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who were the ravens before

The Baltimore Ravens NFL team did not exist under a different name before 1996; the franchise itself was created when the Cleveland Browns’ organization relocated to Baltimore, but Cleveland kept the Browns’ name, colors, and history, so “Ravens” started as a new identity in 1996.

Before the Ravens: Browns Move

  • In 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell agreed to move his team’s operations (players, staff, contracts) to Baltimore for the 1996 season.
  • As part of a settlement with the NFL and the city of Cleveland, the Browns’ name, colors, and historical records stayed in Cleveland to be used by a new Browns team starting in 1999.
  • Because of that deal, the Baltimore team was treated on paper as a new franchise called the Ravens, even though it inherited much of the Browns’ football personnel.

Why the Name “Ravens”?

  • The name “Ravens” was chosen in a fan contest and is a direct reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem The Raven ; Poe lived in Baltimore and is buried there.
  • Other suggested names included options like “Marauders” and “Americans,” but “Ravens” won because fans liked the literary tie to the city and the tough image of a black bird, which also fit well alongside the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

An Earlier “Ravens” in Baltimore

  • Before the NFL team existed, there was a Baltimore Ravens wheelchair basketball team founded in 1972 by Ralph Smith, a prominent figure in wheelchair basketball.
  • In the 1990s, the wheelchair team sold the “Ravens” naming rights to the incoming NFL franchise and later became known as the Maryland Ravens, making them the original sports team in Baltimore to use the Ravens name.

TL;DR:

  • The Ravens were not another NFL team under a different name; they began in 1996 when the Browns’ organization moved but left the “Browns” identity in Cleveland.
  • The name came from Poe’s The Raven and a local fan vote, and the only “Ravens” in Baltimore before that was a wheelchair basketball team that sold the name rights.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.