Brendon Ayanbadejo

After his teammate joined the fight against gay marriage, Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo, a vocal supporter for legalizing it, defended Matt Birk against online bashers. "I don't think he's homophobic," Ayanbadejo told one Birk critic on Twitter Monday night. "Matt Birk is an amazing father, teammate, man! Even if he & I disagree on marriage equality we agree on 95% of other issues. " Birk, a Ravens center, is expected to film a video this week opposing Maryland's new same-sex marriage law. "I took a stance like other guys have done before me," Birk said Monday at team headquarters in Owings Mills.

Cut by the Ravens in early April, linebacker and special teams standout Brendon Ayanbadejo still hasn't ruled out playing in the NFL during the 2013 season. He works out daily and keeps himself ready in case a team calls and the situation is right. But right now, the 36-year-old is far too busy with other endeavors to be consumed with whether his 10-year NFL career is over.   “There's not anything that I have to do right now so If the football angle has exhausted itself because there's no more options in football, then that will come to a close on its own and then there will be a point where I have to announce my retirement.

Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo is sporting a fancy new title these days: Honorary Gay. It comes compliments of GQ magazine, which bestowed the honor on the linebacker and Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. According to GQ, the players are "honorary gays of the year" because of how they stood up in support of gay marriage earlier this year. You might recall the dustup where Ayanbadejo wanted to give away game tickets to support the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland.

In New York, where he was to be honored at Thursday night's Straight for Equality Gala, Brendon Ayanbadejo suggested to a local newspaper reporter that one of the reasons that he was cut by the Ravens was his outspoken advocacy for same-sex marriage - a suggestion he later distanced himself from on Twitter. “My bark is louder than my bite,” Ayanbadejo told Newsday. “I make a lot of noise and garner a lot of attention for various things off the football field. When that starts happening, why do you have that player around?

Shortly after bolstering their special teams unit by agreeing to terms with former Chicago Bears defensive back Corey Graham, the Ravens have kept a core special teams player of their own in house by reaching an agreement with three-time Pro Bowl player Brendon Ayanbadejo. "I never planned on going anywhere," Ayanbadejo said on a conference call. "During this whole free agency period, I never stressed or worried about anything. I went on a vacation. I just waited my turn patiently.

Reserve linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo apologized today for comments he made last night on his Twitter account criticizing the New England Patriots, the Ravens' opponent in Sunday's AFC championship game. "I made selfish comments on twitter last night that reflected poorly upon myself, my teammates, and the organization," Ayanbadejo said on his Twitter account today. "For that I apologize. " As the Patriots were putting the finishing touches on a 41-28 victory Sunday over the Houston Texans that created a rematch in the AFC title contest, Ayanbadejo was taking several shots at the New England organization.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo appeared on 'Face the Nation' with Bob Schieffer on CBS Sunday morning. Ayanbadejo was part of a panel discussion on same-sex marriage. Read the complete transcript below. Bob Schieffer: Good morning, again, this week the Supreme Court takes up two big cases on same-sex marriage, whether the voters can say no to same-sex marriage as they did in California with proposition 8, and whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and woman, is constitutional.

Brendon Ayanbadejo didn't make a fourth consecutive start on Sunday, but the inside linebacker still made a sizable contribution in the Ravens' 33-14 pasting of the New York Giants. Ayanbadejo finished with three tackles, including one sack and two quarterback hits. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and rookie free safety Omar Brown also posted sacks of Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and Ayanbadejo tied strong safety James Ihedigbo and defensive tackle Arthur Jones for the team lead in quarterback hits.

Brendon Ayanbadejo doesn't need Super Bowl XLVII to assist the cause for gay rights and gay marriage. But the Ravens inside linebacker won't turn down the opportunity during the week in New Orleans to champion the push for equality. Ayanbadejo, who contributed to Maryland passing an initiative to legalize gay marriage in November, was peppered about using the lead up to the Super Bowl as a platform, but he pointed out that he doesn't really need to seek the cameras or recorders. “Organically, it was going to happen anyway,” he said after Friday's practice.

"Now is the time... " -- Martin Luther King, Aug. 28, 1963 Brendon Ayanbadejo is wrong. It is painful to say that. Mr. Ayanbadejo's heart is in a good place, and the advice he gave recently on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" was practical and well intentioned. But mainly, yes, it was wrong. Here's the back story. It seems NFL prospect Nick Kasa recently told ESPN Radio that he was asked in an interview with a team he won't specify whether he is married, if he has a girlfriend and whether he likes girls.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo appeared on 'Face the Nation' with Bob Schieffer on CBS Sunday morning. Ayanbadejo was part of a panel discussion on same-sex marriage. Read the complete transcript below. Bob Schieffer: Good morning, again, this week the Supreme Court takes up two big cases on same-sex marriage, whether the voters can say no to same-sex marriage as they did in California with proposition 8, and whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and woman, is constitutional.

"Now is the time... " -- Martin Luther King, Aug. 28, 1963 Brendon Ayanbadejo is wrong. It is painful to say that. Mr. Ayanbadejo's heart is in a good place, and the advice he gave recently on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" was practical and well intentioned. But mainly, yes, it was wrong. Here's the back story. It seems NFL prospect Nick Kasa recently told ESPN Radio that he was asked in an interview with a team he won't specify whether he is married, if he has a girlfriend and whether he likes girls.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo said he plans to reach out to San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver in hopes of starting a positive discussion, following Culliver's anti-gay comments earlier this week. Ayanbadejo has been vocal in his support of same-sex marriage and was surrounded by media on Thursday hours after Culliver's comments became public. The San Jose Mercury News reported Culliver was asked by Artie Lange in a podcast if the 49ers had any homosexual players on the team.

Super Bowl XLVII is being billed as the Harbaugh Bowl: the battle between brothers Jim and John Harbaugh, head coaches, respectively, of the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. It also pits two NFL teams connected directly and indirectly to the struggles for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Read that last sentence again, and appreciate for a moment how far fighters for LGBT equality have traveled. In August, the 49ers became the first NFL franchise to film an "It Gets Better" video to combat anti-LGBT bullying in schools.

Brendon Ayanbadejo doesn't need Super Bowl XLVII to assist the cause for gay rights and gay marriage. But the Ravens inside linebacker won't turn down the opportunity during the week in New Orleans to champion the push for equality. Ayanbadejo, who contributed to Maryland passing an initiative to legalize gay marriage in November, was peppered about using the lead up to the Super Bowl as a platform, but he pointed out that he doesn't really need to seek the cameras or recorders. “Organically, it was going to happen anyway,” he said after Friday's practice.

With the national spotlight shining on the Super Bowl-bound Ravens this week, linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is apparently hoping to divert some attention off the gridiron. According to New York Times columnist Frank Bruni , just hours after Baltimore's AFC championship win, Ayanbadejo directed an e-mail to marriage equality advocates asking how he could utilize the increased Super Bowl media to help support same-sex marriage. Writing at 3:40 a.m. on Monday morning, according to Bruni, Ayanbadejo asked gay rights advocate Brian Ellner and Michael Skolnik, political director to Russell Simmons, whether there was “anything I can do for marriage equality or anti-bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media.” Later dubbing the note his "Jerry Maguire email," a reference to the late-night mission statement penned by Tom Cruise's character in the eponymous 1996 sports flick, Ayanbadejo told Bruni: "I got to thinking about all kinds of things, and I thought: how can we get our message out there?"

Cut by the Ravens in early April, linebacker and special teams standout Brendon Ayanbadejo still hasn't ruled out playing in the NFL during the 2013 season. He works out daily and keeps himself ready in case a team calls and the situation is right. But right now, the 36-year-old is far too busy with other endeavors to be consumed with whether his 10-year NFL career is over.   “There's not anything that I have to do right now so If the football angle has exhausted itself because there's no more options in football, then that will come to a close on its own and then there will be a point where I have to announce my retirement.

Browns TE Kellen Winslow Jr. vs. Ravens CB Frank Walker In the first game, Walker shadowed Winslow in passing situations. Winslow is bigger than Walker, but Walker bothered him like a gnat. But down the field, Winslow could cause Walker and the Ravens big trouble because of the physical mismatch. Edge: Winslow: Browns DT Shaun Rogers vs. Ravens C Jason Brown Any success running against the Browns has to start with controlling Rogers. He eats up a lot of space in the middle with his girth and strength.

An occasional look at sports business stories from across the country ... Brendon Ayanbadejo knows there is no better time to speak than in the lead up to the Super Bowl. Thousands of reporters from every sort of outlet will be in New Orleans to cover the spectacle, and a good number of them will look to seize on something beyond the battle of the brothers Harbaugh, or Ray Lewis' last stand. How about gay marriage? Ayanbadejo is a long-time and unabashed advocate for gay rights . That's an unusual thing for a pro athlete to be in the most normal of times.

After criticizing the New England Patriots on social media one day earlier, Ravens reserve linebacker and special-teams ace  Brendon Ayanbadejo quickly backpedaled Monday morning by issuing an apology. As the Patriots were putting the finishing touches on their victory Sunday night over the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional round, Ayanbadejo took aim at the defending AFC champions. "New England does some suspect stuff on offense," Ayanbadejo wrote on his Twitter account.