John Harbaugh

If you follow the Ravens at all, you know this was the season John Harbaugh pushed all the right buttons - and pushed himself into the top tier of NFL head coaches, too. Wonder why so many of these guys burn out? Think about all the challenges Harbaugh faced in his fifth year running this team. Every NFL season is an emotional rollercoaster. But the ride Harbaugh and the Ravens took to their Super Bowl win was as exhausting and as exhilarating as any in recent memory. It started around the April draft when the Ravens learned that Terrell Suggs, their best pass rusher and the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, had torn his Achilles tendon.

The comparisons are inevitable because there has been only one other Super Bowl winning season in the Ravens' 17-year history in Baltimore. Both the 2000 and 2012 teams will have their special place, but no championship season will ever compare to the first. This season's title, however, adds to the distinction of the Ravens being one of the best franchises in the NFL, and it has created a whole new generation of fans - and excitement - for the organization. The 2000 season was special because it was the first winning season in club history.

Standing in front of his players in the team auditorium on Halloween morning, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was convinced he had the right response for an embarrassing 43-13 loss to the Houston Texans. On the Ravens' first day back from a bye week, he told players, they would have a full-contact practice. Harbaugh's announcement didn't go over well. Veteran players, particularly safeties Bernard Pollard and Ed Reed, were so frustrated that they voiced their disapproval strongly. By players' accounts, this wasn't a full-scale mutiny.

I really enjoyed David Zurawik 's column about the Super Bowl game ("For biggest game of the year, CBS again drops the ball," Feb. 4). I'm not a football fan, but did want to support and cheer on the Ravens. I was appalled at the biased coverage of the game. It seemed to me that the announcers were watching another game, one in which the 49ers were Gods and the Ravens weren't even playing. I asked the people around me - are sports commentators always like this? Aren't they supposed to appear to be neutral?

Joe Flacco must have been a strong enough draw Monday night to leave David Letterman wanting more Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl mojo. The "Late Show with David Letterman" Wednesday announced that Ravens coach John Harbaugh will be on Thursday night. Here's the release from CBS: John Harbaugh, head coach of the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens, will visit the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN Thursday, Feb. 7 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  John Harbaugh and his younger brother Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, became the first pair of brothers to serve as head coaches in the NFL back in 2011 and made more headlines this year when they became the first brothers in NFL history to face each other in a Super Bowl, one which quickly became dubbed the “Harbaugh Bowl.”  The Ravens went on to defeat the 49ers Sunday in Super Bowl XLVII by a score of 34-31, giving the Ravens their second championship title in franchise history.

Quarterback Joe Flacco is getting the credit that he deserves for leading the Ravens throughout the playoffs and then to a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. It will be interesting if Ravens coach John Harbaugh gets his. Aside from a curious fake field goal try on 4 th -and-9 in the second quarter, Harbaugh had a near perfect week. From the moment he arrived in New Orleans, he did and said all the right things and set the tone for his team. He was relaxed, patient and accommodating, establishing a far different presence than his brother.

Baltimore Sun reporters are stationed along the parade route, from City Hall to M&T Bank Stadium. See their observations, fan interviews and other updates here. #52 Ray Lewis smiled wide to the crowd and yelled "Baltimore!" as he approached the podium. "There's no [better] place on this earth than the city of Baltimore," he said before he referenced his long career. "This city believed in each other from Day 1, 1996 to now, we believed in each other, Baltimore. " "I said this is my last ride," he told fans, "and every moment every time I've stepped into this stadium, what I've recieved is pure love.

With a parade on Tuesday, the city will celebrate a world championship that was Baltimore to the bone - perfectly imperfect, an overachievement by an underdog and a surprise to sneering outsiders. "I tell you what, we don't make it easy," said an uncharacteristically eloquent Joe Flacco as the Ravens quarterback held the Lombardi Trophy, savored his selection as the Super Bowl 's most valuable player and, in this town, elevation to Johnny Unitas status. "But that's the way the city of Baltimore is, that's the way we are. We did this for them back home.

Joe Flacco spent much of the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVII answering questions about his even-keel personality. The Ravens quarterback may slide into the background on a team with such outspoken personalities as Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs, but on Sunday, Flacco's play spoke volumes. Flacco completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns to be selected the Most Valuable Player of the 34-31 win against the San Francisco 49ers at the Mercedez-Benz Superdome.

Ravens fans had waited 12 years for another Super Bowl victory, and they packed the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, dwarfing 49ers rooters in both numbers and volume. They about blew the roof off the stadium when Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco flicked his first touchdown pass as the team began its march to a commanding halftime lead. Then Baltimore - the team and its fans - held on for dear life. Down by 22 points early in the second half, the 49ers staged a furious comeback that fell just short as the Ravens held on to win, 34-31.