Baltimore Ravens Mobile Museum Virtual Tour - Brian Billick: Bringing BOLD to Baltimore

Brian Billick: Bringing BOLD to Baltimore highlights the nine seasons (1999-2007) under head coach Brian Billick, who led the Ravens to their first World Championship following the 2000 season. This exhibition is the second in a series that celebrates the Ravens’ 30th season.

When Billick was hired in 1999, it was a turning point for the franchise. Behind high-quality drafting, prominent free agent signings and stout coaching, the Ravens became a playoff contender that turned into a Super Bowl championship squad in just Billick’s second season.

The Ravens were an organization on the rise. Key draft picks from the first few seasons led the team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The 2000 defense set multiple NFL records, including allowing the fewest points (165) in a 16-game season, and it was the catalyst for the Super Bowl XXXV championship run.

On January 19, 1999, Ravens owner Art Modell hired Brian Billick to become the team’s second head coach. Billick had been the highly successful Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator, directing a unit that set a variety of NFL and team records, including the league’s then-single-season scoring mark of 556 points in 1998.

The first-year head coach inherited a defensive-minded squad coming off three subpar seasons. The uber confident and bold Billick, who was charged with turning the tide, immediately made his mark, leading the Ravens to the team’s first non-losing season (1999) and had Baltimore in playoff contention heading into the final week of the season. A defeat in Week 17 dashed those hopes, however, it set the groundwork for the following season, which would be historical for the young franchise.

Ravens vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome, who had been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August of 1999, went to work in the offseason through a draft that featured RB Jamal Lewis (fifth-overall selection), plus the addition of several key free agent signings, including TE Shannon Sharpe and DT Sam Adams – two immediate impact players.

The 2000 Ravens opened the season winning three out of their first four games, including a dramatic 39-36 win against Jacksonville (their first-ever win over the Jaguars). Then, Baltimore went through a 2-3 stretch in October, where the team didn’t score a touchdown in five straight games. In what would become a turning point in the season, Billick made a change at quarterback, promoting Trent Dilfer to the starting role.

Baltimore won its final seven regular season games by a combined score of 193-63. On December 10, owner Art Modell was honored in pre-game ceremonies for his 40 years of ownership. That day, the Ravens earned their first playoff berth, defeating San Diego, 24-3.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year LB Ray Lewis, the Ravens’ defense set a 16-game record by allowing only 165 total points. Baltimore also set an NFL record by allowing only 970 yards rushing. While Lewis was the clear leader, several players played key roles in the unit’s success, including Adams and Tony Siragusa, who helped Lewis roam free to ball carriers, while OLB Peter Boulware, DE Rob Burnett, S Kim Herring, DE Michael McCrary, LB Jamie Sharper, S Rod Woodson and CBs Chris McAlister and Duane Starks all made significant contributions.

Offensively, Jamal Lewis rushed for a then-team-record 1,364 yards, Sharpe led the team with 810 receiving yards, and K Matt Stover’s 35 FGs led the NFL. It was just enough for the Ravens to win their final seven contests and finish 12-4, en route to their first postseason berth in franchise history.

In the Wild Card game, the Ravens defeated the visiting Denver Broncos, 21-3, a victory that featured two TDs from Jamal Lewis and one from Sharpe against his former team.

In the Divisional playoff at Tennessee, the underdog Ravens stunned the Titans, 24-10, to advance to the AFC Championship. Tennessee had not lost on its home turf since Adelphia Coliseum opened in 1999. Baltimore’s go-ahead TD was a 90-yard return by DB Anthony Mitchell off a blocked FG. Then, Ray Lewis scored on a 50-yard INT return to seal the win.

The Ravens traveled to Oakland and defeated the Raiders, 16-3, in the AFC Championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. Sharpe scored on an NFL postseason-record 96-yard pass from Dilfer. Baltimore limited the Raiders to just 24 rushing yards.

Baltimore captured its first World Championship in Super Bowl XXXV, defeating the New York Giants, 34-7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Ray Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP, and only a 97-yard Giants’ KOR for a TD averted a shutout. A Super Bowl record was set when three TDs were scored in a span of 36 seconds, including Starks’ 49-yard INT return and Jermaine Lewis’ 84-yard KOR.

Following the game, owner Art Modell lifted the Lombardi Trophy in the air and said: “To the people of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and the State of Maryland, this belongs to you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

Following the incredible Super Bowl XXXV victory in just the franchise’s fifth season (2000), Ravens fans were flying high with excitement. As the defending champs entered the 2001 training camp, one that was featured on the first-ever HBO Hard Knocks series, expectations to return to the Super Bowl were lofty.

As the nation watched HBO chronicle the Ravens throughout camp, the team was hit with its first setback, losing RB Jamal Lewis to a catastrophic season-ending knee injury. One month later, on 9/11, tragedy struck the United States, and all of a sudden, football was an afterthought. However, as the nation mourned, the NFL season continued, helping bring families together to heal.

Despite it all, Baltimore returned to the postseason as a Wild Card team, defeating the Dolphins, 20-3, to advance to the Divisional Playoff in Pittsburgh. The hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions ended with a 27-10 defeat to the Steelers.

Following an offseason that saw Baltimore move on from several veterans, the Ravens were the youngest team in NFL history with 19 first-year players in 2002. Ozzie Newsome and staff drafted another future Hall of Famer, S Ed Reed, out of the University of Miami. Reed burst onto the scene, securing five interceptions and blocking two punts, returning them both for touchdowns as a rookie.

The 2003 Ravens were led by Defensive Player of the Year LB Ray Lewis and Offensive Player of the Year RB Jamal Lewis, who led the NFL in rushing with 2,066 yards, including a 295-yard day against the Browns. After another dominant defensive performance, Ray Lewis earned his second defensive player of the year award, while OLB Terrell Suggs (12 sacks) earned Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The very next season, in recognition of his league-leading nine INTs and two defensive touchdowns, Reed won the DPOY award, giving the Ravens back-to-back defensive players of the year. Baltimore (10-6) won the AFC North division for the first time.

In 2004, a season in which the team moved mid-season into its new training facility, the Ravens got off to a strong 4-2 start, but despite a second-place finish in the division, at 9-7, they came up short of the postseason.

Billick’s final three seasons (2005-07) in Baltimore included a division-winning 2006 squad that set a then-franchise-best 13-3 record. The ’06 Ravens swept the Steelers for the first time in franchise history and finished with the No. 1-ranked defense.