The End of “Play Like a Raven?”

photos: Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore RavensThere is a poster hanging over my childhood bed. It’s been there for over a decade. Written on this particular poster is the saying that perhaps more than any other has defined my charmed life as a Baltimore Ravens fan.

Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens“Play Like a Raven” may be a simple four-word phrase, but it embodies much more. It means playing with physicality. It means playing with mental toughness. It means playing with the expectation that you will show up every week with a greater will to win than the opponent.

In short, it represents every cliche that has defined the organization under Head Coach John Harbaugh, who brought the term with him to…