Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

[ravensnhokies]

I think the game that typifies Vinny was the last game of our 2000 SB regular season. Vinny was playing against us for the Jets, and he shredded us. He actually cost us the #1 defensive ranking (yards) that year. He threw for 481 yards and two TDs, and moved up and down the field at will against the greatest defense in NFL history.

And of course, he lost. Why? Because he also threw three picks. One of them was vintage Testaverde: 24 seconds before halftime, at the Baltimore 8 yard line, Vinny throws late into the flat, picked off by CMac, who takes it all the way back. He would later seal the Ravens victory by fumbling with two minutes left.

Vinny is number nine in passing yards in the entire history of the NFL, and the eight guys above him are all either in the Hall or will be. But he could never get out of his own way.

Jay Cutler is always compared to Brett Favre b/c he is a gunslinger, but when has Jay ever had MVP years like Brett did in the mid 90s.... Never. I think a better comparison to Jay is Vinny. Awesome set of QB tools. Can fit any pass into the smallest of windows. But this was/is their curse... too much overconfidence in their arms and as a result... stupid INT. Both racked/rack up stats, good and bad. Its the too much bad that made/makes them both perennial losers.

[HotInHere]

NUMBER 10

Which failed backup quarterback will it be? Stoney Case, Kordell Stewart, Troy Smith, Keith Wenning, and Eric Zeier all chose this unfortunate number. Even the Baltimore Colts got into the act with the greatest trainwreck of them all: number 10, Art Schlichter.

We can safely eliminate Stewart and Wenning, who never threw a pass in Baltimore. And we can eliminate Case, who we wish had never thrown a pass in Baltimore (50.3 passer rating in his four starts, with 3 TDs and 8 INTs.)

Comparing Smith and Zeier is an interesting exercise. Both were mid-round picks (5th and 3rd respectively) who at some point were considered candidates to take over starting QB duties. Zeier got more of a shot at it, starting seven games over three years. But Smith got to contribute in other ways, as part of the infamous “Suggs Package” – the Ravens version of the Wildcat.

In the end, Smith’s intangibles cannot compete with Zeier’s actual quarterback skill. Zeier still holds the Ravens club record with 175 consecutive passes without a pick. His 87.5 career passing rating in Baltimore is also still tops (ahead of Joe’s 84.8.) Zeier played more, and played better, here in Baltimore than Troy Smith, and that’s why he is our all-time number 10.

[Rxdoxx]

10 so weak I'm bringing out a curveball ---- Futbol

The greatest Futbol player in Baltimore wearing #10 is
Srboljub Stamenković AKA Stan
1983-1988 Baltimore Blast (indoor) Games 179 goals(130) here

Stamenković scored 231 career goals and tallied 311 assists for a total of 542 career points. He is sometimes referred to as the greatest player in MISL history. In 1984 he led the league with 34 goals. His unique dribbling was perfect for the indoor game. At times he made the ball look like it was on a string. He could also find a streaking player, and thread the needle behind his back, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Stamenkovic died after injuring his head in a fall on a sidewalk in Užice, just three days before his fortieth birthday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srboljub_Stamenković

MISL Championship 1984
I was at the championship final :happyanim


Stars
10 Tim Riordan QB 6-0-182 22 Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Riordan
Stallions
10 Shawn Jones QB 6'1 200 Georgia Tech backed up Tracy Ham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_...ican_football)

[HotInHere]

10 so weak I'm bringing out a curveball ---- Futbol

The greatest Futbol player in Baltimore wearing #10 is
Srboljub Stamenković AKA Stan
1983-1988 Baltimore Blast (indoor) Games 179 goals(130) here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srboljub_Stamenković

MISL Championship 1984
I was at the championship final :happyanim


Stars
10 Tim Riordan QB 6-0-182 22 Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Riordan
Stallions
10 Shawn Jones QB 6'1 200 Georgia Tech backed up Tracy Ham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_...ican_football)

I was at that game too. Loved The Magician!

[ravensnhokies]

Blast could never beat the damn Sockers though, which frustrated the hell out of me. SD Sockers won 8 out of 9 years when they were in the MISL, which is incredible. The Blast's only MISL championship in 84, the Sockers did not play in the league that year.

[Rxdoxx]

I was at that game too. Loved The Magician!

You know if we didn't have a lock for #5, I'd also be pushing the Blast player behind Stan in the picture
you were there, shouldn't have to give you his name :respect
In case your memory dimmed a little, we scored 10 goals in that blowout (Joey Fink scored 4 goals in under 5 minutes totalling 5 goals for the game.)
http://retrobaltimore.tumblr.com/pos...ionship-sports

[Reed 'Em and Heap]

Vinny suffers from being part of a crappy team, Jacoby benefits from being part of a great team. I see both sides of the argument. Taken just on their individual contribution, Vinny wins IMO. But no one will ever show highlights of him playing as a Raven. JJ set NFL records for return that are highlight worthy, then there's the pass in Denver. I'll call it a tie and move on.

Not to beat a dead horse, since we're already two numbers beyond this, but Jacoby did not benefit from being a part of a great team. The Super Bowl 47 team was in many ways weaker than the 2010 and 2011 squads, they (and by "they" I mean "Joe") just got hot at the right time. As another poster said, we may not be in Denver that night without Jacoby's regular season contributions, and his three TDs in the playoffs and Super Bowl provided Ravens fans with a lifetime of memories. I like Vinny, but to me the all-time No. 12 is Jones.

[Bigfish]

Not to beat a dead horse, since we're already two numbers beyond this, but Jacoby did not benefit from being a part of a great team. The Super Bowl 47 team was in many ways weaker than the 2010 and 2011 squads, they (and by "they" I mean "Joe") just got hot at the right time. As another poster said, we may not be in Denver that night without Jacoby's regular season contributions, and his three TDs in the playoffs and Super Bowl provided Ravens fans with a lifetime of memories. I like Vinny, but to me the all-time No. 12 is Jones.

JJ is a good choice, no argument there. If Jacoby played with Vinny his kick returns would mean little to nothing, they were a 4-12 and 6-9-1 team. If Vinny had a chance to play on a playoff team, he would have been remembered more fondly. That was really my point.

[HotInHere]

NUMBER 9

The kicker or the quarterback?

For one glorious year in 2006, Steve McNair temporarily ended the Ravens’ years of wandering in the quarterback desert. I remember his first drive of his first preseason game. After driving down the field, it looked like we would once again settle for a Matt Stover field goal. But finding no one open, McNair took off for the end zone, and bowled over two defenders to score, letting everyone know that this would no longer be the same old Ravens offense. If not for an offensive collapse in the playoffs against Indianapolis, “Mac9” would have played in the AFC Championship here in Baltimore, and he might well be christened Baltimore’s all-time number 9.

But McNair has been passed by an undrafted-free-agent, opera-singing, Matthew-McConaughey-imitating kicker out of Texas. Justin Tucker was karma’s reward for watching Billy Cundiff shank a 32-yard field goal attempt in the AFC Championship game in New England. Coming in to camp the next year, he played Cundiff in a game of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” and outright stole the job from the incumbent. Since then all he has done is win a Super Bowl championship, become the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker, and regularly drop jaws by booting 65-yarders in practice. Nearly the only time he misses any more is from extreme distance in swirling wind. Like Matt Stover before him, when Tucker trots out on the field, you can feel pretty safe heading in to the restroom.

Our all-time number 9, great and only getting better: Justin Tucker.

[Reed 'Em and Heap]

NUMBER 9

The kicker or the quarterback?

For one glorious year in 2006, Steve McNair temporarily ended the Ravens’ years of wandering in the quarterback desert. I remember his first drive of his first preseason game. After driving down the field, it looked like we would once again settle for a Matt Stover field goal. But finding no one open, McNair took off for the end zone, and bowled over two defenders to score, letting everyone know that this would no longer be the same old Ravens offense. If not for an offensive collapse in the playoffs against Indianapolis, “Mac9” would have played in the AFC Championship here in Baltimore, and he might well be christened Baltimore’s all-time number 9.

But McNair has been passed by an undrafted-free-agent, opera-singing, Matthew-McConaughey-imitating kicker out of Texas. Justin Tucker was karma’s reward for watching Billy Cundiff shank a 32-yard field goal attempt in the AFC Championship game in New England. Coming in to camp the next year, he played Cundiff in a game of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” and outright stole the job from the incumbent. Since then all he has done is win a Super Bowl championship, become the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker, and regularly drop jaws by booting 65-yarders in practice. Nearly the only time he misses any more is from extreme distance in swirling wind. Like Matt Stover before him, when Tucker trots out on the field, you can feel pretty safe heading in to the restroom.

Our all-time number 9, great and only getting better: Justin Tucker.

Football fans as a whole will remember the Mile High Miracle, but Ravens fans will always remember two other plays that take a backseat but are no less important. The 3rd and 13 throw to Pitta in OT, and Tucker's game-winner. A rookie, in zero degrees, in double OT, on the road, against the heavily-favored No. 1 seed, with a trip to the AFCCG on the line--the only thing colder than the night was JT's blood.

But I will always have fond memories of that 2006 season, marred by a truly heartwrenchingly ugly loss that brought a premature end to what might have been the most talented roster in Ravens history. RIP Air McNair.

[Rxdoxx]

Stallions 9 Charles Anthony DH 6'2 195 Nevada-Las Vegas is no comparison to Mac9 or Tucker

[Gabrosin]

Football fans as a whole will remember the Mile High Miracle, but Ravens fans will always remember two other plays that take a backseat but are no less important. The 3rd and 13 throw to Pitta in OT, and Tucker's game-winner. A rookie, in zero degrees, in double OT, on the road, against the heavily-favored No. 1 seed, with a trip to the AFCCG on the line--the only thing colder than the night was JT's blood.

But I will always have fond memories of that 2006 season, marred by a truly heartwrenchingly ugly loss that brought a premature end to what might have been the most talented roster in Ravens history. RIP Air McNair.

I haven't forgotten that throw to Pitta. I was just about as low before that throw as I was before the Miracle. If we punt there, the Broncos are basically already in field goal range. We lose. And Flacco placed a beauty. Everyone who goes on about the Miracle being a dumb luck heave... just show that play right behind it. No reasonable person can bash anything about that one.

Tucker is easily the pick here. Watching McNair fail to deliver in a home playoff game where we held the great Peyton Manning without a touchdown simply can't be erased. Think about how different NFL history looks if we just drive for a TD near the end of that game rather than allowing the sealing fifth FG the other way. Peyton has no ring, Billick maybe has two, we probably never hire John Harbaugh... the butterfly effect is incredible.