1996 Baltimore Ravens season

The 1996 season was the Baltimore Ravens' inaugural season in the National Football League and first under coach Ted Marchibroda. They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

1996 Baltimore Ravens season
OwnerArt Modell
Head coachTed Marchibroda
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place5th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersQB Vinny Testaverde
FS Eric Turner

Baltimore had remained without an NFL football franchise for 12 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 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 then-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] The Ravens held second-half leads in ten of their final eleven games; they ultimately went 3–7 in games decided by one possession.

As of the 2021 off-season, Michael Jackson's 1,201 receiving yards stands as a franchise single-season record.[6]

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

[7]

Personnel

Staff
1996 Baltimore Ravens staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons

Roster
1996 Baltimore Ravens roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[8]

Preseason

Schedule
WeekDateOpponentResultRecord
1 August 3 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–9 1–0
2 August 10 at New York Giants W 37–27 2–0
3 August 17 Green Bay Packers L 15–17 2–1
4 August 23 at Buffalo Bills W 37–14 3–1

[9]

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

[10]

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. Baltimore Ravens Single-Season Receiving Leaders
  7. "1996 Baltimore Ravens Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  8. "1996 Baltimore Ravens starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  9. 1996 Baltimore Ravens schedule and results
  10. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 291
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