1996 Baltimore Ravens season

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
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1997

The 1996 Baltimore Ravens season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League (NFL) and at their home stadium, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore remained without an NFL football franchise for 13 years after the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

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.[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 was voted into the Pro Bowl, and wide receivers Michael Jackson and Derrick Alexander surpassed the 1,000 yard receiving mark.[5]

Football statistics site Football Outsiders noted how the 1996 Ravens were the opposite of their defense-heavy/offense-poor reputation over the subsequent ten years: "It seems like the Ravens have combined a great defense with a terrible offense since they first moved to Baltimore, but it turns out that the Ravens have only combined a great defense with a terrible offense since their second year in Baltimore. The 1996 inaugural edition of the Ravens was the complete and total opposite of all the Ravens teams to come: the best offense in the NFL combined with the second-worst defense. The next year, the offense dropped to 19th and the defense rose to 13th, and the Ravens basically stayed like that for the next decade."[6] A later recalculation by Football Outsiders actually re-ranked the 1996 Ravens as having the worst pass defense in they'd ever tracked.[7]

Offseason

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

[8]

Personnel

Staff

colspan="7" style="background: #241773; color:white; border: 2px solid #9E7C0C" text-align: center;" | 1996 Baltimore Ravens staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons

Roster

colspan="10" style="background: #241773; color:white; border:2px solid #9E7C0C" text-align:center;" | 1996 Baltimore Ravens roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

 Tight ends

Offensive linemen

 Defensive linemen

Linebackers

 Defensive backs

Special teams


Rookies in italics

[9]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Time Network Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 Oakland Raiders W 19–14 1–0–0 1:00PM NBC
64,124
2 September 8, 1996 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 31–17 1–1–0 1:00PM NBC
57,241
3 September 15, 1996 at Houston Oilers L 29–13 1–2–0 1:00PM NBC
20,082
4 Bye
5 September 29, 1996 New Orleans Saints W 17–10 2–2–0 1:00PM
61,063
6 October 6, 1996 New England Patriots L 46–38 2–3–0 1:00PM
63,569
7 October 13, 1996 at Indianapolis Colts L 26–21 2–4–0 8:00PM
56,978
8 October 20, 1996 at Denver Broncos L 45–34 2–5–0 4:00PM
70,453
9 October 27, 1996 St. Louis Rams W 37–31 OT 3–5–0 1:00PM
60,256
10 November 3, 1996 Cincinnati Bengals L 24–21 3–6–0 1:00PM
60,743
11 November 10, 1996 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 30–27 3–7–0 4:00PM
64,628
12 November 17, 1996 at San Francisco 49ers L 38–20 3–8–0 4:00PM
51,596
13 November 24, 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars L 28–25 OT 3–9–0 1:00PM
57,384
14 December 1, 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–17 4–9–0 1:00PM
51,822
15 December 8, 1996 at Cincinnati Bengals L 21–14 4–10–0 1:00PM
43,022
16 December 15, 1996 at Carolina Panthers L 27–16 4–11–0 1:00PM
70,075
17 December 22, 1996 Houston Oilers L 24–21 4–12–0 1:00PM
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

[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Baltimore Ravens History (1946–1984)". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Art Modell Baltimoreravens.com Profile". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. 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. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Baltimore Ravens History (1996)". Baltimoreravens.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  6. ↑ 1996 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
  7. ↑ Football Outsiders – DVOA 7.0: Worst Teams Ever, from 1991–2011.
  8. ↑ "1996 Baltimore Ravens Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ "1996 Baltimore Ravens starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 291

External links