"But it was a hell of a speech," Hall-of-Famer Gino Marchetti recalled. "Maybe it did help us."
Some athletes are just as happy to leave the respect talk on the shelf. Asked earlier this season about a lack of national buzz around the Ravens, center Jason Brown said, "Really, when it comes down to it, I don't care."
When asked yesterday about Ryan's belief that the Ravens' haven't received enough respect this season, Titans coach Jeff Fisher said that teams have "plenty of respect" for the Ravens.
"Maybe he needs to read the paper or watch TV," Fisher said. "Obviously, they got plenty of respect from us. You know, if that's the way you want to handle and motivate, then so be it.
"I don't think that people are going to go out after kickoff and play hard because they felt they were disrespected. You play hard to try to win the game."
Baltimore Sun reporters Bill Ordine, Edward Lee and David Steele contributed to this article.
SPORTS: See a position-by-position comparison of '00 and '08 defenses.
YOU: Interest in fan blogs rises with season's success.
THE 'DISSED' LIST
These Ravens could have a legitimate gripe about not getting their due from the NFL community this regular season:
John Harbaugh
With almost the same players as last season, the rookie head coach led a team that went 5-11 in 2007 to the playoffs in 2008. That turnaround wasn't enough to impress, as Harbaugh received no votes for coach of the year. Repeat: not one vote.
Joe Flacco
The rookie quarterback has been a steady hand for an offense that is historically unsteady. He has started all 16 games for an 11-5 team, completed 60 percent of his passes and has a quarterback rating of 80.3. Hall numbers? Not quite. But surely worthy of rookie of the year consideration, right? Wrong. He received zero votes.
Ed Reed
The veteran safety is having one of the best
seasons in his Hall of Fame-worthy career, with a league-leading nine regular-season interceptions - two of them returned for touchdowns. Though he's one of the most electrifying, game-changing players in the game, he was voted only the year's third-best defensive player.
