He says he's missed only one Ravens home game since 1996, when he was deathly ill, and one away game, when he took one daughter to college years ago and couldn't find the game on TV in Cleveland, of all places.
But he says being Captain D has never been a source of friction within his family. Semiretired now, he says he makes plenty of time for those closest to him. And he says his family recognizes that he's turned his passion for the Ravens into a "calling" to help others.
The fact is, Captain's D's social conscience appears boundless.
Since the middle of March alone, he's made over 70 appearances for charitable, civic and school organizations ranging from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Children's Miracle Network to the Purple Dames' Food Drive, Pets on Wheels and the Relay for Life in Perry Hall.
"He's a genuinely caring person because he really believes in helping others," Hurst says. "It's not for the hype or the glory."
"I'm kind of biased," Grossman says. "But he's probably the best person I know."
Heather Harness, the Ravens' marketing and advertising manager, says Captain D is always willing to appear at team functions and never receives free tickets, merchandise or anything else.
Shannon Patch, the store manager at Beefalo Bob's, says Captain D is also an excellent motivational speaker who has talked to her son's Boy Scout troop several times.
"He talks to the boys about staying in school, about bullying, about how Scouts is important," Patch says. "The boys just flock to him. He's like a super-hero role model who's real."
Captain D says he devours inspirational and self-help books: Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Steve Siebold and Barbara Pease are among his favorite authors.
All of it, he says, is about making himself a better person so he can help others.
"At the end of the day, that's what life is about," he says.
Then he adjusts the spikes and chains on his shoulder and tucks back into his cream-of-crab soup, a super-fan at rest, at least for the moment.
