1996 Baltimore Ravens season

The 1996 Baltimore Ravens season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League (NFL). They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remained without an NFL football franchise for 12 years after the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

1996 Baltimore Ravens season
Head coach	Ted Marchibroda
Owner	Art Modell
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	5th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	QB Vinny Testaverde FS Eric Turner

In 1996, however, the NFL approved Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell's proposal to relocate the franchise to Baltimore, although the records and name of the Browns would remain in Cleveland, Ohio and the Baltimore franchise would officially be an expansion franchise.[2] After Modell established the franchise in Baltimore, the team was named the "Baltimore Ravens" via a poll conducted by the Baltimore Sun as the team was assigned to play in the American Football Conference (AFC) Central Division;[3] afterwards, over 50,000 tickets were sold for the entire season.

The Ravens would finish their first season with a 4–12 record under coach Ted Marchibroda, who coached the Colts before and after they relocated and has a 41–33 regular season record in Baltimore.[4] At the Ravens' first-ever regular season game, a record attendance of 64,124 was present in their win against the Oakland Raiders, 19–14, on September 1 at home.[5] Their second victory came in Week 5, against the New Orleans Saints at home, in which they became 2–2. In Week 7, the Ravens traveled to Indianapolis to play Baltimore's previous team, the Colts. They, however, lost 26–21 and fell to 2–4 record. Their only other two victories were recorded in Week 9 (against the St. Louis Rams) and Week 14 (against the Steelers) at home.

Although not a winning season, Quarterback Vinny Testaverde and Safety Eric Turner were voted into the Pro Bowl, and wide receivers Michael Jackson and Derrick Alexander became the fourth receiving duo to surpass the 1,000 yard receiving mark.[5] During the season, the Ravens held second-half leads in ten of their final eleven games; they ultimately went 3–7 in games decided by one possession.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1996 NFL Draft

1996 Baltimore Ravens draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Jonathan Ogden * ^†	Offensive tackle	UCLA
1	26	Ray Lewis * ^†	Linebacker	Miami (FL)
2	55	DeRon Jenkins	Cornerback	Tennessee
5	153	Jermaine Lewis *	Wide receiver	Maryland
6	172	Dexter Daniels	Linebacker	Florida
6	186	James Roe	Wide receiver	Norfolk State
7	238	Jon Stark	Quarterback	Trinity International
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[6]

Personnel

Staff

1996 Baltimore Ravens staff

	Front office Owner and President – Art Modell Director of Football Operations – Ozzie Newsome Director of College Scouting – Phil Savage Pro Personnel Coordinator – Scott Pioli Head coaches Head Coach – Ted Marchibroda Assistant Head Coach/Offense – Kirk Ferentz Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Don Strock Running Backs – Al Lavan Wide Receivers – Mike Sheppard Tight Ends – Pat Hill Quality Control/Offense – Eric Mangini			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Marvin Lewis Defensive Line – Jacob Burney Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive Backs – Alvin Reynolds Quality Control/Defense – Jim Schwartz Special teams coaches Special Teams – Scott O'Brien Quality Control/Special Teams – John Settle Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons

Roster

1996 Baltimore Ravens roster

	Quarterbacks  6 Scott Otis 12 Vinny Testaverde 10 Eric Zeier Running backs 23 Randy Baldwin 21 Earnest Byner 35 Carwell Gardner FB 33 Leroy Hoard 23 Earnest Hunter 33 Bam Morris Wide receivers 82 Derrick Alexander 85 Ray Ethridge 81 Michael Jackson 84 Jermaine Lewis 83 James Roe 87 Floyd Turner 80 Calvin Williams Tight ends 89 Harold Bishop 86 Eric Green 48 Frank Hartley 88 Brian Kinchen		Offensive linemen 70 Herman Arvie T 69 Jeff Blackshear G 77 Orlando Brown Sr. T 61 Steve Everitt C 64 Sale Isaia G 66 Tony Jones T 67 Quentin Neujahr C 75 Jonathan Ogden G 63 Wally Williams C Defensive linemen 90 Rob Burnett DE 78 Dan Footman DE 91 Elliott Fortune DL 94 Mike Frederick DT 73 Tim Goad DT 97 James Jones DT 95 Rick Lyle DL 98 Anthony Pleasant DE		Linebackers 56 Mike Caldwell ILB 55 Sedric Clark OLB 51 Mike Croel OLB 53 Dexter Daniels OLB 50 Keith Goganious OLB 52 Ray Lewis ILB 59 Craig Powell OLB 54 Ed Sutter ILB 57 Jerrol Williams OLB Defensive backs 43 Vashone Adams FS 36 Issac Booth CB 24 Donny Brady CB 22 Dorian Brew CB 36 Corey Dowden CB 25 DeRon Jenkins CB 38 Antonio Langham CB 27 Stevon Moore SS 37 Bennie Thompson SS 29 Eric Turner FS Special teams  9 Greg Montgomery P  3 Matt Stover K		Reserve lists 18 Curtis Brown WR (IR) 93 Corey Sears DT (IR) 11 Jon Stark QB (PUP) Practice squad Rookies in italics

[7]

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	August 3, 1996	Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–9	1–0
2	August 10, 1996	at New York Giants	W 37–27	2–0
3	August 17, 1996	Green Bay Packers	L 15–17	2–1
4	August 23, 1996	at Buffalo Bills	W 37–14	3–1

[8]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 1	Oakland Raiders	W 19–14	1–0	64,124
2	September 8	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–31	1–1	57,241
3	September 15	at Houston Oilers	L 13–29	1–2	20,082
4	Bye
5	September 29	New Orleans Saints	W 17–10	2–2	61,063
6	October 6	New England Patriots	L 38–46	2–3	63,569
7	October 13	at Indianapolis Colts	L 21–26	2–4	56,978
8	October 20	at Denver Broncos	L 34–45	2–5	70,453
9	October 27	St. Louis Rams	W 37–31 (OT)	3–5	60,256
10	November 3	Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–24	3–6	60,743
11	November 10	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 27–30	3–7	64,628
12	November 17	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–38	3–8	51,596
13	November 24	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 25–28 (OT)	3–9	57,384
14	December 1	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–17	4–9	51,822
15	December 8	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–21	4–10	43,022
16	December 15	at Carolina Panthers	L 16–27	4–11	70,075
17	December 22	Houston Oilers	L 21–24	4–12	52,704

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Pittsburgh Steelers	10	6	0	.625	344	257	L2
^(5) Jacksonville Jaguars	9	7	0	.563	325	335	W5
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	372	369	W3
Houston Oilers	8	8	0	.500	345	319	W1
Baltimore Ravens	4	12	0	.250	371	441	L3

[9]

References

1. "Baltimore Ravens History (1946–1984)". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
2. "Art Modell Baltimoreravens.com Profile". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-02-10. Modell purchased the Cleveland Browns for what was an unprecedented price of $4 million in 1961, and three decades later, in February 1996, he brought an NFL franchise back to Baltimore. For Art and his club, the move was not an easy one to make – and it was not easy for the team's fans to see their team go. Knowing this, Modell did not hesitate to leave the fans of Cleveland a legacy. He announced that he would give the name "Browns" to Cleveland for a future team. He also left the team's colors (orange and brown) and the rich and storied" 49-year history (1946–1995).
3. "1996 NFL Standings". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
4. "Ted Marchibroda Profile". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
5. "Baltimore Ravens History (1996)". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
6. "1996 Baltimore Ravens Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
7. "1996 Baltimore Ravens starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
8. 1996 Baltimore Ravens schedule and results
9. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 291

External links

• 1996 Baltimore Ravens at Pro-Football-Reference.com