Baltimore Ravens

When Baltimore lost the Colts to Indianapolis in 1984, the city’s football heart was broken. For over a decade the stands were empty, until 1996, when the NFL granted Baltimore a new team. The question was: what to call them? More than 33,000 fans voted in The Baltimore Sun. The winner was the Ravens – and it came from a most unlikely source.

The name comes straight from Baltimore’s most famous adopted son: Edgar Allan Poe. Poe lived and worked in Baltimore, and he’s buried there. His 1845 poem The Raven — with its haunting refrain of “Nevermore” — remains one of the most iconic pieces of American literature. By choosing Ravens, the city honoured its literary heritage, gave the team a symbol of intelligence and menace, and claimed an identity that was entirely its own.

The poem itself is a tale of grief and obsession. A midnight visitor, a raven perched above the chamber door, speaks a single word — “Nevermore” — to a man mourning the loss of his beloved Lenore. Its hypnotic rhythm, its gloom, and its symbolism of a bird as both messenger and tormentor made it unforgettable. Just as Poe’s raven became a figure of dread and inevitability, so too does Baltimore’s team. The badge captures that spirit. The raven’s head sits sharp and proud, crowned with a bold “B,” its eye burning with defiance.

Baltimore itself is a city of contrasts. Founded as a colonial port, it became one of America’s busiest harbours, known for shipbuilding and trade. It was here, at Fort McHenry, that the Star-Spangled Banner was written during the War of 1812. Later, the city grew through industry, immigration, and hard work — steel mills, canneries, and docks shaping the lives of generations. It has always been a tough, proud place, a city that endures. More recently its gritter side has probably made the headlines – and the airwaves with that masterpiece of the television ‘The Wire’ being set in the city. The show studied the drug problem in the City, but each season took a different view of the problem – from the street gangs to the education crisis to political corruption. It is an epic and something everyone must simply watch at least once. Or maybe twice.

The Ravens have built their own legacy on that legacy of toughness. They won two Super Bowls — in 2001 (XXXV) under linebacker Ray Lewis and that ferocious defence, and again in 2013 (XLVII), when Joe Flacco and the “Mile High Miracle” powered them through the playoffs. The franchise has become known for its stingy defence and the loud fans at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens to Poe’s dark genius, a reclamation of a city’s sporting pride, and a reminder that Baltimore writes its own story – on the field and off it.