double-digit sack pace of his past five seasons, and plays out his current Ravens contract, he would get to the top 5 all time and punch his ticket for Canton.
But even if he retired tomorrow, he has already punched his ticket to the Ring of Honor. He is a five-time Pro Bowler, 2011 DPOY, and Super Bowl XLVII Champion. In addition to being the greatest in Baltimore to wear 55, he may also end up being the last: #55, Terrell Suggs."Chin up, chest out."
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