I hate parades. I don’t watch them on television. I don’t attend them. I don’t even understand the point of them. Prior to Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001, I had been to one parade in my life, and I didn’t like it.
The news reports came fast and furious on the Monday before the Super Bowl. Just a day into the biggest week of my life, and the reporters couldn’t wait to track me down with the latest news. One of the Ravens’ team buses, leaving a downtown pep rally for BWI Airport and a charter flight to Tampa, had been involved in an accident, hitting a police cruiser.
The minute Tony Siragusa landed on Rich Gannon, it was all over for the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game. Let @NestorAparicio take you back to The Black Hole and experience the day the Ravens went to their first Super Bowl.
“Next time we play the Tennessee Titans, we’ll kick their ass.” Sam Adams at The Barn in Oct. 2000 to @NestorAparicio during Ravens Super Bowl XXXV run. And then January happened! Remember the Titans? We do… #RavensFlock
Two things were pretty obvious to everyone who watched the 2000 Baltimore Ravens during the first half of the season. When they passed the ball, they made mistakes and were ineffective. But each time they tried to run the football with any consistency, they succeeded.
While the 2000 Baltimore Ravens will always receive credit from fans and foes alike for being the team that allowed the fewest points in NFL history – and punctuated that task with a defensive unit shutout in Super Bowl XXXV – only four men can properly put into perspective the pain, the growth and the joy of a group that ultimately captured greatness.
Purple Reign, Chapter 5: “Canton Comes to Baltimore” Nestor recounts what an outpost franchise the Ravens were when Rod Woodson and Shannon Sharpe showed up in Owings Mills
Purple Reign, Chapter 1: “The Boss Arrives” “Hi, Coach Billick? My name is Nestor Aparicio. I own the all-sports radio station in Baltimore and I’m about to become your new best friend.”
Purple Reign, Chapter 2: “A Silver Trophy But Not a Silver Spoon” The legacy of Art and David Modell and how they came to Baltimore from Cleveland and built a Super Bowl XXXV championship operation
Purple Reign, Chapter 4: “Slapdicks, Quarterbacks, and Pranks”. Nestor chronicles the room of Dilfer, Banks and Redman and the Super Bowl XXXV champs that went a month without a TD
Purple Reign, Chapter 3: “The Original Birds and the Mean Machine” Nestor chronicles the very beginning and April 1996 draft with a new name, no colors and no logo – but two future Hall of Famers coming to Baltimore.
To honor the Super Bowl XXXV champions and the upcoming ESPN 30-For-30 on the Baltimore Ravens title, Nestor Aparicio is re-releasing the original “Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac” here. This is the prologue.
