NEWS
By JAMISON HENSLEY | October 9, 2009
Each week, Baltimore Sun reporter Jamison Hensley will answer fans' questions about the Ravens. To submit a question, e-mail sports@baltsun.com. Provide your name, the city you live in and phone number so we can verify the e-mail. HEY, JAMISON: : I'm not the most football-savvy guy, but I enjoy your columns. During the recent New England game soon after the first "roughing the passer" penalty infraction, [Tom] Brady seemed to, in a moment of triumph after scoring, knock heads with most of his team in an effort to display an act of toughness that surprised me. I don't understand that he literally can't have the slightest brush of an arm or hand across his head during a play but can clunk heads with his teammates after the touchdown in a celebratory manner and that's OK?
NEWS
By Jamison Hensley | July 8, 2009
Barring a change of mind by voters, former Ravens quarterback Steve McNair will not be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In The Baltimore Sun's poll of selectors this week, the three-time Pro Bowl player would fail to gain the 80 percent approval needed for election. Seventeen of the 24 voters who responded to The Sun - the committee has 44 members - said they did not consider McNair a Hall of Fame quarterback because he lacked elite career numbers. McNair, who was shot and killed Saturday, is eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013.
NEWS
By Jeff Barker | August 28, 2008
How many quarterbacks will we see this season and in what roles? Will Jordan Steffy stick? Will Chris Turner re-emerge? Will the situation present itself to allow multidimensional Josh Portis to show his stuff? Possibilities abound. Can Maryland win one of the biggies on its road schedule? The away games on the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule are daunting. A truly successful season would include a win at Clemson or Virginia Tech. Is that dreaming? Does speed really kill? Maryland has speed all over the field - one of the biggest reasons coaches are optimistic about the season.
NEWS
April 18, 2008
And so Baltimore's quarterback curse continues. No doubt some are shocked by quarterback Steve McNair's abrupt decision to retire from professional football. He led a 13-3 Ravens team to the playoffs just two years ago. Sure, his 2007 performance was subpar, but that could be attributed to injuries he suffered early in the season. His teammates (and presumably the coaching staff) told reporters Wednesday that they expected him to attend this week's minicamp. He is, after all, only 35 years old. "Right now, he looks great," said tight end Daniel Wilcox, who must say nice things about the departed's stylings at funerals, too. But Ravens fans aren't surprised.
NEWS
By Jamison Hensley | October 14, 2007
Eight seasons ago, Steve McNair led his team to the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams. Today, whether or not he is healthy enough to face the Rams at M&T Bank Stadium, there are questions about whether he can consistently lead the Ravens to the end zone. Rams@Ravens Today, 1 p.m., Ch. 45, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Ravens by 9 1/2 Passing grade? A look at where the Ravens' Steve McNair ranks this season among qualified quarterbacks: Category Stat Rank Overall passer rating 80.2 20 Completion pct. 65.6 11 Yards per game 230.5 14 Yards per attempt 5.87 28 Touchdown passes 2 T-28 Interceptions 2 T-7 20-plus-yard completions 3 34 40-plus-yard completions 0 T-28 4th-quarter passer rating 80.8 22 3rd-down passer rating 84.6 16 Note: Qualified quarterbacks have at least 14 attempts per team's game.
NEWS
By Jamison Hensley | September 7, 2007
Heading into Monday night's season opener, what should worry the Ravens' defense is Carson Palmer's lack of fear. The Cincinnati Bengals star is one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who isn't afraid to attack the league's most aggressive defense. He is what Mark Brunell was to the Ravens' dominant defenses in 1999 and 2000, a quarterback who regularly put up big numbers against them when others could not. Palmer's confidence comes from December 2004, when he rallied the Bengals from a 20-3 deficit by throwing for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
NEWS
By Heather A. Dinich | August 29, 2007
College Park -- At Maryland's most recent scrimmage, backup quarterback Josh Portis missed a call -the same play coach Ralph Friedgen called again at a recent practice to see whether Portis had learned it. "I said, `I bet you an ice cream at dinner tonight that you don't get it right,'" Friedgen told Portis. "He turned to me and said, `I'm gonna get 'em all right.'" Portis executed that play - and apparently enough others - this summer to convince Friedgen he has learned the offense, and when the time is right, Friedgen said he won't hesitate to play him. He just didn't say when or how. "I think [Jordan Steffy is]
NEWS
By Ken Murray | August 21, 2007
On Christmas Eve of 2004, the Atlanta Falcons gave Michael Vick a 10-year, $130 million contract, more in recognition of his promise than his production. Almost three years and $22 million worth of signing bonus later, Vick is likely headed to prison and his football career is in jeopardy. The brilliantly talented, but tragically flawed quarterback has fallen short of the Falcons' vision in every way possible. It is uncertain whether there will be any more NFL Sundays in store for Vick after a 12-to-18-month prison sentence - the punishment expected to be meted out for a guilty plea to dogfighting charges.
NEWS
By MIKE PRESTON | April 28, 2007
The only intriguing aspect about today's draft for the Ravens is whether they will select a quarterback. Basically, all the suspense is gone because it's safe to assume the Ravens, despite the return of second-team All-Pro Jonathan Ogden, will draft a quality offensive lineman early. But what about a quarterback for the future? If there has been an Achilles' heel of the Ravens as far as the draft, it has been their lack of success in grooming a young quarterback. The failure has transcended two owners, two directors of scouting and two pro personnel directors.
NEWS
By Kent Baker | April 22, 2007
With two of the top three on the depth chart sidelined by injuries, Navy dressed its remaining two quarterbacks in red jerseys for its annual Blue-Gold spring football game yesterday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. That is a signal to the defensive units to avoid contact with those players, but the game had hardly begun when Jarod Bryant and Greg Zingler were being flung to the ground by young and eager defenders battling for jobs on a wide-open unit. "The quarterbacks [starter Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada and Troy Goss]