The Maryland Sports Blog

Rumors are the Baltimore Ravens are close to signing middle linebacker Rolando McClain.  Rolando is the cousin of Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain and was recently released from the Oakland Raiders.

Rolando is a young linebacker who has already recorded 244 career tackles in three seasons and is only 23 years old.  Off the field issues have been the biggest trouble for McClain who has had several issues.  McClain was suspended for two games by the Raiders last season.

The Ravens have a history of bringing in players with questionable character issues and turning them into model citizens, that is one of the strongest things the organization does. Jimmy Smith is a prime example of a player who dropped in the draft because of his character issues.  Since joining the Ravens Smith has had no off the field issues what so ever.

Jameel McClain has been nothing but a standup player for the Ravens on and off the field and I can see him keeping Rolando in check.  Also keep in mind that McClain is extremely young and not to make any excuses but a young talented player playing for a team like the Raiders has to be discouraging.  The Raiders have been known for being a dis-functional franchise and have not been good at developing high-round draft picks.

The Ravens will give McClain a better chance at being successful.   Players tend to clean up their act when trying to win a championship and that is why players are signing with the Ravens.

McClain had five sacks in 2011 and could be a complete steal.

Here is a tweet from the Ravens twitter page about the potential deal.

REPORT: LB Rolando McClain says he’s going to sign a 1-year deal with the #Ravens bmob.us/5ge

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 10, 2013

Update:  Looks like a done deal, McClain has agreed to terms with the Ravens with a one-year contract.  It would be nice if the Ravens got some option years with it but the NFL does not usually work like that.  Good move my the Ravens, McClain could end up being one of their starting middle linebackers.  McClain still needs to take the physical before the deal is finalized as with all deals.

The Baltimore Ravens have released this press release detailing their preseason schedule.  Dates and times may change but I will keep you updated.  I enjoy watching preseason games to see the depth on the team.  Here is the press release.

 

A nationally-televised (ESPN) game on Thursday, Aug. 22, against the Carolina Panthers at M&T Bank Stadium highlights the Super Bowl XLVII Champion Baltimore Ravens’ 2013 preseason schedule.

 

The Ravens open the preseason at Tampa Bay, with the game’s exact date and time still to be determined. In the second week of the preseason, Baltimore hosts the Atlanta Falcons at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 15.

 

Following their nationally-televised home game against the Panthers, the Ravens close out the preseason at St. Louis in a contest currently scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29.

 

Baltimore is 40-27 all time in preseason play. Under head coach John Harbaugh (2008-12), the Ravens have compiled a 13-7 record in the preseason.

 

In their preseason history, the Ravens are 6-3 vs. Atlanta, 4-1 vs. Carolina and 0-3 vs. St. Louis. Baltimore has never faced Tampa Bay during preseason play.

 

Ravens 2013 Preseason Schedule

Date TBD                          at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Thursday, Aug. 15          vs. Atlanta Falcons

Thursday, Aug. 22          vs. Carolina Panthers (National ESPN Telecast)

Thursday, Aug. 29*        at St. Louis Rams

 

The Baltimore Ravens have cut linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo according to several sources including Ayanbadejo’s personal twitter account. Ayanbadejo’s is old for a linebacker at 36 years of age and also undersized for middle linebacker. Most of Ayanbadejo’s playing time has been on special teams.

Ayanbadejo’s has spent the last five seasons in Baltimore and has been a Pro Bowl special teams player. This move makes sense as Ayanbadejo’s skills have diminished over the years and the Ravens are looking to get younger and faster.

Ayanbadejo’s had one sack last season for the Ravens and appeared in every game. The Ravens are light at middle linebacker but this cut does not hurt them that much as Ayanbadejo was far from a starting at middle linebacker.

Here is a tweet from Jeff Zrebiec detailing the move.

Ayanbadejo released saves about $800,000 under cap and will leave the #Ravens with about $6 million of cap room.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) April 3, 2013

The Ravens released this press release on Ayanbadejo.

The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of vested veteran LB Brendon Ayanbadejo Thursday afternoon, general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome announced.

 

A 10-year NFL veteran, Ayanbadejo played five seasons with the Ravens, seeing action in 62 games (four starts). He posted 83 tackles (56 solo), 4.5 sacks, four passes defensed, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. A three-time special teams Pro Bowler (2006-08) and three-time alternate (2004-05, 2011), he led or shared the team lead in special teams tackles (187 career) in seven of his 10 seasons.

 

“As a team, we place a high value on special teams, and Brendon was one of our top performers in that area for the last five seasons,” Newsome stated. “He was one of the best special teamers in the league, but he was also a valued member of our defense, especially in our sub (substitute) packages. He became a leader for us, and the door may not be closed to bring him back to help us again.”

 

“Brendon was the first player we signed when we arrived in 2008, and he went to the Pro Bowl again that season,” head coach John Harbaugh added. “We considered him one of the foundations of our team, and he gave me sound counsel as one of our team leaders. He was a tremendous contributor to our success, both on [special] teams and for our defense over the last five seasons, including our Super Bowl two months ago. And, he was a pleasure to have on our team. We’ll stay in contact, I hope, but I’ll miss our regular conversations.”

 

In 2012, Ayanbadejo posted a career-high 30 total tackles from scrimmage, adding one sack, one pass defensed and a team-high 14 special teams stops in 16 contests (three starts). In four playoff games this past season, Ayanbadejo recorded two solo tackles.

 

The 6-1, 225-pounder also spent time with Chicago (2005-07) and Miami (2003-04). Ayanbadejo originally entered the NFL with Atlanta as an undrafted free agent in 1999.

I do not usually post these but I figured I would pass this along. Here is a Ravens press release for how you can sign up your school for Play 60.

The Baltimore Ravens All Community Team Foundation (RACTF) is committed to improving, encouraging and enabling the healthy development of youth in the Baltimore area, as well as other parts of the state of Maryland. For the seventh consecutive year, the RACTF is executing the Ravens Play 60 Grant (formerly known as Plan in Motion) which provides funding of up to $5,000 to qualifying nonprofit organizations that create and/or continue programs or projects promoting physical fitness and nutrition education.

 

The grant program continues the RACTF’s commitment to increasing physical activity among area youth and seeks to encourage healthy youth activities. The RACTF will consider funding requests that meet the following criteria:

 

• Organizations that submit requests must be a 501(c)(3) organization.

 

• Programs or projects must be directed at youth (5-18) and must promote physical fitness and/or nutrition education.

 

• Nonprofits must illustrate a programming component with measurable goals in order to be considered. Through the Ravens Play 60 Grant, the RACTF will not consider funding for the construction of buildings/fields/etc.

 

• Programs or projects must take place in Maryland.

 

The following are examples of grants made through this project from 2007-2012:

 

Athletes Serving Athletes, which provides opportunities for young athletes with disabilities and at-risk youth to pursue an active lifestyle by experiencing athletic competition; Baltimore SquashWise, an after-school sports and education program that promotes health and education through the teaching of Squash and nutrition lessons; Bridges Program at St. Paul’s School, a program that supports physical fitness initiatives for its Summer Institute; Coppin Aquatic Center, which aims to boost water safety and sports participation among underprivileged elementary and middle school students; Funding the Patterson Area Elementary Soccer League for three Baltimore schools, which includes instruction and competition; Achieve Kids Tri, Inc., which gives underprivileged and at-risk youth the opportunity to learn the proper fundamentals of swimming, biking, and running.

 

Through this grant project, nearly $550,000 has been disbursed to area nonprofits over the last six years, funding 128 programs and impacting more than 10,000 Baltimore-area youth.

 

To Submit

Ravens Play 60 Grant applications are being accepted from April 3-May 31 and are available at www.baltimoreravens.com/play60grant.