Matt Birk doesn't know the exact moment when he felt like he was going to be the newest member of the Ravens, but the starting center remembered when he got the confirmation to sign with them.
His wife, Adrianna, was on her way to catch a flight to Minnesota on Wednesday when she smiled at Birk and gave him a nod.
"That was the last blessing that I needed," Birk said at yesterday's introductory news conference.
In a life-changing move, Birk decided to leave his hometown team and sign a three-year, $12 million contract with the Ravens. A native of St. Paul, Minn., who has played his first 11 NFL seasons with the Vikings, Birk is uprooting his family to move to Baltimore, where he plans to live nearly year-round.
Although some league insiders thought Birk was using the Ravens as leverage to drive up the Vikings' offer, the six-time Pro Bowl lineman showed his commitment to the Ravens by paying his and his wife's way for the two-day visit here. All he needed from the Ravens was a commitment that they wanted him for more than one season so he could move his family.
"It really wasn't a tough decision," said Birk, who continually glanced down at his wife and four small children in the front row.
"From the second I got here, I could sense that I really feel like there's something special here. We'll always be from [Minnesota], but this is exciting and a great opportunity. It's going to be a great adventure for our family, and we're happy to be a part of the Ravens' family, as well."
Birk, 32, fills the void left by Jason Brown, who signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the St. Louis Rams to become the NFL's highest-paid center.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who first ran into Birk at a Pro Bowl several seasons ago, was immediately impressed with him after some "pretty intense conversations."
"By the end of the day, we just had to have him," Harbaugh said. "It'd be hard for me to describe how excited we were in the building [Wednesday] when Matt made the decision to become a Raven. We are a better football team today than we were yesterday - by far."
Adding Birk was pivotal because the Ravens need to secure the middle of the line to protect Joe Flacco, their franchise quarterback.
Asked about the process of getting acclimated with Flacco, Birk jokingly said, "Well first, there's obviously the hands."
Birk said he has never met Flacco but "I feel like I know him."
