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  1. #61
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot View Post
    Number 90 defensive end Rob Burnett.



    An original Raven, Rob came to Baltimore from Cleveland during the 1995 move. Originally drafted in the 5th round of the 1990 NFL draft, Burnett would leave the game after 14 years, 202 games, 508 tackles, and 73 sacks.



    A quiet and humble man, Burnett served as a mentor and leader for young guns like Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware back during the less glorious early years of our franchise's history. And that leadership paid off as he helped shape a group of men into the NFL's most dominate defense ever during the 2000 Championship season.



    A punishing pass rusher, Rob attacked the QB with pure power rather than speed or deception. His bull rush could be overwhelming at times, especially so during our Championship run when he put up 10.5 sacks and countless run stuffs for lost yardage.



    Burnett also had an impact off the field for Baltimore. His close relationship with Art Modell was part of what inspired the long standing Ravens tradition of treating teammates and coaches as extended family rather than business assets. This tradition is stronger than ever today, even with Rob retired and Art passed on, and its part of what makes Baltimore so successful. It's one thing to play for yourself, or your next contract, or for personal glory. It's quite another to take the field every week with men you think of as brothers.



    A true Raven, Rob stood out in a crowded field of possible players to put here. The worst number 90 to ever suit up for Baltimore was still a multi year Pro Bowl special teamer. He gets the nod because he helped shape the very core of how the Ravens operate. His relationship with ownership and his teammates transcended professional respect. He made the Ravens a family.
    +1 million

    Love having a family connection to the Ravens!
    Master of 'Gifs for dummies'

    "The world called for wetwork, and we answered. No greater good. No just cause." - Kazuhira Miller





  2. #62
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    Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    89 might be our first real debate.

    I know who I'd pick. And he didn't wear purple.
    Last edited by HoustonRaven; 06-16-2015 at 07:40 AM.





  3. #63

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

    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRaven View Post
    89 might be our first real debate.

    I know who I'd pick. And he didn't wear purple.
    I have to agree!





  4. #64
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRaven View Post
    89 might be our first real debate.

    I know who I'd pick. And he didn't wear purple.
    I'm drawing a blank. Who?
    Master of 'Gifs for dummies'

    "The world called for wetwork, and we answered. No greater good. No just cause." - Kazuhira Miller





  5. #65
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    Houston, TX Y'all
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dade View Post
    I'm drawing a blank. Who?
    I'll give you a hint. He's in the RoH.





  6. #66

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

    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRaven View Post
    I'll give you a hint. He's in the RoH.
    HOF too.





  7. #67

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

    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRaven View Post
    89 might be our first real debate.

    I know who I'd pick. And he didn't wear purple.
    I still see Redding over Tyson @ #93, with all due respect to the OP.





  8. #68
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    Blair (aka Bel Air)
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dade View Post
    I'm drawing a blank. Who?
    You can pick up a few pounds eating at his namesake establishments.





  9. #69
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRaven View Post
    I'll give you a hint. He's in the RoH.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ngata Da Vida View Post
    You can pick up a few pounds eating at his namesake establishments.
    Ah...gotcha. Gino.
    Master of 'Gifs for dummies'

    "The world called for wetwork, and we answered. No greater good. No just cause." - Kazuhira Miller





  10. #70
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    As predicted by HR, the first man to make our list without ever playing in purple is Baltimore Colts Defensive End, number 89 Gino "The Giant" Marchetti.



    I never got to see Gino play live. He retired nearly 18 years before I was born. Everything I know about him I know from my father, who talks about Gino the way people my age talk about superheros.

    He told me Gino was a tough old sunovabitch, that he refused medical treatment for a broken ankle in the Greatest Game Ever Played because he felt that his teammates needed him to be on their sideline. He told me how Gino went 9 years without missing a game back when sports medicine consisted of taping it up and a couple belts of scotch in the locker room afterward. He told me how Gino made grown men look like children against him.



    But Gino's toughness went deeper than football. He enlisted in the Army straight out of high school, he fought with the 69th Infantry at the Battle of the Bulge. He drew on his wartime experience often after he got home, never allowing pain or difficulty to slow him down.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gino Marchetti
    When you go through training in the Army, sometimes you think, "Geez, I wish I could go home and quit." But you can't quit. You're there, and no way in the world can you leave. I took that mindset and put it toward football.

    I can remember, as a player at the University of San Francisco, we trained in Corning, Calif., one time. Those were two of the worst months of my life. It was 113 degrees, and I kept saying, "I don't need this." I was on the verge of quitting, but I didn't -- and as I look back on it, it was because of the training I received in the Army.


    Gino was a man of principle as well as courage. When his undefeated college team was invited to play in the Orange Bowl on the condition that they not allow the black players on the team to participate, Gino led a players' vote to turn down the invite rather than betray his teammates.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gino Marchetti
    “It came back that we would not get invited to a Bowl game unless we left the black players home. We had six or seven on the team, but the two they meant were the best guys you would ever meet. One was Burl Toler and the other was Ollie Matson. I said ‘Hell no!!’ I served in the Army with Burl and he was one of my best friends on the team. So, we voted it out. The thing that I love the most about it, nobody complained about it. I never heard to this day, nobody ever said ‘Hey, do you ever wonder how things would have turned out if we had changed our vote?’ Never thought about it for a minute, because I would never do that. Nobody on that team ever said that they regretted the decision that we had made. It was 100 percent in favor of not playing. So, we didn’t go. I went home and went back to work.”


    It's a pity that sacks weren't recorded during Gino's playing days, as he likely would still hold pass rushing records to this day. He was feared by quarterbacks and offensive linemen alike for his punishing style and intensity. His litany of NFL honors attest to that.

    11× Pro Bowl selection
    9× First-team All-Pro selection
    1× Second-team All-Pro selection
    NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
    NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
    NFL 1950s All-Decade Team
    1963 Pro Bowl MVP

    Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg had this to say of Gino:

    Quote Originally Posted by Forrest Gregg
    "You ask who was the best ... just my opinion, Marchetti was the best all-around player I ever played against. Great pass rusher. Great against the run. And he never let you rest."
    Sid Gilman said:

    Quote Originally Posted by Sid Gilman
    "(T)he greatest player in football. It's a waste of time to run around this guy's end. It's a lost play. You don't bother to try it."
    6'4 and 250 lbs of furious muscle, I have no doubt Gino is one of the truly rare and exceptional athletes who could play in any era. He was Honored by Sports Illustrated as the Greatest Defensive Lineman in NFL history.



    His football immortality was cemented in 1972 when he was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

    A legendary figure in Baltimore Football history, Gino was truly a Giant among men.
    My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron





  11. #71
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    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bigfish View Post
    I still see Redding over Tyson @ #93, with all due respect to the OP.
    Nothing wrong with disagreeing. I agree. Really liked Redding in Bal. Was very disgruntled when he did the cap-walk to the Colts
    "Cause if you ain’t pissed off for greatness, that just means you’re okay with being mediocre, and ain’t no man in here okay with just basic.”
    - Ray Lewis

    https://www.baltimoreravens.com/author/cole-jackson

    Twitter: @ColeJacksonFB





  12. #72
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    Re: Baltimore Football's Greatest- Counting down the best to wear the numbers.

    88 Days to go and number 88 is another Baltimore Colt great, the late, great John Mackey.



    One of the greatest tight ends of all time, Mackey possessed a nigh impossible combination of strength, speed, explosiveness, and elusiveness. In 9 years in Baltimore Mackey put up 320 catches, for over 5000 yards while collecting 5 Pro Bowl nods and 3 All Pros in a Hall of Fame career.



    A favorite target of Johnny Unitas, Mackey is credited with extending John's career with his ability to take short passes the distance by running over, around, and past defenders. In 1966 Mackey scored 6 touchdowns of 50 or more yards.



    His most impressive play was his catch and run TD against the Detroit Lions in 1966 when he managed to break or elude 9 tackles en route to a 64 touchdown. Displaying his trademark power and speed, Mackey single-handedly scored one of the most impressive touchdowns in NFL history.



    John revolutionized the Tight End position. Don Shula described him thusly:

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Shula
    “Previous to John, tight ends were big strong guys like Ditka and Kramer who would block and catch short passes over the middle, Mackey gave us a tight end who weighed 230, ran a 4.6 and could catch the bomb. It was a weapon other teams didn’t have.”
    Personally, I think Don is selling Mackey short. former Colt's exec Ernie Accorsi described Mackey:

    Quote Originally Posted by Ernie Accorsi
    Mackey was faster than anybody. He had the speed of a wide receiver. He was explosive in the open field, ya know it wasn't a matter of eluding, it was a matter of running OVER those defensive backs. He could outrun those defensive backs but if there was a back there, rather than waste his time going around them, he'd slow down and run right over them... I've seen some great Tight ends... Mackey was the most spectacular. There's no question he defined the position.


    He was more than just a force on the field however. He was a Colts captain, and President of the NFL Players' Association, helping to guide the players through the first major labor dispute and paving the way for NFL free agency and the parity we now enjoy.



    Sadly, football was also incredibly cruel to John. Dementia, likely brought about by frequent head on collisions, shortened his life and greatly reduced him as he aged. Near the end, he was unable to recall his career at all, except for two words. These two words were his answer to any question about football and fittingly, they were words he anticipated hearing most on game days.

    "Go deep."
    My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron





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