1996 Baltimore Ravens season

1996 Baltimore Ravens season
Head Coach	Ted Marchibroda
Home Field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Place	5th AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	1 QB Vinny Testaverde
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
First 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. 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. 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; 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. 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. 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.

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."

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	Jonathan Ogden	Tackle	UCLA
1	Ray Lewis	Linebacker	Miami
2	DeRon Jenkins	Cornerback	Tennessee
5	Jermaine Lewis	Wide receiver	Maryland
6	Dexter Daniels	Linebacker	Florida
6	James Roe	Wide receiver	Norfolk State
7	Jon Stark	Quarterback	Trinity

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	Oakland Raiders	W 19–14	1–0–0	64,124
2	September 8, 1996	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 31–17	1–1–0	57,241
3	September 15, 1996	at Houston Oilers	L 29–13	1–2–0	20,082
4	Bye
5	September 29, 1996	New Orleans Saints	W 17–10	2–2–0	61,063
6	October 6, 1996	New England Patriots	L 46–38	2–3–0	63,569
7	October 13, 1996	at Indianapolis Colts	L 26–21	2–4–0	56,978
8	October 20, 1996	at Denver Broncos	L 45–34	2–5–0	70,453
9	October 27, 1996	St. Louis Rams	W 37–31 OT	3–5–0	60,256
10	November 3, 1996	Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–21	3–6–0	60,743
11	November 10, 1996	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 30–27	3–7–0	64,628
12	November 17, 1996	at San Francisco 49ers	L 38–20	3–8–0	51,596
13	November 24, 1996	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 28–25 OT	3–9–0	57,384
14	December 1, 1996	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–17	4–9–0	51,822
15	December 8, 1996	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–14	4–10–0	43,022
16	December 15, 1996	at Carolina Panthers	L 27–16	4–11–0	70,075
17	December 22, 1996	Houston Oilers	L 24–21	4–12–0	52,704

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	6	0	.625	344	257
Jacksonville Jaguars	9	7	0	.563	325	335
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	372	369
Houston Oilers	8	8	0	.500	345	319
Baltimore Ravens	4	12	0	.250	371	441

Roster

1996 Baltimore Ravens roster
Quarterbacks 12 Vinny Testaverde 10 Eric Zeier Running Backs 23 Randy Baldwin 21 Earnest Byner 35 Carwell Gardner (FB) 33 Leroy Hoard 23 Earnest Hunter 33 Bam Morris Wide Receivers 82 Derrick Alexander 85 Ray Ethridge 81 Michael Jackson 84 Jermaine Lewis 83 James Roe 87 Floyd Turner 80 Calvin Williams Tight Ends 89 Harold Bishop 86 Eric Green 48 Frank Hartley 88 Brian Kinchen		Offensive Linemen 75 Jonathan Ogden 66 Tony Jones 63 Wally Williams 61 Steve Everitt 69 Jeff Blackshear 77 Orlando Brown 70 Herman Arvie 64 Sale Isia 67 Quentin Neujahr Defensive Linemen 90 Rob Burnett 78 Dan Footman 91 Elliott Fortune 94 Mike Frederick 73 Tim Goad 97 James Jones 95 Rick Lyle 98 Anthony Pleasant 66 Tony Jones		Linebackers 56 Mike Caldwell 55 Sedrick Clark 51 Mike Croel 53 Dexter Daniels 50 Keith Goganious 52 Ray Lewis 54 Eddie Sutter 57 Jerrol Williams Defensive Backs Special Teams 9 Greg Montgomery 3 Matt Stover

Staff

1996 Baltimore Ravens staff
Front Office Owner – Art Modell Head Coaches Head Coach – Ted Marchibroda Assistant Head Coach/Offense – Kirk Ferentz Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks – Don Strock Running Backs – Al Lavan Wide Receivers – Mike Sheppard Tight Ends – Pat Hill Quality Control/Offense – Eric Mangini			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Marvin Lewis Defensive Line – Jacob Burney Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive Backs – Alvin Reynolds Quality Control/Defense – Jim Schwartz Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Scott O'Brien Quality Control/Special Teams – John Settle Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons

References

• Ravens on Pro Football Reference
• Ravens Schedule on jt-sw.com