For some of us the pain of that dreadful early morning on March 29, 1984 will never dull.
As the Mayflower vans pulled away into the darkness from the Baltimore Colts’ headquarters in Owings Mills, MD, the emotionally detached truck drivers ripped away the roots of our city’s football heritage leaving fans in a surreal state of disbelief.
For 12 seasons our sports vessel drifted in the murky seas of the NFL, rudderless and without purpose or direction – or a safe harbor. We mourned the loss of our Colts.
Today, some still mourn.
But in 1996 led by Art Modell, a man we have since cast as a knight in shining armor, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore to restore Baltimore’s righteous place among the cities in the NFL.
We didn’t want to play dirty.
Paul Tagliabue and his agenda-driven henchmen forced us to.
And the rest as they say, is history.
Fast forward to the 2015 NFL season and believe it or not, it will mark the 20th season that the Ravens have played in Baltimore – the 18th at what is now M&T Bank Stadium.
The return of the NFL has meant more than just a home team to root for. It has helped to rekindle friendships, deepen others and create new ones. It has helped revitalize downtown businesses and provide an overall spike in the local economy. It has helped restore civic pride after the Colts exodus left it with a gaping wound.
To commemorate the Ravens 20 seasons in Baltimore we proudly present 20 For 20.
Twenty stories about 20 unforgettable moments in the team’s 20-season history.
We’ll be presenting these stories each Monday for the next 20 weeks and we hope you enjoy that time with us.
Speaking of time, when you take pause and think about the Ravens history in Baltimore, it seems as though the two decades of football have gone by in a flash. And comparatively speaking we tend to think of the Colts as having been here so much longer.
Yet the Baltimore Colts played in the NFL just 11 seasons more than the Baltimore Ravens. That’s a bit of a mind-blowing perspective!
While crafting this intro to 20 For 20 and considering our town’s football heritage, I browsed through YouTube videos and found the one below. At the 1:52 mark a heartbroken diehard Colts fan named Hurst “Loudy” Loudenslager lamented the loss of the “Horseshoe” and the potential demise of the Colts Corrals.
He vowed that they would return with the “New Colts”.
Clearly a hopeful visionary, Loudy wasn’t far off the mark. Today his “New Colts” are the Ravens and those Colts Corrals, Ravens Roosts.
Here’s to remembering it all.
We hope you enjoy our 20 For 20 Series.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnepDGSs2Cs[/youtube]
Special thanks to Mike Fast for initiating this concept.
