The champ was here.
Boxing legend and American icon Muhammad Ali visited the Ravens' facility on Sunday and met with the team following the morning walk-thru. He is in Baltimore as part of fundraising efforts for his charity, Generation Ali.
Ali's visit was a surprise to the players, and he was introduced to the team by Jack Harbaugh, the father of Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh.
The team watched a video clip of Ali during this morning's meeting and after practice Jack was speaking with them to tell Ali's famous "What's My Name?" story from his fight against Ernie Terrel. During the fight, Terrel repeatedly called Ali "Cassius Clay," which was his name before he converted to Islam. Ali won the fight convincingly and after he would land punches on Terrel, he would shout, "What's my name?" That story was the basis for the Ravens using "What's My Name" as their slogan during the 2008 season.
As Jack was telling the story, Ali came out to the practice field on a golf cart and the players formed a huddle around him. They broke the huddle by chanting "champ."
Players then lined up to take pictures with Ali and meet with him individually.
After practice, many of them took to Twitter to share the unique experience.
Here's a look at some of the responses on Twitter:
Torrey Smith: "I can't believe I had the honor of meeting this man...thank you @Ravens for this memory."
Kelechi Osemele: "Just met a legend. My hands touched the greatest of all time. Muhammad Ali. #Legendary"
Bryant McKinnie: "Wow! We just had the honor 2 meet Muhammad Ali 2day after practice. #Legend #Greatness"
Tandon Doss: "Jus met the greatest athlete of all time... #Muhammadali."
Christian Thompson: "Just met Muhammad Ali! That was something I never intended to do but there he was with us on the field this morning! #PRICELESS"
Bobby Rainey: "Starstruck!!!!!! Shook the hand that knocked out pol & also helped ppl!!!! What a honor!!!"
DeAngelo Tyson: "Kicking it with the greatest. What an honor to see such a great man. #ALI"
Jack Cornell: "Truly an honor to meet Muhammad Ali after practice today the experience of a lifetime! #Greatness."
