The person considered the strongest Raven by coach John Harbaugh received the game ball after Saturday's AFC divisional playoff victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, even though he didn't take a snap or put on a uniform.
In the victorious locker room at LP Field, Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed handed the ball to O.J. Brigance, the Ravens' director of player development, saying, "This is for you."
Brigance expressed thanks from the motorized wheelchair that he uses as he battles Lou Gehrig's disease, then added, "but we've got two more to play."
His response echoed his comments before the game to well-wishers in the press box. They told him they hoped that the inspiration he has given the Ravens this season would continue. "Yeah," he said, "then after [this game], do it again two more times."
When the Ravens face the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday for the AFC championship with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, Brigance will be there. When Brigance addresses them, the players say, they feel like they can conquer the world.
"You can hear a pin drop" whenever Brigance speaks, said tight end Todd Heap. "Everybody's talking, then everybody's listening, and all of us take it to heart when he talks."
Brigance's message has remained constant.
"There's something else going on here in our lives; we know that, so all we have to do out there is stay focused and stay true," Reed said of Brigance's talks. "It's bigger than wins and losses; this is about being men, about growing, about playing through whatever."
The players listen to Brigance, 39, because he has bonded strongly with them in his five years of helping them on and off the field. Brigance says the players haven't treated him any differently since he was diagnosed in May 2007 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has no cure. In recent weeks, speaking clearly and loudly enough for normal conversation has grown more difficult.
Brigance says he and the players have drawn inspiration from each other.
"It's such an honor to be part of what they are," he said. "It's very rare for a man to allow another man to impart words to him, to open themselves up to another's life, and it's very impressive to me."
Brigance leans on a favorite biblical verse from II Corinthians for understanding the mutual healing that he and the team provide: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
