Just about every Ravens fan who went to games or team events had a selfie with Captain Dee-Fense. He must've taken many thousands of them over the years.
Wes Henson not only loved the Ravens with his whole heart. He also loved Ravens fans.
One of the team's most devoted superfans passed away Sunday, leaving Baltimore mourning his loss.
"Today we mourn the loss of Wes Henson (aka Captain Dee-Fense), whose pride and passion for Baltimore were one-of-a-kind," the team stated.
"His iconic fandom and service for others inspired our community in immeasurable ways. A man who cared deeply about people and is enshrined as a Hall of Fame Fan, Captain Dee-Fense will forever be remembered for the remarkable joy, encouragement, and love he regularly gave to everyone around him."
Henson, 74, was with the Ravens from the very beginning of the franchise. After 24 years of intelligence work in the Navy, he dove into that fandom. At first, he had just camouflage pants and a small sign that read "Defense." When a little girl long ago at Memorial Stadium asked him if he was "the captain of the defense," Captain Dee-Fense was born.
His signature look is what immediately stood out: the camo pants, a Navy captain's hat, aviator sunglasses, and spikes and chains wrapped around his shoulders. He stretched armbands (sweatbands and torn koozies) around his muscular arms and donned leather gloves that were well-worn from all the hands he shook.
He was meant to look intimidating – just like the Ravens defense. In reality, Henson was anything but. His warm smile was just as much a part of his regalia as anything else.
Henson was friends with Cindy Ricci, another superfan named the "Purple Dame," since 1999, when they met at a charity Ravens Roost cookoff benefitting firefighters in Catonsville, Md. She said he was like a brother to her.
"He was large," Ricci said. "He's 6-foot-4. When he talks, it's big because people listen. When he enters a room, it's big because people noticed. When he got that laugh going, it was pretty scary because it was so big. He was a big force."
A cancer survivor himself, Henson attended hundreds of charity events over the years. Upon request, he attended weddings and birthday parties (for kids and adults alike). Henson didn't get paid for any of it.
He spoke at schools about the importance of education and visited sick Ravens fans in hospitals and at their homes. He got Ravens players' autographs just so he could give them away to kids.
"The coolest thing about being Captain Dee-Fense is all the people that I meet. People amaze me," he said in 2012, when he was being honored as part of ESPN's inaugural class of Hall of Fans.
"People make me feel way more important than I actually am. But you never know whose lives you're touching."
