Winning brought even more winners. Local Olympian and resident Ravens maniac Michael Phelps and Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones were together on the field celebrating with the players and drinking in the Ravens second Super Bowl berth. Jones had a picture circulating earlier in the week of him on the field in frigid Denver cheering on Flacco as he was introduced to the Broncos fans. He had become a hardcore fan and become friends with Rice and Smith.
One by one the players filed into the tiny locker room in Foxborough. The same room that Ray Lewis filled with his voice in defeat last year was now filled with a Lamar Hunt Trophy presentation that silenced the jubilant room.
CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz brought forth O.J. Brigance, who was the honorary captain for the Ravens and “The Juice” presented Steve Bisciotti the Lombardi Trophy with a speech through his Dynavox. Brigance had been struggling with his health during the week and a lot of the media attention and the cold weather wore down his deteriorating condition, but he went everywhere the team went, and there was nowhere else on earth he’d rather be than in that locker room:
“Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens,” Brigance said via his device. “Your resiliency has outlasted your adversity. You are the AFC champions! You are my Mighty Men! With God, all things are possible.”
When O.J. talks, everyone listens.
When Brigance finished, the entire locker room called out his nickname, “Juuiiiicceeee.”
Reed gave Brigance the game ball. Lewis looked at Brigance and called him his “greatest motivation.”
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“O.J. has been our strength,” Reed said. “Everything he’s been though and going through and to still be the same O.J. Be a light for our team. I love Juice. He’s like an uncle, a brother. No other man in his position should have to go through what he’s going through. For him to be fighting through, and even Chuck [Pagano]. That touched us. That hit home because of what O.J. is battling through. That’s tough sledding. That’s something none of us in here can imagine.”
As is his custom, but certainly not the custom of other general managers around the NFL, Ozzie Newsome was nowhere near the podium, allowing all of the players and Harbaugh to have the spotlight on this great night for the franchise.
Then one by one, the players stepped forth and talked about faith and determination on the road to the Super Bowl, led of course by Ray Lewis.
“If you only knew the way that we are built,” Lewis said. “We’re built a certain way and we’ve got each other’s back through it all. Last year when we walked up out of here, I told them, “We’ll be back. Don’t hold your heads down because we’ve got something to finish.’ And throughout all of the injuries and through all the things we’ve been through this year – every day I came out and told O.J. that you’re my greatest motivation. Because we won a Super Bowl together and to see him still fighting…no weapon formed against this team shall prosper. And to see us here today holding this trophy, God is absolutely amazing. Our team is awesome. Our coaches are awesome. Our staff is awesome. Our owner – man, I don’t know if there is a better owner in the NFL. It’s our time. It’s our time. All of these men out there, it might be just five of us up here, but every man out there sacrificed this year for each other. And we did it, we did it, we did it. We’re on our way to the Super Bowl.”
Boldin, who ended with five catches for 60 yards and two touchdowns, was next on the podium.
“This locker room is filled with men of faith,” Boldin said. “All year we believed that no matter what the circumstances were, that never shook our faith. We felt like this was our year. We talked about it the entire year and like I said, we believe.
“To us it wasn’t a secret what we were trying to get accomplished. We came here last year and left with a bitter taste in our mouth. We felt like this team [the Patriots] took something away from us. And we wanted to come back and make that right. It would’ve been great to do it in front of our fans in Baltimore, but we thought the proper way was to come back here and to win at Foxboro. And we were able to do that.”
8There were thousands of Ravens fans who did make the trip and they drank in a piece of Baltimore sports lore in seeing Flacco throw the franchise into the Super Bowl in New England. “You can always tell during the National Anthem when you hear the ‘O’ how many people from Baltimore made it up,” Flacco said. “And today’s was pretty strong actually, so yeah it was pretty cool and pretty impressive how those guys made it up here to support us like that. Especially seeing it after the game.”
Boldin, who is usually a man of few words had a lot he wanted to get off his chest on a night when he was headed back to a Super Bowl again.
“Even after those three losses I told everybody, ‘Don’t panic. We’re going to right the ship,” Boldin said. “We’re going to win the division. We’re going to make it to the playoffs, and we’re going to be a team to reckon with.’ This team is a team of faith, we believed all year no matter what the circumstances were. We’ve been through a lot as a team. We’ve had injuries after more injuries. We’ve had one of our brothers lose a loved one. We’ve lost an offensive coordinator. You name it – we’ve been through it. But this team has never wavered. No matter what the situation was, we always believed. And I think today, you saw that. We got down early, but this team didn’t blink. We knew that this was our game, and we were going to win. It’s definitely a blessing for me. You look at guys who go their whole career and never make it to the Super Bowl. For me, I’ve got another shot. And I’m looking to finish it off this time. I went to the Super Bowl five years ago and lost, and that’s not the way I want this one to end. So I’m definitely grateful to be back there.
Harbaugh was much more introspective than usual, especially in the moments right after the game when he’s usually a bit tense, even after victories.
“What a great moment,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve been inspired. You’ve heard so much of the inspirational stuff, on grace and faith. [Anquan Boldin] started off with the word love, which to me means so much more than what we think about sometimes. But that’s what holds a team together. It was a team victory. It was about the team. The team. The team.”
Harbaugh was channeling his inner Bo Schembechler on the biggest night of his career. “That’s what wins football games like this,” he said. “But there are other people involved that you draw inspiration from, like O.J. Brigance…who is battling the battle of his life. He told us that the third try is the charm.”
“I’m just feeling an incredible amount of awe,” Harbaugh continued. “Ray [Lewis] would be the first to tell you this, so I’m just going to share it: awe in the work that God can do in one man’s life. To me, Ray’s the epitome of that. Ray’s a guy that has turned everything over. He’s surrendered everything, and he’s become the man that he is to this day. He’s a different man than he was when he was 22 or 15 or whatever. I think everybody sees that right now. I think it’s a great thing for kids to see. It’s a great thing for fathers to see. It’s a great thing for athletes to see. It’s a very special deal.”
