Happy Thanksgiving from the Ravens

BR.com caught up with some Ravens to share their thoughts about the Thanksgiving holiday. Here's what they had to say…

Wide receiver Devard Darling
"Being from the Bahamas, my family never celebrated American Thanksgiving until I moved over to the States. It is an interesting holiday. I always love to eat, so it's a fun day for me. This year, I'm going over to the Wilcox house with my wife. She's pregnant, though, so I think we got a pass on cooking."

Tackle Marshal Yanda

After helping distribute Thanksgiving meals in the community, many Ravens are spending the holiday with friends and family.

"Well, I grew up on a pig farm, so our Thanksgiving was just like anyone else's, except for the fact that we ate ham. Seriously, we would have turkey sometimes, but we always had ham because we just liked that better. Plus the fact that we raised pigs, so ham was always around.

"We wouldn't kill a pig just for the holiday. We always had some in the freezer, so that's what we ate. Hey, turkey tends to dry out anyway."

Guard Jason Brown
"When I was a kid, my mother had six other siblings, so we'd have about 35 people at my grandparents' house. Aunts, uncles, children. It was crazy. We would have a huge dinner, where everybody had their specific thing to bring. Some made desserts, some brought the side dish or something.

"But, we're from the country, so we also ate some interesting things. One of my uncles would make deer tenderloin wrapped in bacon. One of my other uncles was really good at making barbequed raccoon. My mother would even make squirrel with gravy. It's all very tasty. I'm serious. We would top it off with a dessert contest, too.

"This year is a special Thanksgiving for me, though. I'm spending it with my newborn son, JW Jason Jr., so that is a big reason to be thankful."

Long snapper Matt Katula
"For my three seasons in Baltimore, my wife Allison and I get together with Mike and Mary Flynn. They actually have a big dinner every year, and I think Kyle Boller and Jarret Johnson and his wife are coming to the Flynns today too.

"It's great to start traditions like this, because growing up, you were always around your family, and that's tough to do when you're in the middle of the NFL season. You have to seek out that tradition in the locker room, and we've done a pretty good job of that."

Cornerback Ronnie Prude
"Thanksgiving this year is going to be a big one for me because my mom is coming up from Louisiana, and it's her first time in Baltimore. It's going to be very special, and the fact that I can get a little home cooking from my mom is going to be great.

"As a rookie, I went over to Ed Reed's house for a little of that southern cooking. They do it a little different in the south for Thanksgiving. The food is a little spicier; I think there's more taste, but maybe that's the Louisiana in me."

Linebacker Antwan Barnes
"In my house, we had about 10 people, so my grandmother had to cook extra food. We'd have two turkeys, two hams, about five pies. The best thing about it for me is eating the leftovers the next morning. I would make a great egg and turkey sandwich. That's all I would think about all day.

"We would always have a big football game with everybody from the block. It would go on for about an hour to work up a serious appetite, and then we'd have to run home when our moms would yell for us."

Tight end Quinn Sypniewski
"This year, my wife, Mia, and I are going to a little get-together over at Haloti's house. We were in charge of the cranberry sauce and the pies, so I was baking all week. I actually make a really great apple pie, because my sixth-grade home economics teacher gave me her secret recipe when she noticed I was the best cook in the class.

"As for the cranberry sauce, how can you not want the jelly in the form of a can? That's the best stuff."

Equipment manager Ed Carroll, who has been with the Baltimore Ravens/Cleveland Browns franchise for 19 years.
"Well, it's always the middle of the season for us, and before I was married, I would just go eat at Denny's, because I was by myself. This year's a little different, even though my wife is visiting her daughter in North Carolina. I think I'll go home and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"We've got to go to San Diego Friday, so someone has to get the equipment loaded on the trucks."