Deion Sanders

Former two-sport standout and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, in town for Thursday night's Ravens home game against Cleveland, stopped by Oriole Park at Camden Yards to take batting practice with the Orioles. Some players got a kick out of it -- left-hander Troy Patton asked Sanders for his autograph -- and Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who was Sanders' manager with the Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees in 1989, reminisced about Sanders' athletic ability, saying that watching Sanders leg out a triple is "still one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.

I wasn't there for the 7 a.m. start, but I've seen almost all of the NFL Network's Super Bowl Sunday pre-game coverage. And as of 1 p.m. (EST), I am here to tell you it is outstanding. Warren Sapp, elected into the Hall of Fame Saturday, brought even more energy and joy than usual to the telecast. He was inspired. Michael Irvin was stoked to Super Bowl level, and Steve Mariucci was better than he has ever been. Deion Sanders: superb. Melissa Stark: through the roof in poise, knowledge and the 10,000 skills a show host needs to make a TV conversation seem like the easiest and most natural thing in the world.

Flanked by two teammates with Louisiana ties - Ed Reed and Alan Ricard - Ravens cornerback Deion Sanders challenged his professional sports colleagues to donate $1,000 to help with the relief effort from the wreckage caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Sanders asked each team from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL to elect a captain to serve as the point man in collecting the money. Sanders said he will oversee the project, and his goal is to give at least $1.5 million from the NFL players alone to the Red Cross.

Former two-sport standout and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, in town for Thursday night's Ravens home game against Cleveland, stopped by Oriole Park at Camden Yards to take batting practice with the Orioles. Some players got a kick out of it -- left-hander Troy Patton asked Sanders for his autograph -- and Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who was Sanders' manager with the Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees in 1989, reminisced about Sanders' athletic ability, saying that watching Sanders leg out a triple is "still one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.

For quarterback Mark Rypien, the decision to walk away from the game he loved was an easy call. And three years later, after dealing with a family tragedy that had consumed him in his time away from pro football, the idea of returning to the playing field at the ripe age of 38 grabbed him and refused to let go. Rypien, who already had won a championship ring and a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award with the Washington Redskins 10 years earlier in...

The best way to judge how important a dangerous return specialist is for the Ravens is to take a little history lesson. In the eight seasons since the franchise arrived from Cleveland, the Ravens have had eight punt returns for touchdowns (including two in a game twice) and gone 5-1 in those games. The change to shifty rookie B.J. Sams and the arrival of Deion Sanders, who has some of the most spectacular returns in NFL history, could help revive a position that has kept the Ravens on edge the past couple seasons.

This brash young cabernet is a bit raw and unpolished, but it's a lot of fun in its bumptious way. It's not very complex and it needs some time in the glass to tone down, but it has a kind of in-your-face swagger that's fun, though hardly classic. (A wine for Deion Sanders fans?) What makes it work is the flavor -- lots of blackcurrant and cedar. Give it two or three years and it could acquire class.

OFFENSE FB 39 Alan Ricard 34 Ovie Mughelli QB 7 Kyle Boller 10 Kordell Stewart 5 Josh Harris RB 31 Jamal Lewis 29 Chester Taylor 32 Musa Smith WR 85 Kevin Johnson 80 Randy Hymes 89 Travis Taylor 81 Devard Darling 87 Clarence Moore LT 75 Jonathan Ogden 77 Ethan Brooks LG 64 Edwin Mulitalo 72 Damion Cook C 61 Casey Rabach 72 Damion Cook 62 Mike Flynn (injured) RG 66 Bennie Anderson 72 Damion Cook RT 78 Orlando Brown 77 Ethan Brooks TE 86 Todd Heap 82 Terry Jones 44 Daniel Wilcox DEFENSE CB 21 Chris McAlister 24 Corey Fuller 38 Raymond Walls SS 20 Ed Reed 49 Chad Williams ILB 56 Ed Hartwell 53 T.J. Slaughter ILB 52 Ray Lewis 57 Bart Scott FS 47 Will Demps 27 Gerome Sapp OLB 55 Terrell Suggs 90 Cornell Brown 54 Roderick Green LE 98 Tony Weaver 93 Dwan Edwards NT 97 Kelly Gregg 92 Maake Kemoeatu 91 Aubrayo Franklin RE 94 Marques Douglas 95 Jarret Johnson OLB 96 Adalius Thomas 90 Cornell Brown CB 28 Gary Baxter 37 Deion Sanders SPECIALISTS KR 36 B.J. Sams 32 Musa Smith 29 Chester Taylor PR 36 B.J. Sams 37 Deion Sanders LS 59 Joe Maese 62 Mike Flynn H 15 Dave Zastudil 7 Kyle Boller P 15 Dave Zastudil K 3 Matt Stover 9 Wade Richey

DEION SANDERS' INTERCEPTION, TD Score: Tied 3-3PLAY Quarter: First Situation: Bills' ball, third-and-nine at the Ravens' 45 Play: Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe (11) is in the shotgun, flanked by running backs Willis McGahee (21) and Travis Henry (20). Bledsoe rolls to his right and fakes the pitch to Henry. Hoping the defense has bought the fake, Bledsoe turns around and throws a screen pass to McGahee on his left. The high throw goes through McGahee's hands and is deflected into the air by safety Chad Williams (49)

Dallas (0-2) at Washington (1-1) Time: 9 tonight, chs. 2, 7. Line: Redskins by 10. Vs. spread: Cowboys 1-1; Redskins 0-2. Series: Cowboys lead 45-31-2. Last meeting: Cowboys won, 38-20, on Oct. 24, 1999, at Dallas. Outlook: Dallas is in crisis, and Washington might be approaching one. Bored viewers can keep score on whether ABC has more shots of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones or Redskins owner Dan Snyder. One of Snyder's millionaires, Deion Sanders, got burned badly last Sunday in Detroit; another, Michael Westbrook is out for the season with a knee injury.

Sunday's 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC championship game cost the Ravens a trip to Super Bowl XLVI, but a pair of individual performances earned some praise from NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders. The former cornerback who played for the Ravens, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers was very complimentary of quarterback Joe Flacco's showing, which included 306 passing yards and two touchdowns. “Joe Flacco really outplayed [New England's]

Every team in the NFL covets speed. Al Davis can't get enough of it. Wide receivers have to have it. Defensive backs' job security depends on it. The best teams all have it in generous supply. The teams that don't, all draft high. The Ravens, who have their share, are always trying to procure more. This offseason, they signed free agent Domonique Foxworth, one of the fastest cornerbacks in the league, to join Fabian Washington, who once ran the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds, in the secondary.

Hordes of unruly celebrity worshippers have never been a problem at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. No swooning teens, no throngs of paparazzi. In fact, it's pretty safe to say the threat to public order posed by celebrities traveling through the airport is probably next to nothing. Finally, we know why. Turns out the Maryland Transportation Authority Police are on top of that action. A half-dozen officers have been trained to provide an armed escort to celebrities and other dignitaries as a free service to assist their travels.

It's more than midway through January and I think we've all finally recovered from year-in-review features plastered throughout the media. We're all forward-thinkers, right, so it's time we start to look ahead. Goodbye 2005, hello 2006. Lucky for you, I've seen the script and can provide you this sneak preview of just what they'll be saying. ... Feb. 1: "I've sincerely enjoyed my time with the Ravens' organization, but it's time for me to pursue other endeavors. The Olympics are later this month and I have a curling dream to fulfill."

In a twisted way, Ravens coach Brian Billick is viewing the predicament his team is in - and the overwhelming league history that dictates this season will be nothing special - an unexpected, but not wholly dreaded, challenge. Since 1990, only 17 of the 121 teams that have lost their first two games have made the playoffs, or roughly 14 percent. Granted, the Ravens, with three former Defensive Player of the Year award winners (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Deion Sanders) and a former 2,000-yard rusher in Jamal Lewis, figure to be more talented than the vast majority of those teams, but that has not been evident on the field yet, especially in Sunday's 25-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

NFL Injury Report Sunday's games Ravens at Tennessee RAVENS: Out: QB Kyle Boller (foot). Questionable: WR Devard Darling (thigh); CB Deion Sanders (thigh); LB Terrell Suggs (back); TE Daniel Wilcox (hip). Probable: LB Peter Boulware (knee); TE Todd Heap (foot); RB Jamal Lewis (finger); S Ed Reed (thigh). TITANS: Questionable: LB Keith Bulluck (calf); T Brad Hopkins (knee); DE Antwan Odom (knee); LB Cody Spencer (abdomen); TE Ben Troupe (foot/ankle). Detroit at Chicago LIONS: Out: QB Jeff Garcia (ankle)

* 1984 season -- Missed half his junior year with Auburn because of a shoulder injury.* 1985 season -- Sustained a deep thigh bruise and missed the second half of Auburn's 14-10 loss to Florida.* May 31, 1988 -- Tore left hamstring while running out a groundout at Cleveland. Did not return to action until July 2 (missed approximately 29 games).* July 26, 1989 -- Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled quadricep muscle in his left leg.* July 17, 1990 -- Sustained a subluxation that resulted in minor tissue damage in his left shoulder while attempting a diving catch on a ball hit by Deion Sanders of the New York Yankees.

On the second day of mandatory veterans camp for the Ravens, safety Ed Reed spoke to the media for the first time this offseason and expressed his excitement with the new 46 defensive scheme. "It's definitely going to help us to get the guys to throw the ball quickly, put some pressure on the quarterback and make things a lot easier," Reed said. Reed was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season and showed a knack for making the big play, including his 106-yard interception returned for a touchdown to seal a win against the Cleveland Browns.

Flanked by two teammates with Louisiana ties - Ed Reed and Alan Ricard - Ravens cornerback Deion Sanders challenged his professional sports colleagues to donate $1,000 to help with the relief effort from the wreckage caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Sanders asked each team from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL to elect a captain to serve as the point man in collecting the money. Sanders said he will oversee the project, and his goal is to give at least $1.5 million from the NFL players alone to the Red Cross.

NEW ORLEANS - Maybe the most telling moment of the preseason for the Ravens' defense came midway through the second quarter. After giving up a 47-yard reception to the Saints down to the Ravens 18-yard line, the Ravens held New Orleans to 10 yards on the next five plays. The Saints had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Nate Fikse, leaving middle linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed high-fiving and celebrating in the end zone. First-year coordinator Rex Ryan has added some personal touches to the defense for 2005, but that unit for the Ravens remains dominant heading into the regular season after last night's 21-6 win over the Saints at the Superdome in preseason game No. 3. This group is more fun to watch than in previous years because Ryan has so many toys and schemes.